(Din Merican and M. Bakri Musa)
Dear Bakri:
I had the pleasure of chatting with Imam Feisal Rauf at the Blog House in Bukit Damansara last Sunday (September 9, 2007) after he led our Maghrib prayers. The occasion was the special interfaith Doa Selamat prayers seeking Allah’s Blessings for Tun Mahathir’s speedy recovery from his second bypass operation on Tuesday September 4th. As you know, The Tun had his first on January of 1989.
Apart from being the former Prime Minister and an outstanding leader, Tun Mahathir was also my mentor and hero. Thus the multi-faith congregational prayers Imam Feisal led had a special significance for me.
The Imam’s greater effort is in trying to bridge the divide between the West and Islam. I thoroughly enjoyed his recent book and understood his theme: the commonality of our faiths with their universal message of love, charity, and goodwill.
Until I met him, I did not know that he had studied at a local school in Kuala Lumpur. That explained his impeccable Malay and special affection for Malaysia!
I was also delighted to learn that he is the son of the distinguished and yet very humble Egyptian scholar-teacher, the late Tan Sri Professor Dr. Muhammad Rauf of Al-Azhar University, Cairo. I must say that Imam Feisal also inherited his father’s handsome features!
The late Professor — I knew him as Dr. Rauf — was my professor at the University of Malaya when I did Islamic Studies in my first year (1960). He (Al-Fatihah) taught Islamic History, the Quran, and the Hadith. He had a huge influence on my thinking about and my attitude towards our religion. Prior to that, my exposure to our Holy Book, like you I presume, was through the lessons taught by my simple kampong ustaz.
Hence the special bonding I felt for Imam Feisal, as reflected in my affectionate hug after the Maghrib prayer that Sunday. I had to hold back my tears. I felt deep within my heart that he reminded me very much of my earlier special Professor of Islam. Yet it did not occur to me to ask him whether he knew Professor Rauf! Imam Feisal’s manner of speaking, appearance, and views on Islam were very much of my enlightened intellectual Professor Rauf, Imam Feisal’s father.
I am happy to have met the Imam and to know that he inherited much of his father’s legacy. Dr. Rauf was the first teacher who said to me that there is no compulsion in Islam. He was always composed, rational, and very analytical in his discourses on Islam, the Quran and The Prophet, pbuh.
I still have Yusof Ali’s Translation of the Quran, which I acquired on his recommendation 47 years ago, as well as Professor Hitti’s History of the Arabs. Both are very old and tattered volumes now.
I saw Professor Rauf some years ago when he was the Rector of the International Islamic University. I was very touched and honored that after so many years he still remembered me as “you are that student who came knocking at my office door” to seek clarifications on certain verses of the Quran which he had quoted during his lectures. Once he cleared my doubts, he eased my mind. He made me appreciate our religion and its theological and philosophical underpinnings.
Strange as it may seem to some people, our teachers and professors do have a profound influence on our lives. I am reminded of Surah Al-Luqman (Surah 31), which was first introduced to me by the Late Professor. Luqman the Wise, for whom the Surah is named, counseled his son, among other things, to keep up his prayers, command what is right and forbid what is wrong, and to bear anything that happens to you steadfastly. The late Professor Dr. Rauf was an Al-Luqman to me. What a small world for me over 40 years later to meet his son, Imam Feisal.
Imam Feisal and I met almost by chance. What brought us together at Blog House that Sunday was our genuine concern for the health and well being of Tun Mahathir whom we both admire for his many achievements as Prime Minister and a Muslim Leader par excellence.
Salam and Selamat Berpuasa,
Din
* * * * *
Bakri’s reply:
Dear Din:
Unlike you, I have not as yet had the privilege of meeting Imam Feisal. I have viewed his lectures and interviews on television, and read a few of his books, including his latest, What’s Right With Islam: A New Vision for Muslims and the West and What’s Right with Islam: is What’s Right with America. The most memorable phrase I take from both books is that America is “the most Sharia-compliant” state today. Food for thought for those ardent advocates of an Islamic state!
