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It is good to follow Islamic teachings in our lives, but even as we Malays have become more religious, we have not become kinder, gentler or less corrupt.
(FMT) – Over the past few decades, the Malays have become more religious, although perhaps more religious is a better description. At the same time, there is also much talk of
“Arabization”
Malays. Looking around, there is indeed a lot of evidence, albeit rather superficial, to support this view.
I do not endorse “going Arab”. I think it is wrong and any devout Muslim should focus on this external focus (what people see) rather than the internal focus on who you really are in the eyes of God.
Apparently, it is much easier to appear to be a good Muslim than to actually be one. This is true for any other faith.
Being a good Muslim requires a lot of effort, including the need to sift through the noise and chaos that has emerged over the 14 centuries since the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
It is indeed hard because unfortunately this chaos requires us to make many difficult decisions – is this right? Is this what God expects of us? Is this what the Quran or the Prophet says? More importantly, is this what He meant?
On the other hand, it is much easier to act like a good Muslim. Apart from performing the rituals and commandments (praying, fasting, giving alms, etc.), you just blindly follow the loudest voice telling you what you must do to be a good Muslim.
There is no shortage of such voices in Malaysia – shrill, even hysterical voices, full of judgments and warnings about what you can and cannot do.
Such voices often have enormous power, whether expressed formally through numerous institutions or political positions supported by government budgets and legal fiat, or informally through the power to persuade others to follow their lead in all matters sacred or secular because they are “learned.”
However, the Arabisation of the Malays may not be the biggest problem we face. After all, over time, people will realise that dressing like an Arab does not make much sense in the Malaysian culture and climate, and the way Arabs dress will gradually change. Reason will prevail.
Be a good Malay
The bigger problem is the increasing “Malayisation” of Islam, which reduces the faith to simplistic terms that are more about satisfying the latest definition of a “good Malay” than a “good Muslim”.
This is reflected in many ways, but none more so than in the slogan “Malay is Islam — Islam is Malay.” It is easy to say “Malay is Islam,” meaning that Malays are Muslims — a definition written into the Federal Constitution — but it is not so easy to say “Islam is Malay.”
Islam is the faith of all mankind and cannot be equated with or claimed by any particular race, not even the Arabs.
There are growing tensions among Malaysians, manifesting in toxic racial politics, which are further complicated by the entry of Islam.
Islam, as an officially “sensitive” topic, is increasingly being used as a political tool, and an effective one.
Indeed, Islam has always been part of the Malay body politic. There have always been Islamic political entities such as the Islamic Party, some of which existed even before the country’s independence.
Islam’s entry into politics is not new. What is new is the power it has gained and the increase in radicalism that has come with it.
The power of racial identity
Politics has solidified around ethnic identity, and Islam has become a very convenient and powerful tool in Malay identity politics. Politicians recognize the power of these tools, which are like “get out of jail free cards” that confer enormous power and immunity on those who possess them.
We can see this in the increasingly strident calls for the 3Rs (race, religion and kingship). The 3Rs agitators deliberately forget that we have laws and any concerns about the 3Rs must be within the law, not beyond it.
Certain factions in Malay politics do not allow others to say what they do not like to hear.
I am all for Islam as the guiding principle in Malay life. The principles of Islam require Muslims to lead exemplary lives. If we truly follow these principles, we will become a very moral and successful people, a beacon to those who share our country and the world with us.
But we see that while we Malays are becoming more pious, we are not becoming more kinder, gentler or less corrupt. Our religious leaders do not have the courage to use their religious beliefs to root out the evil of corruption – the destruction of integrity – which is the root of all our evils.
Ignore the problem
Their approach is to avoid dealing with the problem, partly because the problem is so widespread and deep-rooted that they don’t know how to deal with it, but also because some of the most corrupt people are also the most powerful people in our society and should not be underestimated.
If that is the case, can they blame others for feeling this way? That the Islamic law they want to introduce is nothing more than a tool to control the lower (and least powerful) sections of society? That Islamic law (and therefore Islamic law in general) only applies to petty thefts and moral violations?
As a senior police officer recently said, Muslims cannot just say that corruption in the country is the fault of non-Muslims. It takes two to clap and both corrupt parties are at fault, though forgive me for believing that those who took an oath of trust in the name of God should at least be a little more guilty.
Besides, the Malays rule this country. We control almost all the important levers of the country’s governance framework. There is nothing to stop us waking up tomorrow and saying we are going to abolish corruption immediately, and see it through.
Once we have done that, we can move on to the things that really matter, like improving education and fighting poverty and injustice. But that is too hard and too risky.
Non-Muslim monsters
They would rather continue to shout religious rituals and the typical talk of their insecure souls – how Islam and the Malays are threatened. From whom? Of course, the non-Muslims, whose numbers are decreasing as time goes by.
By “Malayising” Islam, many of today’s Malay leaders are able to elevate their political views into areas that others dare not question for fear of committing the 3Rs and paying the price.
Another advantage is that such a leader can truly rule over the ordinary Malays, who have for years been frightened by the threats posed to them by non-Muslims.
Of course, the fears these leaders instill in the hearts of ordinary Malays are also real fears in their insecure souls. This insecurity has not diminished despite decades of independence, and it is this insecurity that drives identity politics and its most powerful tool to date – the conflation of the Islamic faith with the Malay race.
To our learned religious and political leaders, whose authority seems to come directly from the Almighty, I say this: Despite my limited knowledge, I doubt that God would be pleased to be drawn into the petty politics that are used to cover up, or even promote, corruption and injustice.
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