Zaid: Political leaders kow-towing to Islamic authorities who’ve usurped God’s power

(Malay Mail Online) – Malaysia’s Islamic authorities have become so bold as to assume God’s power to pass judgment on Muslims that political leaders are ceding even administrative control of the country to these clerics, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said.

The former de facto law minister was weighing in on a growing trend for federal and state Islamic authorities to label progressive Muslim groups and individuals deemed “liberal” and “pluralistic” as “deviants”; he noted too that while Muslims around the world have no clergy that act as intermediaries with God, it was not so in Malaysia.

“Here, there are religious authorities who have usurped the power of God and pass judgement on Muslims long before they die and long before The Day of Judgement,” Zaid wrote on his blog yesterday in a post titled “The real power in Malaysia”.

“What is abundantly clear to Malaysians who care to see is that Malay political leaders are afraid of the religious authorities. Our leaders are like the Imperial Chinese eunuchs who would always obey the Emperor for the privilege of living in the Palace and having control over state finances.

“In this matter, there is no difference at all whether Umno or the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has political power and occupies Putrajaya — today the real power in our lives emanates from the religious authorities,” the vocal Kelantan-born politician said.

Recently, the Selangor Fatwa Committee issued a religious edict against Sisters in Islam (SIS), declaring the Muslim women’s rights group had deviating from Islam because it was purportedly promoting liberalism and religious pluralism — concepts which the conservative committee has yet to elaborate.

SIS filed last Friday for a judicial review on the fatwa that was gazetted last July in Selangor.

“Instead of calling up the religious authorities to explain to them the dangers of their rulings and how they violate our constitutional freedoms — and how Muslims will be adversely affected by such rulings — our political leaders have done nothing,” Zaid said in his blog post.

He criticised Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for purportedly saying at an international forum touting Muslim democracy that while there was nothing wrong with pluralism and liberalism, he would not change the decision of the Islamic authorities in Selangor, a state controlled by PR.

Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali made a similar remark last Sunday, saying he did not support the fatwa against SIS but was merely asking others to respect it as the decision has already been made.

Zaid said there was nothing sinful about being liberal, pointing out that it only meant that someone is “open-minded” and has “forward-looking and progressive” ideas.

“When the prime minister said that Umno Selangor had to think outside the box and come up with new ideas to retake the state, he was being liberal and progressive. You can also say that, in the context of Umno, Najib, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin are liberals and progressives while Utusan Malaysia, Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Isma are conservatives,” he said.

Zaid also said religious pluralism means, in the context of Malaysia, that all religions have the right to exist in the country and that it is not a judgment call on which faith is better or truer.

“As Muslims, we believe of course that Islam is better — but no one is preventing us from believing this. Equally, Hindus (for example) are entitled to their own set of religious beliefs in what constitutes the path to salvation,” he said.

“Pluralism means we accept that there are different religious faiths in the country and that our fellow-citizens have the right to practise those faiths freely. It is the idea that we must coexist peacefully. That’s the essence of Article 11 of our