It’s not about Islam; it’s about religion

As much as PAS might argue that an Islamic system does not mean that Malaysia would transform into a theological state, the people will not buy this. They are still suspicious that an Islamic system translates to a theological state. And they remember what it was like in the old days when religion once ruled the world. That was the worst period in the history of mankind.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

For more than 20 years I used to live in what can be considered a PAS community -- PAS here meaning the Islamic Party of Malaysia. I had quite a number of PAS people as neighbours, leaders included, amongst whom were Mustapha Ali and Harun Jusoh. I was also the chairman of what Umno calls a ‘PAS mosque’. Further to that, I was involved in a few other mosques, all classified as ‘PAS mosques’. My thinking, therefore, was very much influenced by PAS, in particular as far as Islam is concerned. And this also means I know what makes the minds of the PAS people tick, being ‘one of them’, so to speak.

I disagreed with much of what PAS propagated and I did not hold my punches. In my speeches in the mosques I whacked some of the attitudes and actions of the PAS people and told them that what they were doing and saying actually puts people off Islam and PAS. If what they are doing and saying are meant to bring people to Islam and PAS, then the reverse is actually happening.

PAS is a political party, I said. So, if they want to win support, they need to think of a political strategy on how they can win over the people, in particular the non-Muslims. If all PAS can garner is 50% of the Malay support, how can PAS expect to win the support of the non-Malays, meaning also non-Muslims? PAS can’t even get more than 50% of the Malays to support the party.

PAS is not interested in garnering votes or winning the elections, they replied. PAS is only interested in propagating Islam.

If PAS is not interested in garnering votes or winning the elections, I told them, then why stand on the platform of a political party? Why not then PAS just become a missionary movement and spread the word of Islam and forget about the elections?

As a missionary movement PAS will not be free to speak, came the reply. PAS will have more freedom to speak as a political party. The government can silence a missionary movement but it can’t silence a political party.

I did not buy that argument. There is much jostling for power in PAS. If all they are interested in is to spread the word of Islam then why all this jostling for party positions? Why do the PAS people seek party positions? Is a party position crucial to the task of spreading the word of Islam? The actions of the PAS leaders give an impression that it is all about politics and the pursuit of power. It is not at all about spreading the word of Islam.

We need to get into power to be able to spread Islam, again, came the reply. So we need to win the elections and hold high office in the party as well as the government to meet our objective of spreading Islam.

Again, this statement did not make sense. Politics and elections and party positions are about attaining power. Maybe PAS is an Islamic party. But it is still a political party. And the job of political parties is to get into power. The only thing is PAS stands on the platform of Islam. But it is still a political party, nevertheless, and it seeks what all political parties seek; power.

It is time that PAS is honest with itself as well as with the voters and supporters. There is no problem with using Islam as a political platform. After all, in other countries there also exist political parties that stand on a religious platform whether it is Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism or whatnot. So having Islam as a political platform is no crime. They just need to be clear on what they are and what they seek. And it is clear that PAS is a political party and what it seeks is power.

There should be no confusion about this.

Most voters, non-Muslims included, have no problems with an Islamic party. They can accept the fact that PAS is an Islamic party and support it for what it is. What they can’t accept is insincerity and hypocrisy. Until PAS can be honest, not only to itself but to the general public as well, then expect Malaysians to be suspicious of the party.

Most people understand that in politics they normally say one thing but do the opposite. There is much hypocrisy and insincerity in politics. And politicians don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say. People can accept this from politicians and political parties. It is in their nature. But they expect the opposition to be better than this, in particular PAS, which stands on the platform of Islam and is therefore supposed to be nobler in its cause.

Once PAS can be clear and honest about what it is, which is a political party, and once it openly and honestly declares this and understands that the job of political parties is to seek power, then maybe it can start saying and doing the right things.

I repeat: people have no problems with a religious based party, Islamic or otherwise. It is when these parties say one thing but do the opposite is when the people have problems with it. So if PAS can declare that it is a political party and that its objective is to form the next government, then even non-Muslims can give the party its support.

People do not have any problem with Islam per se. It is when Muslims impose Islam on non-Muslims that the problem arises. So it is not about being anti-Islam. It is about religion being forced onto one, any religion for that matter. Even if it were a Christian party or a Hindu party the voters would still reject it if the objective of the party were to impose Christianity or Hinduism on the population.

