FEB 4 — It was disheartening to learn that some of my Moslem brothers and sisters are still in doubt over the implications of the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (COMANGO) demands. I learned that these criticisms, levelled at ISMA who, as described by Jan 13 Malaymail Online “took the task of spearheading the nationwide campaign against human rights recommendations” by COMANGO, ….….. were made by a cursory reading and dissecting the document without further discussion with the relevant parties. This had yielded misconstrued conclusion that was far from truth.
Anyone reading the demands by COMANGO should also have the capability to integrate and analyse the facts with all the events that have been unfolding in Malaysia which were actually the basis of their demands in the first place. As a lecturer, I always remind my student that they should not be only regurgitating facts of what they read from books, but they must always apply or connect the theory with the scenarios and clues to draw a whole meaningful interpretation, and any implications out of it. Furthermore, as a doctor-to-be, where patient’s life is of utmost importance, one must be able to manage the situation from a holistic perspective, from the personal history of the patient to that of the family, the social background etc so that the doctor will not miss any important lead that could help develop the diagnosis.
The involvements of ISMA with COMANGO report therefore, were not merely by reading a document.
On 21st of January 2013, I represented ISMA along with 2 others to the round-table discussion on the COMANGO report organized by the Persatuan Peguam-peguam Muslim Malaysia (PPMM) together with other NGOs or more appropriately, the NGI (non-government Islamic) organizations. To my knowledge, that was the first time ISMA was invited on such matters, although the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) had begun much earlier. In fact many of the NGIs were only made aware of the gravity of those demands then, that Dato’ Zainul Rijal bin Abu Bakar, the president of PPMM had been kind enough to give us briefing on what UPR was all about. Other lawyers assisted us on the legal terms and the interpretation of some legal clauses. We reviewed the documents based on COMANGO report of 2009.
As we all knew it, and as I would like to keep it short, the demands were bordering on fundamental issues of the aqidah of Islam, demands which are against the Islamic teaching as well as Shariah law e.g the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another.
Now someone had argued that, this demand should be celebrated as it ensures the freedom of others to choose Islam.
Facepalm.
One has to actually relate this statement with our Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia that defines a Malay as a Malaysian citizen born to a Malaysian citizen who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay language, adheres to Malay customs. Then only one determines which freedom of religion COMANGO is talking about.
Now, there will be a further debate on whether we should keep Malay to be Moslem by law and whether this provision creates more hypocrites. I believe the law works hand in hand in dakwah. As leaders, it is pertinent that they ensure the people would not be easily entailed into other religion and this was exemplified by Rasulullah SAW and his sahabah, the Rightly Guided Caliph on the matters of apostasy. Apostasy or riddah remains one the biggest sin in Islam and only those with no genuine interest in Islam will keep on belittling the sin. It was with this spirit that the leaders of the yesteryears had cared to insert the clause into our Constitution. In social context, the Constitution does help the propagation of dakwah in Malaysia much better, as had been testified by Dr Ugi Suharto as he compared with the challenges faced by Indonesia.
The other arguments were that we should not oppose COMANGO because only a handful of it demands were against Islam, while many others were beneficial indeed. As a Moslem with faith, I do not think we should weigh by proportion whenever the sacrosanctity of Islam is at stake.
I kept on asking the lawyers in the round-table discussion, what would the implication be if the COMANGO demands were unopposed? I was made to understand, based on the law and convention, the handful demands are enough to start changing the structure of our nation towards a secular one. It paves way for changing of the lifestyle in allowing the flourishing of LGBT culture (again, we must connect the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) clause here with Seksualiti Merdeka, which was not about violence towards LGBT, but rather promoting the lifestyle). The demands will become the precedent to allow further effort to erode Islam as the identity of Malaysia. It was all about implications.
Even elsewhere, people judge the document based on its essence, and not just on proportion of good and bad. The Family Watch International, an NGO based in USA, with the objective to preserve and promote the family, based on marriage between a man and a woman as the societal unit, rejected the “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” (CEDAW) and describes it as the ticking time bomb that would do great damage to women and to families if it is ever ratified by the U.S. Senate. It reckons that if CEDAW is ratified, it becomes U.S. law. Although CEDAW speaks of gender equality and violence against women, it also promotes lesbianism and transsexuals, and communities that are still in support of marriage institution know very well the implication of it.
There were many other series of meetings that ISMA had participated thereafter for months, of which, I could no longer render by participating due to work commitment. In truth, ISMA was made to understand the enormity of this matter and was glad to being able to work closely with Gabungan Pertubuhan-Pertubuhan Islam Dalam Proses Semakan Berkala Sejagat (MuslimUPro) in addressing the issue. In the end we could not just ignore the call to assist in whatever capacity we have by organising the ceramah, campaigns whether online and offline to stop all this madness in the name of human rights. It is also regrettable that some of us would settle to the issue of technicalities of wordings, so as to discredit by all means, ISMA’s effort to fight elements that have no respect to Islam as the religion of the Federation.
Let’s recall the hadeeth of the Prophet a.s, on the authority of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (ra) who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “Whoso- ever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.”
I believe there are still so much that we can do together as Moslems, with our hands, our voices and our ideas, to protect Islam as the religion of Federation.
Let’s start by signing the petition.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.