Muslim leaders like Imam Feisal and the Aga Khan (who was also in Malaysia recently to officiate the famed architectural prize in his name) provide a much-needed counterpoint to the likes of the deluded Osama bin Ladin and the ever-growling Ayatollah.
Imam Feisal and the Aga Khan capture best for me the central Quranic message: Command good and forbid evil. From that central theme flow other subsidiary ones, like treating others as you wish to be treated. That in essence is Allah’s message to all His prophets, and thus the major themes of all faiths. If only our leaders — religious and secular — could emphasize this commonality instead of being obsessed with our differences!
That interfaith Doa Selamat prayer for the Tun is a superb example of this endeavor of using religion to bring people together and not to divide them. I tip my songkok to Marina Mahathir for initiating this. It gave an opportunity for all Malaysians to express their love and prayers for the Tun, besides bringing us together. Marina is experienced at arranging these ecumenical gatherings when she headed the AIDS Council.
Of course there will always be the bigots who fear that such mixing of religions would “adulterate” our faith.
Such small mindedness is not confined to the uninformed or uneducated. In 1998 when Hari Raya and Chinese New Year coincided, the government wisely seized upon the rare and unique opportunity to remind Malaysians of the virtues of generosity and tolerance by capitalizing on the dual joyous occasions. Petronas came out with an imaginative and a memorably uplifting advertising jingle.
However at the Hari Raya prayers I attended at a mosque on the campus of University Islam, I heard very little of that spirit expressed in the sermon. Instead, the Imam venomously lashed out at those who dared elevate non-Islamic festivities to the exalted status of Hari Raya, a direct assault on the government’s noble intention.
Long soporific sermons have their sleepy effect on me rather quickly, but the ferocious intensity of the Imam’s fulminating tirade kept me awake. Words like “heathens,” “blasphemy,” and “sacrilege” were liberally sprinkled in his sermon, irreverently incongruous in a place of worship and at a traditionally forgiving season.
I am pleased that The Star will be publishing a regular column by Imam Feisal during this Ramadan. The works of Muslim leaders like Imam Feisal and the Aga Khan capture best for me the meaning of dakwa (teaching) and zakat (charity). Imam Feisal with his Cordoba Initiative and the Aga Khan with his string of universities and health centers give us a more enlightened meaning of the two important concepts in Islam.
I have another observation on Imam Feisal. Unlike his father, the Imam is a product of America’s modern liberal education, having graduated in physics from Columbia, an Ivy League university. Like the other religious leader I admire, Asghar Ali Engineer, Imam Feisal’s background in the physical science and his quantitative skills give precision to his thought. In physics and engineering, you cannot simply agak agak (guesswork) or the bridge you designed would collapse.
Imam Feisal illustrates my point, elaborated in my book An Education System Worthy of Malaysia, of the need to revamp our religious stream. Our future ulamas and religious scholars must be exposed to the widest field of study before embarking on their religious career.
Sallam and Selamat Berpuasa,
Bakri
We need enlightened Muslim like them in our government …
but what are they doing right now besides being sideline critics with little to risk ?
but maybe I am not the right person to say this as I haven’t contribute much myself … *sad*
“…//…Command good and forbid evil. From that central theme flow other subsidiary ones, like treating others as you wish to be treated…//…†– M. Bakri Musa.
This, I can agree.
It is the cornerstone of all religions and the heart of all morality.
The reason for this is plain to see.
Morality dictates one chooses the Good over Evil. Next question, how does one know what is Good and what is Evil in any given situation and circumstance? What and where are the benchmarks?
The most practical guide in general cases (barring odd exceptions) is knowing how one likes to be treated generally and treating others as one wishes to be treated….
It is sad to see an official religion of the country is allowed to be exploited by narrow and misguided religious people and politicians for decades with narrow and damaging political agenda at the great expense of the country.
The buck stops with the leader/s.