In short, the people are not against Islam. The people are against religion being imposed on those who wish to be free of religious domination. This does not mean that they are anti-religion, though. They just do not want religion being forced onto anyone. They want freedom of choice when it comes to religion. They want to decide whether to be religious or not. They want religion to be something they choose and not something that is forced upon them.

And herein lies the problem. Muslims say that there is no compulsion in religion. They even quote verses of the Quran to support this statement. But the actions of Muslims are opposite to what they say. And this frightens most people. They see Muslims as dominating although Muslims may say Islam is about choice and not about compulsion. So how can they trust Muslims when Muslims say one thing but do the opposite?

The best form of propagation is to lead by example. You do the right thing according to what your religion teaches and you let your actions speak for itself. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. People will trust you based on what you do rather than on what you say. And if you do the opposite of what you say then people will distrust you even more.

Unfortunately, the majority of the civil servants and government officers -- including those in the police, anti-corruption agency, judiciary, and whatnot -- are Muslims. And Muslims have this holier-than-thou and high-and-mighty attitude. But the highest incidences of abuse of power, corruption, racism, arrogance, and whatnot, are from these same agencies where the majority are Muslims.

How can non-Muslims trust Muslims when the majority of those perpetuating crimes are Muslims themselves? And when Muslims talk about the virtue and fairness and justice of Islam, and yet Muslims themselves are the worse scum on earth, then expect non-Muslims to distrust Muslims. Muslims suffer from the bikin tak serupa cakap disease.

Muslims must first clean up their act. They must first live the life of a true Muslim and adhere to the proper teachings of Islam. Only then will non-Muslims become impressed with Islam and start trusting Muslims. And when Muslims propagate Islam and Islamic politics by demonstration rather than rhetoric, non-Muslims would begin to accept it as the best alternative and the best example of good governance.

As I said, it is not about Islam but about all religions. All religions have gone through a history of violence. The Jews before Christ were violent. They exterminated non-Jews. Then the Romans almost exterminated them in return. Then along came the Christians and they soon did the same thing -- exterminated non-Christians and each other as well. The Muslims throughout the last 1,400 years killed more Muslims than non-Muslims -- right up to the time of Wahab’s movement less than 100 years ago when the entire Muslim city of Medina was wiped out; every man, woman, child, camel, goat and chicken.

Even the English and French kings plus the Popes in Rome engineered ethnic cleansing of fellow-Christians. No one is exempted from this history of brutality, bloodshed and ethnic cleansing. It is only when the Monarchs and their lackeys in the religious hierarchy -- the so-called representatives of God -- were overthrown in favour of a peoples’ government did the situation change.

People still remember the brutal history of religion, all religions. They still shudder when they remember the times when religion ruled the world and much injustice was perpetuated in the name of God. They do not wish to return to those times.

It will take a long time before people can again trust religion to rule over them. Until then they do not want religion as the government or religious laws as the laws of the land. They want freedom to choose their own destiny, not their destiny to be decided by religion.

PAS must not take this as a personal attack against the party or a demonstration of anti-Islam sentiments. It is nothing personal or targeted merely against Islam. It is just that people have lost trust in religious people. While they may believe in God and subscribe to a certain religion doctrine, they do not trust those who claim to be doing God’s work and who try to impose the word of God on their daily lives.

PAS can continue standing on the platform of Islam. It can continue being an Islamic party. There are no problems with that. But PAS must declare that it is a political party, and not a missionary movement, whose objective is to form the next federal government.

And it must not harbour ambitions of abolishing the current secular system in favour of a theological system. As much as PAS might argue that an Islamic system does not mean that Malaysia would transform into a theological state, the people will not buy this. They are still suspicious that an Islamic system translates to a theological state. And they remember what it was like in the old days when religion once ruled the world. That was the worst period in the history of mankind.

Of course, PAS can still claim that its objective is to abolish the secular system in favour of a theological system. That is not a problem and it is absolutely within PAS’ right to harbour these aspirations. After all, it is a free country. But then PAS can’t also expect those who are suspicious of theological states to continue supporting it.

I am not saying that PAS should drop Islam or the Islamic State agenda. This can still be the aspiration of the party. No problem with that. But PAS can’t also aspire to form the next federal government because they will not win enough votes to do so.