Religion

By Wan Saiful Wan Jan

1 July 2009: The Erdogans in PAS must come up with a coherent reform agenda, or they will eventually be portrayed as having quietly admitted mistake and defeat. This will make it very difficult for others in the party to speak up for decades to come. The Erdogans will eventually become the latest evidence why speaking up in public is bad and does not work for PAS.

By Wan Saiful Wan Jan

16 June 09: It is only when these ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ flourishes that PAS can benefit from a healthy competition of ideas. Let the internal groups compete in the open so that the party can then make an informed decision on what is the best way to proceed. This will push the party forward and make it a more credible political force.

By Keith Leong

4 June 2009: I have always had mixed feelings about PAS. The party has been painted as the ultimate bogeyman by the establishment media and pundits to my demographic group, often with general success. Incidents like their periodic campaigns against alcohol consumption and teenybopper music only served to heighten my discontent towards the brand of politics that they practiced.

By Shanon Shah

"We are happy when non-Muslims like Cat Stevens embrace Islam, but what if a Muslim wants to become a Christian?" asked Akyol at a public seminar on Secular state, religious society: The role of religion in a plural country yesterday evening.

The other speaker at the forum, PAS Member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, agreed that "the age of forcing ideas and beliefs through military and political power is over".

Date: Wednesday 11 March, 2009, from 6.30 to 8.00 pm
Venue: St. Stephen's Club, 34 Queen Anne's Gate, SW1H 9AB
Theme: "Islam and Liberal Democracy: How Muslims Can Combine the Two"
Featuring a presentation by Dr. Abdelwahab El-Affendi (author of Who Needs an Islamic State?) and comments by Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Director General of the Malaysia Think Tank.

by Mustafa Akyol

In his new book, Islam and the Secular State, the Sudanese-born professor of law Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im argues that a secular state that respects religious freedom is compatible with and, indeed, necessary for Islam. “As a Muslim, I need a secular state,” he summarizes in a nutshell, “in order to live in accordance with Shari’a out of my own genuine conviction and free choice, personally and in community with other Muslims.”

As a Muslim, I am reminded of how earlier Muslims prospered without much state intervention. Although they had laws which everyone had to abide to, these were very much limited to defence and maintaining peace. Each individual Muslim is responsible for their own actions. They were global traders operating in relatively free world markets. The Prophet Muhammad himself was a successful trader who married another successful trader. Many of his closest companions were also traders. These successful free-marketeers even allowed the market to deliver many of their public services. Government at that time did not run schools or hospitals. They had waqf (private charitable foundations) to support the provision of education, healthcare and even to run mosques. In other words, schools, hospitals, and even mosques, to name just a few, were private institutions, free from government interference.

In Britain, the Muslim minority is demanding that they are treated as equals. Things are not much different for ethnic minorities in Malaysia. Just like minority Muslims in Britain, the minority non-Muslims in Malaysia too are asking to be treated as equals.

Although Islam is a blessing to mankind, many Muslims (not all), and some Muslim groups (not all) are simply a disaster to mankind. They seek to impose their beliefs on others. They want to coerce others into living the way of life that they define as acceptable. Even within the Muslim communities - and note that I am saying Muslim communities in the plural because I do not believe there is only one interpretation of Islam - they say you must follow their interpretation because they know best what Islam is.

In short, we have living amongst us, Muslims who believe in coercion and imposition, not just coercing non-Muslims into living lives the way they say, but also coercing Muslims into subscribing to their version of Islam.

In Malaysia, non-Muslims are not allowed to preach religion to Muslims. Non-Muslims, like Christian missionaries, for example, who try to proselytize risk prosecution.

But it is difficult to categorically say that it is illegal for Muslims to convert. There are many cases where Muslims wanted to register their conversion to another religion but were prevented from doing so for various technical reasons.