It’s not the religion, it is the misguided faithful, some holding powerful and influential positions, that one has to worry about.
wonder if fellow readers have use the road near masjid negara, the electronic advertisement board for the Jabatan Agama Islam Wialayah in the masjid negara flashes their KPIs…. … these KPIs are very stern and will deter those Islam wannabe(s)….
Those that preach should be a person that is qualify and have gone thru proper training and pass the “exam”. When they preach, there must be audio recording to record all speech for archiving and auditing. Good teaching can be make as reference in library. Bad teaching, well, the government could do something about it. Is this all done in Mosque?
Religious extremism and fundamentalism exploited for narrow and damaging political agenda had done enormous damage to the country and her ordinary people.
People do not trust each other and it is difficult for the country to move forward in this environment which could take decades to recover, if the government is serious about doing something about it now.
……”Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.” Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.(do i wish that a muslim should become a christian?God forbid. do i wish that a hindu would become a muslim? God forbid)
The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of its own growth assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.
Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church (or mosque or temple) in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: “Help and not fight,” “Assimilation and not Destruction,” “Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.”
….Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions, Boston USA circa 1907
“The late Professor – I knew him as Dr. Rauf – was my professor at the University of Malaya when I did Islamic Studies in my first year (1960). He (Al-Fatihah) taught Islamic History, the Quran, and the Hadith. ”
Would this not placed the good Professor in the same period in UM that the “Sleepy One” also studied Islamic Studies there? If so, the “Sleepy One ” must have slept through all his lectures because he sure did not absorb any of the good Professor’s teachings – especially the part being there is no compulsion in Islam. If he had, Lina Joy and the other few ladies in the Islamic rehabilitation centres would not have to undergo those mental tortures.
Malaysia’s Ulamas and Islamic Scholars would do well to follow the grand example and virtues of Imam Feisal, so that they can in turn spread these teachings to their faithful masses, and help transform the nation into a more cohesive direction in the decades to come.
I fail to agree with the writer that Mahathir is a great leader.To me and many malaysians history will judge him as a cunning, conniving, corrupt politician who only know how to spend on mega projects.That sort of legacy does not qualify him to be a great leader. For 22 years he destroyed the judiciary, caused corruption in the civil service and introduced croynism in the dispensation of govt contracts.I can really see nothing outstanding during his tenure of 22 years.Part of his legacy is to leave behind him a country so torn and divided by racial strife.
So, this is the Islam we are all bragging about! Malaysia, the World-class Education Hub
http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/letters.php?itemid=8284
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I agree with Richard Teo that Mahathir is not a great leader. Yes he is cunning, conniving, corrupt politician who only know how to spend on mega projects, see what he done for Perwaja? Proton? Foreign exchange lost to the tune of 10 over billions? He is the one who didn’t stop the islamitization of the nation and this sort of legacy does not qualify him to be a great leader at all. For 22 years he destroyed the judiciary, caused corruption in the civil service and introduced croynism in the dispensation of govt contracts. I can really see nothing outstanding during his tenure of 22 years. If you compare two PM during his time, Mahathir is the PM who wasted US100 Billion for his country and Old Lee is a PM who help make US100 Billion for his little red dot. So who is greater? Part of Dr.M legacy is to leave behind him a country so torn and divided by racial strife.
“………………..history will judge him as a cunning,conniving corrupt politician who only know how to spend on mega projects.”
Richard Teoh.
Couldn’t agree with you more.The harm he did to Malaysia in my assessment exceeds whatever good they say he has done.In his 22 years of rule corruption has accelerated, judiciary has been made compliant, media has been muzzled by introduction of various dragonian laws.With the 2 strong pillars of democracy shackled together with the absence of a government in waiting, is it any wonder that all the mismanagement and plundering of the nation’s wealth can be so easily carried out with impunity.
I wish to see genuine Muslims instead of all the stereotypes that I am seeing today. It is pointless fasting during Ramadan and at the same time hurting people’s feelings. When one lacks energy, one tends to be blur and irritated easily and whatever words that come out from the mouth do not go through the brain. If you don’t fast, you sin. If you fast and hurt people’s feelings, you also sin. It is a lose lose situation.
