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The Minister in charge of Islamic Affairs, a subsidiary member but still a full minister under the PM’s Department has promised that they will monitor Muslims who are liberal. Allow me to wonder aloud what that is all about? Who does that assertion really refer to?

Please bear with me as my public wondering is full of questions which doubt any irrationality and will review any and all forms of such questions but will always seek to defend the federal constitution and all the rights and privileges accorded to every Malaysian citizen.

Any Muslim is a member of the family of Abrahamic faiths; which are all considered revealed religions. It is the youngest of the three Abrahamic faiths; all of whom call Father Abraham as a prophet of old.

Muslims take the word of God revealed through their Prophet (as documented in the Quran) as the absolute truths about life and living. Most also include the ‘hadith’ as second only to the Quran in developing Islamic jurisprudence, and regarded as important tools for understanding the Quran and commentaries (tafsir) on it. Moderate Muslims are strict about their faith.

Conservative economic views: Government should tax less and spend less. Cutting spending to balance the budget should be the priority. Higher income earners should have an incentive to invest (credits). Charity is the responsibility of the people.

Liberal economic views: Government should provide more services to the less fortunate (like health care) and increase taxes if necessary. High-income earners should pay a larger percentage of their income as taxes.

Conservative social views: Opposed to gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Support the right to bear arms, death penalty, and personal responsibility as an individual.

Liberal social views: Gay couples to get equal rights like everyone else (e.g. marriage); abortion should be legal; support embryonic stem cell research. Support restrictions and regulation around the right to bear arms.

Conservative personal responsibility: Individuals should exercise personal responsibility and it is the government’s role to hold them accountable even with severe penalties. Laws are enacted to reflect the best interest of the society as a whole.

Liberal personal responsibility: The people should look to the government to provide a structure. Laws are enacted to protect every individual for an equal society sometimes at the expense of economic freedom if necessary.

Is our minister of Islam even legitimate?

Tawfik Ismail, a son of our former deputy prime minister and one of the most respected Umno ministers, who was also the right hand man of Abdul Razak Hussein, made a controversial comment about the role of Islam at the federal level. To me, based on a clear and appreciable understanding of our federal constitution, his views are consistent with our constitution.

On Jan 8, 2016, The Star carried an interview with Tawfik Ismail, also a former MP for Umno. Among other things, Tawfik clarified the following, as quoted by The Star :

“I wasn’t inconsistent in my views. I wasn’t talking about anything more than following the constitutional boundaries that delineate roles in the country.

“The issue is that the power of religion should remain in hands of the rulers. That is their role in the constitution,” he said.

“The question arose: what do I feel is the difference between today and when Tunku and Tun Abdul Razak were at the helm of the country.

“I said that the biggest difference was that Jakim, under the Prime Minister’s Office, is now usurping the role of the sultans and the state religious authorities,” he said.

If I reframe the Tawfik argument, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) cannot be a federal department under our federal constitution because Islam is a matter under state rulers and not under the federal government. The role of Jakim and their “usurping the role of sultans and state religious authorities” has created much confusion and conflict in such roles and requisite responsibilities.

For me, this was made obvious especially when the Federal Court Judges in civil court cases start ‘behaving like Malay-Muslims’; who feel obliged to defend Islam in their public and professional roles; which were designed, created, and crafted to be civil but always secular.

Malays in Malaysia are, by definition Muslims, and it appears now that the converting father is sanctioned to \’steal children’ in such cases. The facts speak otherwise though; married as Hindus under those religious rites, how can such parents overnight become Malay because they converted to Islam? And these secular judges, too, have also become Malay in tow. Did they not swear to protect the federal constitution, even if they swore upon the Quran?

Does liberal Islam preach ‘theft’ and ‘rape’?

Does Islam preach ‘theft’ or ‘rape’ in any form? Whether it is ‘stealing’ children from mothers, or ‘stealing’ green lungs from society; does Islam encourage such ‘theft’? Is that what liberal Islam is, which the minister now seeks to monitor and restrain?

Or, does the minister mean a Muslim who dares to say ‘No’ to Umno? Did not Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Shintaro Ishihara write a publication called ‘An Asia That Can Say No’, edited and translated by Armando S Malay Jr. Had he not also said ‘No’ to Umno for the second or third time? Did we not still make him PM and allow him to rule for 22 years? Did he do only wrong for all those years? Are we then not equally wrong or right now, too?

I am a student of SH Nasr and have come to respect Islam as an honest Abrahamic faith, almost like my own faith, i.e. an evangelical Christian faith but not always one full of grace and hope that God is a just person. We are called not to judge the other; but leave that responsibility to God Almighty. For that matter, even the Muslim faith believes that Jesus will return at the Second Coming to judge humanity. Are these all wrong?

Let God be the judge and let us learn to unlearn and relearn to love our neighbours as much as we love God. May God bless Malaysia.