OPEN LETTER TO THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,

Honourable Minister of Home Affairs

Aras 13, Block D1, Parcel D,

Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan

652020 Putrajaya,

Selangor, Malaysia

28 MAY 2003

'Progressive Islam' Will Not Be Born Behind Bars

Your Excellency,

We, the undersigned, while fully acknowledging the developments that have been made by the Malaysian government in the sphere of economic rights of the Malaysian people, would still like to take this opportunity to remark upon the political rights of Malaysia's citizens which we fear have deteriorated over the years.

Cognisant of the fact that the Malaysian government is keen to promote the country's image as a 'model progressive and moderate Islamic state', we would like to insist that the agenda of progressive and moderate Islam cannot be advanced in a political climate of repression and excessive state control.

It is our concern for the fate of six political detainees currently under detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) at the Kamunting Detention Centre - Dr. Badrulamin Bahron, Saari Sungib, Hishamuddin Rais, Tian Chua, Lokman Adam and Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor (who is also currently serving a two-year prison sentence after conviction under the Official Secrets Act(OSA)) - that moves us to make this personal and direct appeal to you.

The men in question have been accused of allegedly trying to topple the Malaysian government via extra-constitutional means, though none of them have been given the chance to defend themselves in an open and free trial. Amnesty International has declared them to be prisoners of conscience and Malaysian human rights organisations have argued that their detention was for purely political reasons. Furthermore on 6 September 2002 the Malaysian Federal Court ruled that the detention of these men were mala fide, and the same view has been taken by the Malaysian ISA Advisory Board, which has called for their release. To add further weight to these demands on 9 April 2003 the National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) of Malaysia has called on the Malaysian government to abolish the ISA.

Your Excellency,

The case for the release of the six political detainees is overwhelming. There are numerous factors which can and should persuade the Malaysian government to take the right step of abolishing the ISA and releasing these political detainees without delay. Among them are:

The ISA and other laws such as the OSA are, as we well know, relics from the colonial era of the past which were first introduced by the British colonial authorities to help them maintain their control and dominance over Malaysian society and to perpetuate the existence of their fundamentally unjust structures of colonial power. History has shown that the use of laws such as the ISA did nothing to bolster the moral or political authority of the British colonial power; but rather had the opposite effect of stigmatising British colonial rule even further, thus rendering the apparatus of the colonial state immoral and unjust in the eyes of the populace. It is a supreme irony that in the case of many ex-colonial states the post-colonial elite have held on to the worst, most brutal and inhumane tools of coercion and domination to perpetuate their own rule.

This in turn leads us to the question of the moral validity of the ISA, OSA and other related pieces of legislation, which, from an Islamic point of view has no validity whatsoever. Malaysia today is trying to present itself as the face of real Islam which is fundamentally moderate and progressive. We welcome this initiative for it is both timely as well as politically important in the troubled times we live in. With the Muslim world being demonised and stigmatised on a daily basis in the global media, there is a desperate need for a counter-example of a modern, dynamic, progressive and democratic Muslim nation-state in order to counter the negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims that we are exposed to all the time.

But we would insist that for such a positive counter-factual example to materialise, the Muslim state in question has to fully embody the values of Islam by being truly democratic, progressive and moderate in a meaningful sense. This will have to be a state that not only defines its politics and political culture in Islamic terms, but also puts the universal and humanitarian values of Islam to work via the cultivation and protection of a truly democratic civil society.

It should be clear that in such a Muslim state which truly embodies Islamic values, civil and political rights must be upheld. There is no place for laws such as the ISA, which allow for the detention of political opponents, activists, writers, academics, students, unionists and others without trial. It is inimical for a country that is said to embrace progressive Islam to subject its citizens to cruel and inhumane treatment while in their custody. The testimonies of former ISA detainees such as Dr. Munawar Anees, Anwar Ibrahim, Abdul Rahman Hamzah, Saari Sungib, Ruslan Kasim and many others, have revealed horrific accounts of torture and humiliation by the Malaysian security personnel during their detention.

As any scholar of Islamic jurisprudence will be able to show, the very notion of detention without trial is anathema to the Muslim understanding of justice. Justice ('adl) in normative Islamic life has always been open, public and transparent. The vast corpus of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) that has been painstakingly developed by generations of Muslim scholars (ulama) over the past fifteen centuries is directed towards the preservation of social order, equality and justice. It would be impossible for anyone to find legal justification for laws such as the ISA in the vast body of Islamic legal thought, both in the past as well as in the present.

The history of the Muslim world has also taught us that Muslim civilisation thrived and prospered the most in a climate of openness and freedom, where the flow of ideas and the development of different schools of thought was not only guaranteed but also promoted by the state. The emergence of exemplary Muslim scholarship during the age of the Spanish Caliphate, the Abbasid dynasty, medieval Ottoman Turkey and the peak of the Moghul era in India was only possible thanks to the liberal and tolerant policies of the Muslim rulers themselves.

Conversely, the decline of Muslim thought took place as soon as the doors of interpretation were closed, thanks to the ascendancy of reactionary forces within the Muslim world. Countless Muslim scholars and thinkers whose works and ideas have become part of the humanity's intellectual patrimony were themselves the victims of state persecution and injustice. Ibn Khaldun, the founder of modern political sociology and undoubtedly the greatest social scientist during the medieval era, spent many years in prison thanks to the whims of rulers who had scant regard for the fundamental freedoms of their subjects.

