Hypocrisy and religion

JAN 12 — Sometimes I can’t help but wonder why the people within the government insist on being there when they themselves don’t understand laws. And the saddest case of all is when the person in power is himself a trained lawyer.

When Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein decided to put forth a statement saying that the government will allow protests against the “Allah” ruling, did he even bother to recollect his law lessons?

I’m confused.

Why is this non-issue, which is still being decided in court, more worthy of protests in comparison to the ones demanding a cleaner government or more transparent elections?

Why is this issue, addressing the use of a single word, more deserving of attention than the plight of Hindus within this nation?

How does the home ministry, or even the prime minister, decide what matter has a right to be protested? Since the court’s ruling, we have seen eight churches attacked.

Religion and politics shouldn’t mix. We all know this, which is why I get some PAS members telling me that Islam is a way of life and they can’t separate it from their decision making.

Similarly, when someone politicises religion, we of course see the majority who voted for them expecting their moral values, religious beliefs and practices be given priority. This is what led to the Shah Alam Beer Raid, Beyonce calling off her concert, and Inul only being able to do her tarian gerudi in the Indonesian Embassy.

But what about the minorities?

This is what led to Hindraf garnering strength and eventually leading the Makkal Sakthi movement, leading to Barisan Nasional’s significant setback in Election 2008.

What I am seeing now is a government trying to regain the popular vote by any means necessary. In this case, they try to do so by getting the Muslims riled up by the use of the word “Allah”.

So, instead of Datuk Seri Najib Razak or Hishamuddin coming out and saying that irritating Muslim proverb of “Sabar separuh daripada iman”, what we heard from our prime minister was: “The government can’t stop the people from protesting...” And the Home Minister stating: “It’s okay to hold protests for this issue as long as it doesn’t get out of hand”

Of course, he later backtracked and said it was the police’s call and denied he ever said that.

At this juncture, I’m starting to believe that the post of Home Minister curses it’s occupant to somehow lose their IQ and doom those unworthy into a political future of futility. Quite like the “Defence Against Dark Arts” posting in Harry Potter. Personally speaking, I don’t care about Christians using the word “Allah”. In Selangor, they’ve been using it for ages since the state national anthem was sung in schools. It does not erode my belief that there is one true God.

One major difference between us is that Muslims believe Muhammad to be the final Messenger. Christians can do much worse than to use “Allah” to refer to their God, considering that I have read in “Dante’s Inferno” (which is on sale in the Classics section of MPH Bookstores).

One thing we have in common with all religions is the harshest and total disgust for hypocrisy, which is what the leaders of this nation have now proven themselves to be guilty of.

And I honestly think that Allah s.w.t or even Allah the Father would forgive us and our family’s trespasses on the issue of the usage of a single word used to name Him in publications in the Malaysian language. However, I would think hypocrisy is harder to forgive, particularly when their statements are recorded in every single media outlet.

What I’m saying is that we, as Muslims, are told to live in peace, to avoid violence and to firstly seek a diplomatic solution before declaring the need for violent upheaval. By firebombing churches and even by holding these protests, can we actually say that this is part of a struggle to “protect our religion”?

Seriously, to those who have done this, do you think Allah s.w.t, or even His Messenger our Prophet, would consent to your actions, which are no more civilised than that of sheer hooliganism?

Yes, the Christian God and the Muslim God are different. However, their teachings of positivity in both are the same. People should be told to understand this instead of being told of how different we are and that we should take to the streets to defend Islam.

People, let me tell you what an imam told me that still rings true. Islam defends itself, and is guaranteed protection from He Himself.