|  ©The Star
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hopes to find a solution to controversial issues such as religious conversions and inter-marriages before he leaves office next March.
The Prime Minister said he does not think the problem is so difficult that “we cannot find solutions with an open mind” if there was an attitude of understanding the issues involved.
“If we can all understand together the issues that can cause problems, then of course we can make sure from the beginning that such problems do not arise,” he said at a press conference Thursday after the launch of the Institute for Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS).
Citing an example, he said when a non-Muslim man married a Muslim woman and did not tell his non-Muslim wife and kids about the conversion and marriage, problems were bound to crop up when he dies and both sides lay claim to the body.
“The Muslim wife says he’s a Muslim and the non-Muslim wife says he’s non-Muslim,” he said, adding that to avoid such a problem the appropriate thing would be for the person converting to announce it to his non-Muslim wife.
“At least just let her know,” he said.
Abdullah said sometimes making things too easy could bring about problems and cause confusion, which in turn would bring about even more problems.
He said when an individual religious problem is reported in the media, it then becomes the community’s problem, which is further complicated when it is a legal matter.
“We cannot allow what is forbidden. Islam has things which are allowed and which are prohibited,” he said.
Abdullah also said that sometimes even among Muslims, there were differences with more conservative groups believing that some matters should not be discussed as they were langgar aqidah (went against the faith).
More liberal groups were of the opinion that such matters should be discussed, and this would often rile up the conservative group even more.
“What is important is that we need to go back to understanding what the real issue is and with the spirit of moderation, I believe there are solutions,” he said.
In his speech, Abdullah asked IAIS to give him “immediate counsel” on controversial issues that needed solutions as he did not want such issues to continue to plague Malaysia’s multiracial and multi-religious society.
The Prime Minister also said he hoped to get views from other stakeholders before engaging with the agencies responsible for Islamic administration, to find solutions that would prevent similar controversies to those that had surfaced over the last few years.
On Islam Hadhari (Civilisational Islam), which was introduced during Abdullah’s time, he believed his successor Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would carry on with the policy.
“He (Najib) did mention yesterday (Wednesday) that Islam Hadhari would be one of the strategies for the development of the country that could be continued,” he added.
On Muslims in the country apparently not being so keen on the Islam Hadhari concept, Abdullah said that it was not easy to spread such a concept in the first place, and it was even more difficult and complicated when it is viewed through the perspective of partisan politics.
He was however confident that Islam Hadhari was something that was acceptable to a multiracial and multi-religious country like Malaysia, as it imbued universal principles such as truth, justice and good governance. |
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