Making enemies of ourselves

SOMETHING ugly is happening to Malaysia. We have a group of citizens who belong to a particular political party declaring other citizens as “enemies of Islam”.

According to these people, Muslims must declare citizens who do not support their party as Islam’s enemies.

When and how did this occur? There are two incidents that I know of.

The first occurred in Parliament, that institution charged with the responsibility of keeping the country safe for all of us. A member of the House accused the government of a serious crime without giving any evidence, and MPs voted to suspend him. His attempt to get the popular vote among social media users fell flat when he was given a six-month suspension.

What happened next was unprecedented in the history of this country and of the august House: A member of the Opposition party stood up and, with his fellow party members, began to recite what is called the Qunut Nazilah.

This is a prayer that was read by the Prophet Muhammad against the enemies of Islam during wartime and in the most dire of circumstances. Religious clerics agree that the Qunut Nazilah can only be read and declared by a head of state or a religious authority during prayers, and only against a clear enemy at war with Islam and the nation.

The Qunut Nazilah cannot be aimed at rival political parties consisting of citizens of the same nation. This attempt at making enemies within our own fold is, to me, probably the blackest mark in our nation’s history so far.

That declaration of enmity was clearly levelled at MPs of all races, of all faiths and of all cultures.

In the second incident, a member of that same political party, during a ceramah canvassing for votes in the upcoming Nenggiri by-election in Kelantan, proclaimed another political party – comprising members from all races, faiths, and cultures – as “kafir harbi”.

The term kafir is meant to be used against non-Muslims who reject Islam, and the term “harbi” means a state of war. Thus, the expression kafir harbi means “non-Muslim enemies of war”. The speaker at the ceramah further indicated that any political party that cooperated with the declared kafir harbi party are also enemies of Islam.

Such an insult, and coming from a person of the same race and religion as me. For me, a political party that does not understand the basic idea of political debates, political ideologies, and the idea of nation-building which requires the simple acceptance and accordance of dignity to all races, faiths, and cultures has failed the test of being a legal political entity in this country. There is no place in Malaysia for such a party.

There is no place in this country for either that speaker at the ceramah or the one at Parliament. There is no place here for citizens who declare other citizens in Malaysia their enemies.

I must again quote our great scholar, citizen, and Muslim, the late Dr Siddiq Fadzil. These words are from a lecture he gave at Universiti Kebangsaan on Oct 17, 2018, titled “Hidup Bersama dalam Kepelbagaian: Islam dan Budaya Damai” (Living Together in Diversity: Islam and the Culture of Peace): “Merajut damai dalam kepelbagaian memang memerlukan tahap toleransi yang tinggi. Untuk itu istilah-istilah tertentu dalam sejarah politik silam yang kini sudah tidak relevan dan tidak dapat diterima, seperti istilah kafir harbiy... seharusnya digantikan dengan istilah lain yang dapat diterima dan lebih menepati realiti hari ini. Sesuai dengan semangat kebersamaan istilah yang realistik ialah al-muwatnun atau warganegara, istilah yang inklusif dan meliputi semua, Muslim dan bukan Muslim.”

Basically, Siddiq admitted it was difficult to forge together a nation of Muslims and non-Muslims: Weaving peace in diversity indeed requires a high level of tolerance.

For that reason, he said, certain terms from past political history, which are now irrelevant and unacceptable, such as the term kafir harbi... should be replaced with terms that are more acceptable and better suited to today’s reality. In keeping with the spirit of togetherness, a realistic term would be al-muwatnun or citizen, an inclusive term that encompasses everyone, both Muslim and non-Muslim.

I believe Siddiq represented the best of Islam in this country.

I would like to end my column today with more wise words from Siddiq from that same lecture, this time about the meaning of our “brotherhood” of humanity and citizenry:

“Sementara itu, nilai persaudaraan perlu difahami dan diamalkan dalam erti yang luas, tidak terbatas hanya dalam lingkaran persaudaraan seagama (ukhuwwah dinniyah), tetapi meliputi persaudaraan setanah air (ukhuwwah wataniyyah) dan seterusnya persaudaraan kemanusiaan (ukhuwwah insaniyyah).”

He said the value of brotherhood needs to be understood and practised in a broad sense, not limited only to the circle of religious brotherhood (ukhuwwah dinniyah), but also encompassing national brotherhood (ukhuwwah wataniyyah) and furthermore, human brotherhood (ukhuwwah insaniyyah).

In other words, we are brothers of faith, we are brothers of a nation, and we are brothers in humanity. This is our anchor, and let no man detach us from this mooring, leaving us to float in an endless sea of mistrust, hatred and enmity.

Long live a united Malaysia!

Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Studies at UCSI University. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.