Even mild and moderate religion helps to provide the climate of faith in which extremism naturally flourishes. The only force strong enough to motivate utter madness in otherwise sane and decent people is religious faith. Suicide bombers are not psychotics but are religious idealists who by their own lights are rational. They have been brought up, from the cradel to have total and unquestioning faith and when their faith prevail upon them that blowing themselves up with many innocent others is sweat martyrdom, they just can’t wait to pull the trigger for their deliverance. The teachings of ‘moderate’ religion, though not extremist in themselves, are an open invitation to extremism. This is because it is so difficult to tell what is right from wrong. It depends on whose prespective. In the eyes of the Imam, killing innocent people is wrong but to Osama and gang it is acceptable collateral damage. Sure Osama appears absurb to us but say do the majority of Pakistan population thinks so? More than 75% of the Pakistan people rather have Osama as their head of state.
Religious faith is an especially potent silencer of rational calculation. There isn’t very much choice isn’t it if you happen to be born for instance into a family of Muslim. The punishment of apostasy is death, according to the Shariah law and we are going replace our English law with it.
Religion just like economics should NEVER mix with politics because of this powerful capacity to create damage. The fact that Malaysia politics thrives on and thorough exploits religion and economics for their power and appeal accounts for the predicament we are in now – a collapsing nation. The other half of the equation is the destructive legacy from the Mamak dictator who in his 22 years of authorithorian rule manage to almost completely destroy anything that resembles salvation for the nation. Cry my beloved country.
The damage done by Dr.M and AAB is irreversible, the fundamentalist is pushing the country towards the way Pakistan and Taliban is being practiced. All the non-muslim have to get prepared, it doesn’t matter if you are a Chinese or a Dayak or a Kandazan because if you cannot tolerate they would prefer that you exit from this country.
Dr M destroy Musa Hitam, Gaffar Baba, Anwar bcos they go against him. If you disagree with him, he will demolish you. He is more like Hitler, Stalin or Mao who kills millions. Next victim is AAB. Nothing great about him.
“Command good and forbid evil.”Bakri Musa.
Is this what is flowing out from the actions from the authorities of Malaysia.It’s more like “Command evil and forbid good.”
Had the previous PM rule of 22 years been reasonably successful, we would not be in this terrible mess.
There are permanent, long term and far reaching consequences from decades of bad leadership and governance of the country…….our country long and painful journey of recovery from this terrible mess has just began.
DR.M’s 22 years of arrogant, autocratic leadership, his introduction of Creeping Islamisation has been the basis of exacerbating cultural differences as the majority were steered to an Arab style culture via, for example, attire, ably assisted by an overbearing Shariah system where State and religion are used for political infleunce. It was indeed different in the 60’s, and 70’s when the population mixed more naturally, until the Ayatollah of Iran and his preachings cast a dark shadow over our Bangsa Malaysia ideals.
Of all the talk I heard lately on Islam, the most enlightening I have heard is that by Syed Albar during his interview with Hardtalk. Not that he did great on defending the issues but that he revealed ultimately what is the top leadership UMNO ultimate goal i.e., for Malaysia to be and Islamic state but NOT a theocratic state.
The issue now is that is it possible. This goes in line with the interpretation of what an Islamic state can be. Imam Feisal is claiming that US is more an Islamic state than any other state and there are those who claim only the Taliban got the right idea.
This to me is the crux of the issue – an unclear stance that confuses everyone and hence sets no real direction for the nation. In other words 50 years after Merdeka, we still do not know what we are and what we want to be and hence that is the crux of our divided nation bonded only by short-term material gains and desperation.
Whether they say it or not, in large part even the most liberal UMNO leader believe that ultimately a clear picture and unique model can be had that is neither the Taliban’s nor the US. This is their apathy and their arrogance at the same time.
