By Umar Hakim Mohd Tajuddin,
The term ‘Liberal Islam’ is so bemusing it is amusing.
The true sense of the word Islam is ‘submission’ and the entity to which the submission is directed to is Allah and Allah alone. In Arabic, although the word ‘submission’ etymologically shares the same root with the word ‘peace’, all the verses with the word ‘Islam’ in the Quran are all interpreted by the former.
True to its actual meaning, and some prefer to express it as to fully surrender, Islam frees those who embrace it from any form of obedience, voluntarily or by subjugation, towards another being. It is in the state of this absolute submission one is said to be in peace with his Creator.
Now let us inspect what Liberal Islam really denotes. One of the key hallmarks of liberalism is that individuals be accorded with absolute freedom of choice. In trying to apply this to Islam, its proponents call for a total reinterpretation of what Islam is and how an individual should practice it now. They call for a new exposition that breaks away from the system that is claimed to be too dogmatic, too literalistic.
Then what it should be based on now, one may ask. The many answers to that question actually can be summarised as this- whatever that is desired by individuals in general, in the particular period of time and irrespective of what Allah has outlined in Quran or through the conducts of The Messenger.
This is where the bemusement begins. While embracing Islam means Muslims must submit to Allah’s will and in so doing be freed from shackles of obedience to other human beings, the liberals somehow determinedly promote exactly the opposite- Islam, and by extension Allah’s ruling, must conform to what is currently desired by people. Putting it in another context, combining Islam and Liberal in a set of idea is a self-contradictory- an oxymoron. Rather unfortunately as we may see later, this is also where the amusement ends.
Closer to home, there have been many attempts of late to fuse Islam with Liberalism. Marina Mahathir, for instance, recently quoted a Quranic verse that, in general, calls for mutual respect and acceptance between people of various groups and tribes. She extended the context of this verse and implied that Allah recognizes LGBT. This is despite the many verses in the Quran that have already explicitly decided this matter. Whether this is an honest error or deliberated, her previous works and records on this issue speak for herself.
This penchant for selective, often abusive, use of Quranic verses can also be observed in their demands to abolish shariah law, permit murtad and revise Islamic family law among others. Some even go all the way to suggest that certain parts of the holy texts contravene the rights of human. This is just unfathomable as all Muslims regardless of their level of faith believe that Allah is All-Knowing and by that knows what is best for humans. For a mere mortal to claim that he is wiser than his Creator is just wrong on all levels.
In spite all this, one must not deduce that human rights has no position at all in Islam. Human rights in Islam are governed by Islamic morality and spirituality as outlined in the Quran and exemplified by The Messenger. One may find that in most cases, the rights in question are actually supported and protected in Islam such as the right to life, to education, to accumulate wealth, to a fair trial, to healthcare and so on. Only when its objective shifts to pursue absolute freedom in satisfying human desires and go against the principles of Islam are they rejected.
For example, several decades ago LGBT was regarded as a behavioral disorder and a violation even to Western norms and this is consistent with the view of Islam. Through the process of normalisation on the basis of human rights, LGBT has gained recognition over the years and now is accepted in the West as just a form of sexual orientations. Disturbingly, the same transformation cycle is now being initiated by the pedophiles and, by manipulating the same line of argument, they could expect an ending that is not dissimilar to what the LGBT has achieved.
There seems to be no stopping to this as the list of ‘disorders’ queuing to be normalised into ‘orientations’ is just endless. This is one example why Islam prohibits from submitting to human desires as it tends to erode morality. As most sensible human rights are already duly recognized in Islam, the next time someone laments about their position in Islam, chances are it serves as a disguise to another effort of fulfilling some twisted desires.
If anyone observes a bit more closely, only a handful of ‘human rights’, most have been mentioned earlier, violate the fundamentals of Islam. One could not help but to feel curious to why the liberal Muslims put so much of effort fighting for these few while they can put their resources to better use such as in promoting and pursuing the rights that are already valid in Islam. Are they actually trying to appease their conscience by attempting to put the Islam label to things that they know deep inside them are wrong but unable to resist from doing?
Or is this a case of peer pressure by the grandest scale as they become overwhelmed with the urge to imitate every single aspect of the Western lifestyle? If either of these holds true then the idea of liberal Islam appears to be an antithesis to the true state of liberated mind and heart that they claim to be championing. This goes to suggest that theirs are subdued souls who feed on superficial recognition in order to feel accepted, quite like an inferiority complex so to speak.
While it is acceptable for anyone to be confused sometimes, it is totally intolerable when the confusion is tried to be spread, to be recognised and even institutionalised. So those who attempt to do that to Islam- to modify its fundamentals and tenets with the conflicting idea of liberalism- must realise that they are going to face strong resistance. There is simply no two-way about it and no amount of calling those who spearhead the effort with names like bigots and such will change this fact. Muslims have adapted, along with other societies, to meet the changes and needs of times but never did it happen at the expense of the Islamic principles.
Comedian Groucho Marx was often attributed as to have quipped “These are my principles, and if you don’t like them.. well, I have others”. Commonly used in jest by politicians, it is rather sad for anyone to actually apply it in life. Not everything from the West is worth to be copied and adopted. Not especially when it requires you to compromise your principles of belief and faith just to measure up to their standards (perhaps down is more appropriate).
So regardless if you are a board director, a maturing reporter, a politician, or a novice writer- and you are a Muslim- the next time you have to make a choice between your faith and desire, remember that you have all the right to put into use the true meaning of the world ‘Islam’. The experience, as one would discover, is truly liberating.