Your Excellency,

Malaysia is at a crucial juncture of its history. This country, which has been able to manage its economy and survive relatively unscathed after the economic crisis of 1997-1998, remains a model for many other Muslim states, societies and individuals the world over. Furthermore, Malaysia today is in the unique position to speak up for the rest of the Muslim world and the developing South. But Malaysia's credibility and the viability of Malaysia's progressive Islamic project rests on the sincerity and commitment of its political leadership to promote democracy as well as fundamental political, civic and cultural freedoms. The goodwill, admiration and respect that is shown to Malaysia is given not because of the existence of laws such as the ISA, but rather despite of it. It would be detrimental to the future wellbeing of Malaysian society if this goodwill and respect is squandered and sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.

We, who wish Malaysia every success in its endeavour to project and promote the agenda of  progressive Islam, call on the Malaysian government to take the necessary moral step in the only direction possible: The time has come to give these six political detainees their immediate and unconditional freedom, after being incarcerated for two years without trial - and to repeal the Internal Security Act which remains as the biggest blemish on the face of the Malaysian state and its claims to moderate and progressive Islam. Progressive Islam, we maintain, cannot and will not be born behind bars.

Yours sincerely,

1. Dr. Farish Ahmad-Noor, Research fellow on Transnational Islamic Education, Centre for Modern Orient Studies (ZMO), Berlin, Germany;

2. Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, President, International Movement for a Just World (JUST);

3. Zainah Anwar, Director, Sisters in Islam - Malaysia (SIS);

4. Farzana Hassan Shahid, President, Muslims Against Terrorism, Ontario, Canada;

5. Prof. John L. Esposito, Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, USA;

6. Dr. Na'eem Jeenah, Department of Political Studies, University of Witwatersrand; President, Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa;

7. Uztaz Muhammad Ayub Munir, Islamia College, Latore, Pakistan;

8. Prof. Dr. Martin van Bruinessen, Department of Oriental Languages and Cultures, Utrecht University; ISIM chair for the comparative study of modern Muslim societies, The Netherlands;

9. Prof. Peter van Der Veer, Professor of Comparative Religion, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands;

10. Dr. Omid Safi, Co-Chair of the Study of Islam section at the American Academy of Religion, Colgate University, US;

11. Prof. Dr. H. C. Dieter Senghaas, Institut fuer Interkulturelle und Internationle Studien, Universitaet Bremen, Germany;

12. Shaikh Mohommad, Emir of Jamat al-Muslimeen International, United Kingdom;

13. Tarek Fatah, Founder, Canadian Muslim Congress and Editor, The Muslim Chronicle, Canada;

14. Prof. Farid Esack, Besl Professor of Religion and Ethics, Xavier University, Cincinnati and Director, Positive Muslims, South Africa;

15. Dr. Bobby Sayyid, Research Fellow, University of Salford, United Kingdom;

16. Rima Anabtawi, Independent Palestinian Activist, Writer, Political Analyst and Co-Founder Al-Awda- The Palestine Right to Return Coalition;

17. Prof. Radwan A. Masmoudi, Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy, Washington, US;

18. Prof. Denis Lacorne, Director of Research, Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI), Sciences-Pol. Paris, France;

19. Prof. David Camroux, Director, Asia-Europe Centre, Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (FNSP),  Sciences-Pol. Paris, France;

20. Prof. Aihwa Ong, Professor of Anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies; formerly Chair of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1999-2001;Department of Anthropology, University of California, US;

21. Prof. Hamit Bozarslan, Lecturer at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, co-director of IISMM (Institut d'Etudes sur l'Islam et les sociétés du monde musulman), Paris, France;

22. Prof. S.P. Wakil, Professor of Sociology and Haultain Fellow of Research, University of Saskatchewan, Canada;

23. Dr. Claudia Derichs, Assistant Professor, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of East Asian Studies, Essen, Germany;

24. Arif Jamal, Researcher, Journalist and writer. United Kingdom;

25. Dr. Aijaz Husain, Faculty of Social Work, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada;

26. Dr. Lily Zubaidah Rahim, Senior Lecturer, School of Economics and Political Science, University of Sydney, Australia;

27. Dr. Christina Ho, Associate Lecturer, School of Economics and Political Science, University of Sydney, Australia;

28. Marc Rerceretnam, PhD candidate, Economic History Discipline, University of Sydney, Australia;

29. Wong Souk Yee, PhD candidate, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia;

30. Dr. Anna Wuerth, Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Richmond, Virginia; US

31. Dr. Nuzhat Amin, University of Toronto, Canada;

32. Dr. Asma Afsaruddin, Associate Professor, Arabic & Islamic Studies, University of Notre Dame, USA;

33. Peter J. Orne, Editor, The World Paper, Boston;

34. Junaid Ahmed, President & CEO Digital Hospitality Canada Corp., Canada;

35. Mustafa Khan, Senior Business Systems Analyst, Sprint Canada Inc., Canada;

36. M Ajwad Hashim, Newport, Victoria, Australia;

37. Louay Safi, President, Center for Balanced Development;

38. Azhar Ali Khan, journalist, Canada;

39. Nader Hashemi, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada;

40. Farkhanda Akhtar Wakil, Librarian Emeritus, Wetmore Fellow and Haultain Fellow of The Walter Murray Society, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.