I don’t believe there is such thing as Islamic state without being theocratic. You may control and interpret that theocracy but ultimately there is one. The best that can be hoped for is an open democratic debate that will check the increase theocratic tendencies. This all depend on ultimately a overwhelmingly top executive power which is also ultimately a formula for disaster because its nothing more than an elected Sultanate which we know does not work. It only take one weak one to abuse it and destroy what took decades and even centuries to build. I like to remind everyone of Marcos and what he did to the Philippines.
The future of Malaysia is clear to me now on the issue and frankly, it scares and saddens me..
The special position of the malays as prescribed under Article 153 of the Constitution is limited in scope to only the reservation of reasonable quotas in these 3 sectors: public services, educational places and business licenses.
Hence, the present rampant racial discriminations practiced on almost every facet of our national life are mostly violations of the Constitution. Examples of these violations are:
(a) Racial discrimination in the appointment and promotion of employees in publicly funded bodies, resulting in these becoming almost mono-raced bodies. These bodies include: the police, civil service, army and various semi and quasi government agencies.
(b) Imposition of compulsory share quota for malays in non-malay companies.
(c) Imposition of compulsory price discounts and quotas in favour of malays in housing projects.
(d) Completely lop-sided allocation of scholarships and seats of learning in clearly unreasonable proportions that reflect racial discriminations.
(e) Blanket barring of non-malays to publicly funded academic institutions (that should include the Mara).
(f) Barring of non-malays from tenders and contracts controlled directly or indirectly by the government.
Our Constitution provides for only one class of citizenship and all citizens are equal before the law.
The presence of Article 153 does not alter this fact, as it is meant only to protect the malays from being “squeezed” by other races by allowing the reservation of reasonable quotas on certain sectors of national life.
However, this Constitution has now been hijacked through decades of hegemony of political power by the ruling party to result in the virtual monopoly of the public sector by a single race.
The ensuing racism, corruption and corrosion of integrity of our democratic institutions have brought serious retrogression to our nation-building process in terms of national unity, morality, discipline and competitiveness of our people.
Wah lau erh, islam like dis one ahh?
http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/letters.php?itemid=8271
…you restrict the number of non-bumi passes merely because you wish to have more bumi lawyers. Foreign law graduates have no choice but to sit for the CLP if they wish to practice in Malaysia.
And all the Muslims say..”ouch” that hurts!! What else can we do, Born a Muslim have to die a Muslim. Is there a choice to opt out? Will that thought throw arrows of hate toward your direction? If Islam is the truth, why the compulsion?
No no all religions don’t lead to God! That is a false assumption based on all roads leads to Rome. ? No! All the gods are different..ya? Either there are multiple gods or One God. Hindus have mutliple gods, Buddist and toaist have multiple gods. Jewish, Arabs and Christians believe in one God.
By the way, many Chinese are Buddist because the government records in their identity as Buddist. In reality he/she may not be.
Remember China is communist and those who came in the early days may not be worshipping Buddha, perhaps ancestral or nothing at all.
The Malays heritage is actually not Islam, it is borrowed from the Arabs. Am I right? Or will I be stoned or shot for heresy? I don’t think I am wrong, because Islam was birth in the middle east,(not in Malaysia). Same with Christianity Jesus was a Jew not an English or an American.
Christianity was not birth in Europe but in Israel. Islam was birth from Nabi Muhammad from the middleeast. Both religions speak about Abraham or Ibrahim. Both says that he was their father and prophet. So there is a connection somehow. Both have the same heritage. Why is there war among brothers?
No need to fight or prove who is better than the other. No need to fight as whose God is the greatest.
Time will prove it all. When? When we kick the bucket? When we are launched into the unknown future. Then we will know the truth! But would it be too late?
In the meantime, live peaceable with all man. Respect each other and love them eventhough they are different from you. The world is a wonderful place with such a variety of colours, races, cultures and attitudes.
I think we should start responding positively and create a positive atmosphere around us.
There is far too much emphasis over which religion a person is “attached to” in Malaysia!