The writer is with Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA)
The term ‘Liberal Islam’ is so bemusing it is amusing.
The true sense of the word Islam is ‘submission’ and the entity to which the submission is directed to is Allah and Allah alone. In Arabic, although the word ‘submission’ etymologically shares the same root with the word ‘peace’, all the verses with the word ‘Islam’ in the Quran are all interpreted by the former.
True to its actual meaning, and some prefer to express it as to fully surrender, Islam frees those who embrace it from any form of obedience, voluntarily or by subjugation, towards another being. It is in the state of this absolute submission one is said to be in peace with his Creator.
Now let us inspect what Liberal Islam really denotes. One of the key hallmarks of liberalism is that individuals be accorded with absolute freedom of choice. In trying to apply this to Islam, its proponents call for a total reinterpretation of what Islam is and how an individual should practice it now. They call for a new exposition that breaks away from the system that is claimed to be too dogmatic, too literalistic.
Then what it should be based on now, one may ask. The many answers to that question actually can be summarised as this- whatever that is desired by individuals in general, in the particular period of time and irrespective of what Allah has outlined in Quran or through the conducts of The Messenger.
This is where the bemusement begins. While embracing Islam means Muslims must submit to Allah’s will and in so doing be freed from shackles of obedience to other human beings, the liberals somehow determinedly promote exactly the opposite- Islam, and by extension Allah’s ruling, must conform to what is currently desired by people. Putting it in another context, combining Islam and Liberal in a set of idea is a self-contradictory- an oxymoron. Rather unfortunately as we may see later, this is also where the amusement ends.
Closer to home, there have been many attempts of late to fuse Islam with Liberalism. Marina Mahathir, for instance, recently quoted a Quranic verse that, in general, calls for mutual respect and acceptance between people of various groups and tribes. She extended the context of this verse and implied that Allah recognizes LGBT. This is despite the many verses in the Quran that have already explicitly decided this matter. Whether this is an honest error or deliberated, her previous works and records on this issue speak for herself.
This penchant for selective, often abusive, use of Quranic verses can also be observed in their demands to abolish shariah law, permit murtad and revise Islamic family law among others. Some even go all the way to suggest that certain parts of the holy texts contravene the rights of human. This is just unfathomable as all Muslims regardless of their level of faith believe that Allah is All-Knowing and by that knows what is best for humans. For a mere mortal to claim that he is wiser than his Creator is just wrong on all levels.
In spite all this, one must not deduce that human rights has no position at all in Islam. Human rights in Islam are governed by Islamic morality and spirituality as outlined in the Quran and exemplified by The Messenger. One may find that in most cases, the rights in question are actually supported and protected in Islam such as the right to life, to education, to accumulate wealth, to a fair trial, to healthcare and so on. Only when its objective shifts to pursue absolute freedom in satisfying human desires and go against the principles of Islam are they rejected.
For example, several decades ago LGBT was regarded as a behavioral disorder and a violation even to Western norms and this is consistent with the view of Islam. Through the process of normalisation on the basis of human rights, LGBT has gained recognition over the years and now is accepted in the West as just a form of sexual orientations. Disturbingly, the same transformation cycle is now being initiated by the pedophiles and, by manipulating the same line of argument, they could expect an ending that is not dissimilar to what the LGBT has achieved.
There seems to be no stopping to this as the list of ‘disorders’ queuing to be normalised into ‘orientations’ is just endless. This is one example why Islam prohibits from submitting to human desires as it tends to erode morality. As most sensible human rights are already duly recognized in Islam, the next time someone laments about their position in Islam, chances are it serves as a disguise to another effort of fulfilling some twisted desires.
If anyone observes a bit more closely, only a handful of ‘human rights’, most have been mentioned earlier, violate the fundamentals of Islam. One could not help but to feel curious to why the liberal Muslims put so much of effort fighting for these few while they can put their resources to better use such as in promoting and pursuing the rights that are already valid in Islam. Are they actually trying to appease their conscience by attempting to put the Islam label to things that they know deep inside them are wrong but unable to resist from doing?
Or is this a case of peer pressure by the grandest scale as they become overwhelmed with the urge to imitate every single aspect of the Western lifestyle? If either of these holds true then the idea of liberal Islam appears to be an antithesis to the true state of liberated mind and heart that they claim to be championing. This goes to suggest that theirs are subdued souls who feed on superficial recognition in order to feel accepted, quite like an inferiority complex so to speak.
While it is acceptable for anyone to be confused sometimes, it is totally intolerable when the confusion is tried to be spread, to be recognised and even institutionalised. So those who attempt to do that to Islam- to modify its fundamentals and tenets with the conflicting idea of liberalism- must realise that they are going to face strong resistance. There is simply no two-way about it and no amount of calling those who spearhead the effort with names like bigots and such will change this fact. Muslims have adapted, along with other societies, to meet the changes and needs of times but never did it happen at the expense of the Islamic principles.
Comedian Groucho Marx was often attributed as to have quipped “These are my principles, and if you don’t like them.. well, I have others”. Commonly used in jest by politicians, it is rather sad for anyone to actually apply it in life. Not everything from the West is worth to be copied and adopted. Not especially when it requires you to compromise your principles of belief and faith just to measure up to their standards (perhaps down is more appropriate).
So regardless if you are a board director, a maturing reporter, a politician, or a novice writer- and you are a Muslim- the next time you have to make a choice between your faith and desire, remember that you have all the right to put into use the true meaning of the world ‘Islam’. The experience, as one would discover, is truly liberating.
The writer is with Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA)
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