APRIL 3 — How would you describe Ramadan to someone who isn’t familiar with the season?
It seems reductive to say that Ramadan is simply a time of fasting. While that is, of course, one part of it, it goes far deeper than abstaining from food and drinks.
Ramadan is a time for restraint, a time of patience and a time to reflect on those who are less fortunate as we try to imagine walking in their shoes.
And with all the turbulence happening in the world which we bear witness to daily, both at home and abroad, there is a lot of reflecting we need to do as a society.
Abroad, the plight of the Ukrainians both fighting and fleeing a war they had no desire to enter. At home, the sorrow of a mother being separated from her child in the name of a religion that expounds mercy, love and compassion.
Both are sinister events erroneously happening in the name of ideology or religion, both at the cost of innocent people trying to live their lives in peace and harmony.
Ideology and power mongering
While most of us would like to believe that international diplomacy has evolved for the better since the two world wars waged just a few decades ago — how many strides have we really made?
A close observation of the past decade’s events alone will paint a very grim picture.
“Might is right” seems to be the unspoken modus operandi under which all countries operate, as the relics of war still persist.
With veto power from five countries, this world order has for the most part remained dormant and unchallenged.
However, recent events, particularly the war in Ukraine, have proven just how delicate this system is and how fragile peace is when threatened by ideology and rhetoric espoused by those in power.
And as we broaden our gaze beyond Ukraine, we see that the signs were there all along, from China’s territorial expansion over the South China Sea, to the wars waged in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon in the name of weeding out terrorism or weapons of mass destruction — but to what end?
Be it differing ideologies, religions, or political affiliations we subscribe to, the belief that we are fundamentally different is divisive and dangerous.
When these beliefs are used as tools by those in power, all roads lead to further division, to the detriment of peace and harmony.
Over time, the religion or ideology itself suffers from the actions of a few bad actors misusing faith and doctrine in the name of endless power grabs.
Hitting close to home
To witness the danger of misused ideology and religion, we need not look very far.
Cases of unilateral conversions are happening before our eyes and in many cases, the executors of our laws are turning a blind eye.
To separate a mother from her child in the name of religion means that either the religion is not compassionate or that the act itself is not compatible with the religion.
It must be the latter.
And while some will be quick to argue that these cases fall within the jurisdiction of the Shariah court — to that I would respond, how can such a bias towards those of the Muslim faith, be part of our institution?
The existence of a dual justice system itself is oxymoronic. How do we apply different sets of rules among supposedly equal citizens and call it just?
We can’t.
We are a secular nation, with a secular constitution and laws. But we are where we are because of politics, and not many politicians today are willing to stake their reputation to course correct this institutional division.
The evidence of this is clear as day across all our institutions — from our education system to our justice system.
By having different rules that apply unequally to different groups, we drive this country deeper into segregation. It instils in our young the impression that the rules only apply to some, necessitating different treatment in society.
If we have learned anything from our history, it is that this is a recipe for civil wars.
Mothers and their children should not be separated
Unless the mother is physically, psychologically and/or emotionally unfit, we should do all we can to preserve that union. Neither politics nor policies should be allowed to come in between them.
Laws, policies and institutions that do need to be changed. They have no place in a civil society.
I would like to quote one Federal Court ruling that nullified the unilateral religious conversions of M. Indira Gandhi’s three children.
The decision by the justices took the statement by Tun Mohamad Suffian into consideration; he said in 1982, “In a multiracial and multireligious society like yours and mine, while we judges cannot help being Malay or Chinese or Indian; or being Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever, we strive not to be too identified with any particular race or religion — so that nobody reading our judgement with our name deleted could with confidence identify our race or religion, and so that the various communities especially minority communities are assured that we will not allow their rights to be trampled underfoot.”
Amazing isn’t it, the perspective we see when we put the right lenses on?
The ability to be just, fair, unbiased, equitable, and unprejudiced despite our differences.
That is the Malaysia we want and need.
Let me take this opportunity to wish Muslims “Ramadan Al Mubarak.” May the month herald a journey to self-discovery as we introspect our faith through patience, resilience and restraint, in reflection of those who are less fortunate than us.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