I don’t know of another country (except for the moronic theocratic Islamic States) which puts such emphasis on this issue to the extent that it has become an almost silly and socially divisive.
People here often get asked what faith they belong to- a question which usually get a surprised look from the recipient ( posisbly a sharp rebuttal in response ) in USA, Europe, and other Asian countries. It’s the last point that people should be interested in, realising the owners privacy as well as looking beyond such matters, but Malaysia uses it to classify and categorize- what a wierd state of affairs it has become!
Yeah you are so right ‘greatstuff’! Tell me why should religion be quoted in the IC? Why is there a great hassle if one wants to change? Isn’t the freedom granted to citizens of this country what they want to believe. If the freedom is there, then no need to put it down in the IC. Give us the right to believe whatever we want to. Why force?
If you say it is for the enforcement officers to catch those who do not fast during the Ramadan, I think it is mere excuse. If someone do not want to keep Ramadan, must they be forced to. Isn’t that compulsion? Since when the officers are Gods? Isn’t it better one does it from the heart then one does it because they have no choice? The more I think of it, the more I feel, people are held in a religious prison.
Can the voices of the citizens oppose to this kind of compulsion? Or are we going to let the government dictate what our belief system should be? Is there a political agenda behind that? Isn’t it control?
Now the judicial system should not be Islamic. It creates more bondage than justice.
Well, I guess, I would be the next missing person for being so vocal. :(
Yes awesome, it’s all about the “control freak syndrome” that (sadly) developed over the past 25 years, and how they achieve manufacturing societies (compliant) robotic thinkers. Eventually, a back lash reaction takes shape because the nation slips in it’s rankings in favour of those who’s citizens have that extra spark required for keeping up with the competitive world, as Marc Mobius of Templeton Asset Management succiently stated in the newspspers (Financial Times)- talk about the aspect of opportunity cost, phew, tragic, isn’t it?
It is wrong to assume all Chinese who does not embrace Islam or Christianity as Buddhists. This is a wrong perception as the Chinese religion is in fact a mixture of three major religions, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
Confucianism and Taoism were major religions in China, their founders being Chinese, while Buddhism was “imported” from India. However, due to similarities in their teachings, these three religions found a common roof and were united as a “three in one” religion.
The common practice of Chinese families in Malaysia worshipping their ancestors is part of Confucianism which professes filial piety. Much of the design of Chinese temples in Malaysia are basically Taoist with emphasis on the “Tai-ji” and “Ba-gua” while deities worshipped in most temples are of Buddhist origin, including the Lord Buddha and Guan Yin.
So to state the religion of Chinese as Buddhism is actually misleading, but perhaps classification of religions in Malaysia has been narrowed down by the British during their reign in Malaysia.
Beg to differ ktteokt, I doubt it is the British who classified them. For the ‘orang putih’, it is not a big deal.
Like what ‘greatstuff’ says ‘I don’t know of another country (except for the moronic theocratic Islamic States) which such emphasis on this issue to the extent that it has become an almost silly and socially divisive.’
It is not in the British blood or other countries in Europe to place importance in one’s religious belief. One will receive a sharp rebuttal as invading into someone’s privacy if questioned on this issue.
Now tell me whoelse? It is the narrow minded people who try to classify them and does it in grave error. If I am not mistaken (and correct me if I am wrong,) it is just after the May 13th in 1969 that such a distinction was made so prominent. All Malays were classified Muslims, all Chinese Buddhist and all Indians Hindu.
It is definitely not the British (many of whom probably were Christians) who bother to make such distinction.
I agree with you Ktteokt, all Chinese are not Buddhist and it is incorrectly stated in many of your Identity cards. We are partly to be blamed. We take a ‘tidak apa’ attitude for the sake of peace and some people take the upper hand.
Why let someone dictate what you should believe. If you are not a Buddhist, insist on a change. Most of us just don’t care. You see to many of us it is not a big issue but to some it is.
The problem happens when someone forces it down your throat what you ought to belief. Isn’t that violating your liberty?