Religious revelations

IT'S like a leaf taken out of a handbook on creating controversies for some of our politicians.

Whenever an issue crops up, the usual suspects will mouth off to say yea or nay in a way that distinguishes them as champions of their respective communities or faiths.

Strong language is used, often with little reasoning, to exhibit their masculinity, and no surprises, they are male figures.

As writer Nathaniel Tan rightly wrote recently, in general, a lot of public discourse in Malaysia centres around “jumping” or more appropriately, reacting to an issue instead of responding reasonably.

He said when an announcement is made, if some don’t like it, they immediately begin jumping, issuing angry statements and yelling at each other.

Most times, there is a religious or racial slant to their riposte to emphasise they are the best custodians.

These lawmakers really offer nothing constructive, except to raise the political temperature.

With social media’s ubiquity, where everyone simply has something to say, the toxicity level has spiked.

I’ve been following the controversy surrounding the introduction of the “Imam Al-Nawawi 40 Hadith” module in schools, where the Education Ministry has assured that it’s strictly for Muslim students.

Well, the ministry should have given that guarantee right from the beginning, knowing there was the propensity for controversy from such an announcement. It would have been helpful if it had explained the salient points of the module.

Not for all: Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has assured that the ‘Imam Al-Nawawi 40 Hadith’ module is strictly for Muslim students. — Bernama

Reassurance is paramount, so, had a circular been issued, non-Muslim teachers and parents would have known this didn’t involve them.

I doubt many of the politicians or commentators who were busy trading verbal blows, took the initiative to read up on “Imam Al-Nawawi 40 Hadith” to better appreciate the works of this highly respected scholar.

There are plenty of commentaries and discussions on the book by Imam Nawawi, a hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad) expert who wrote extensively on theology and jurisprudence.

He was born in Damascus, Syria, in 1233 AD, and even at a young age, he devoted his time to studying, instead of playing, like all children his age.

Dr Jamal Ahmed Badi wrote in a commentary that Imam Nawawi “had endless thirst for knowledge and used to read twelve lessons a day and wrote commentaries on every lesson.”

His collection of 40 Hadith comprises the essential and fundamental concepts of Islam.

There’s also a more comprehensive commentary on Imam Nawawi’s book by US-based Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo.

I’m neither an expert on Islam, nor a Muslim. I’m merely a student of Islam, as it’s a major religion.

In fact, I signed up for Islamic History when I was in Form Six, and when I began my tertiary education at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) more than 40 years ago, I was required to study the religion.

Non-Muslims who opted to study at UKM understood that Islam was a compulsory subject. From my knowledge, none of us had any issues with what we had signed up for.

In fact, although the course was on basic Islam, I can safely say it has helped me in my work and interactions with Muslims.

I had the privilege of attending lectures conducted by the late Datuk Fadzil Noor and Datuk Dr Haron Din, two great Islamic scholars who eventually joined PAS.

When I began working as a reporter in Penang, I also met the late Kassim Ahmad, one of the greatest Malay intellectuals of modern times, who eventually got into much trouble with the authorities for his views on the Hadith, yet my interest continued to grow.

The point is, we must have a thirst for knowledge.

I’m a Christian with a respectable collection of books on Islam, and this has deepened my respect for the many positive values.

No religion teaches us to incite hatred, intolerance and violence against our brothers and sisters of other races and religions.

Unfortunately, there are religious and political figures who invoke God’s name and quote selectively from religious texts for the benefit of their own fiendish schemes.

It’s disappointing that many of us are afraid to learn about religions practised by fellow Malaysians for fear of being converted or compromising our faiths.

I have non-Muslims who come to visit my library and then ask “Why do you have so many books on Islam? Converting ah?” How ignorant.

By reading Imam Nawawi’s book, we would learn about his emphasis on hadith regarding the need to be sincere and truthful, or ikhlas, and avoid those who are insincere.

He also pointed out the seven types of desires, which include seeking glorification, money and portraying ourselves to be wholesome.

At a time when many of us are fearful of the young being instilled with radical and extremist teachings, the module should, by right, be welcomed.

It’s important to teach the young that they need to project universal Islamic values in a multi- racial and multi-religious Malaysia, and remind them that we’re not living in Afghanistan, for example.

Tan rightly wrote that we should resist our hot heads, at least for a day or two, and had this been the case, “non-Muslims might have learned that these 40 hadith were (ironically) chosen precisely because they are focused on moderation and exact types of positive values that are designed to temper extremism and highlight the inclusive nature of Islam.

“Religions frequently counsel patience, reflection, prayer, and meditation,” Tan wrote.

In fact, there are hadith and verses from the Quran which encourage Muslims to be kind towards non-Muslims. Al-Nawawi’s compilation also stresses that Muslims do no harm or reciprocate with harm.

Last week, Education Minister Fadlina Sidek met non-governmental organisations including Aliran, Dong Zong and Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia. It’s heartening that those who attended said they were satisfied with the explanation.

Unfortunately, not many Malaysians are prepared to advocate inter-faith dialogues in Malaysia, which would be a progressive step in educating the positive common values of religions.

Those who have attempted to do so with good intentions, ultimately found themselves caught in the chaos of controversy.

So, Godspeed if you’re willing to try.

Even a recent event organised by MIC, where multi-faith prayers were conducted, became an issue.

MIC members may be predominantly Hindu, but they obviously have Christians, Muslims and Buddhists among them, too.

I’m sure the intention was sincere and done in good faith as well.

I’ve been lucky enough to have many Muslim friends, colleagues and even family members.

But I fear many of our young Malaysians may not have that kind of opportunity, unlike the older ones among us who grew up having real friends – not acquaintances – from other races and religions.

How many of us are ready and willing to point out the positive traits of other religions, but fear being rebuked and resented by religious and political leaders?

It’s important that we keep an open mind on everything, and as Edward Said wrote in his essay, the clash of ignorance is the result of ignorance being formed, perpetuated and exploited.

We must never let the ignorant determine the depth of tolerance (acceptance) and moderation for Malaysia.