This is the time to respect one another

THIS Ramadan is turning out to be not a nice one for this nation. We seem to be riddled with hatred and disrespect for each other’s religions – just this month alone there’s been the slapping incident and now there’s controversy over a temple relocation.

These are issues I consider rather concerning, and sadly, they arose not because of politicians but because of us, the people, the rakyat.

What is happening, people?

I have been monitoring many social media influencers and also politicians active online, and I have come to an analytical understanding – without asking for a million ringgit grant – of the problem. I surmise that, somehow, we are being taught to hate each other as a sign of our love for our faith and God. I have experience with only one faith and I do not claim to know about others but, essentially, this is the conclusion I have come to.

Some of us are taught that in order to love God, we must defend His religion. We are also taught to defend the Prophet’s name and his person above everything else. Thus, when an issue crops up, whether by accident or by design, the faithful are quick to jump on it and start throwing blame all around using the considerable power of the mindless social media machine. The algorithm then kicks in and we have a wildfire that can only be contained with police action – and even then many issues still burn with fury after the fact.

We can blame opportunist politicians only so much. My concern lies with the very foundation of our education. As I have said in many of my speeches, we as children are taught to honour mathematics, to respect the sciences, and to hone in on industry-based subjects but we are not taught to honour, respect, and accord dignity to those not of our own cultures or faiths but who are supposed to be our brethren in nationhood.

Then we are asked to turn to our religious classes, which isolate us even more by creating a narrative of enmity using poorly researched histories of wars between our faith and those of others. To me, there are no religious wars or holy wars. There are only wars, and religion is used to justify other agendas. The historians love to simplify events, and the religious teachers do not understand nor care enough about nation-building to ever question the concept of a religious war.

I have studied religion on my own for over 40 years and I believe that its key teachings rest with how we treat others as a doorway to a consciousness of God. But many others who either do not delve deeply into the religion or know only a methodical type of instruction choose to have a “direct” relationship with the divine through personal devotions and pilgrimage. When we do not balance both approaches, and we choose the “short cut” to salvation through personal devotions, then the door to enmity, hatred and disrespect opens widely.

It is my considered opinion that the issues we have in nation-building are mainly due to an education curriculum written by those who do not possess a wider spirituality, who are instead cocooned in their own narrow expertise. We nurture zero philosophers who can transcend science, history, economics, and religion to create a superior construct like Indonesia’s state philosophy, the Pancasila. Our Rukunegara is weak and incomplete in comparison because it was created by government officials with a businesslike mandate.

Malaysia's Pancasila must come from serious discussion and agreement among religious clerics-scholars-politicians who place the nation as first, second and last. Our own personal faith is as precious as our children and family and can never be traded with anything. But our nation is the vehicle of our future earthly salvation first and also a vehicle of our own salvation in the afterlife or higher wisdom of enlightenment.

Some of us consider that our faith is first, second and last. We consider our nation only as an optional extra. That is why we dwell easily in the currency of hatred, disrespect, and mistrust. My personal definition of a Malaysian is one who feels pride in and places utmost importance on his or her own culture and faith, but who also considers those of other cultures and faith as a necessary part of his or her own social, economic and spiritual success.

If we are taught that we need each other, that we have built this country together equally in our own capacities, and that we need one another to navigate the future as well as to enter the afterworld with the maximum credit of deeds done for others, then we will see better peace and harmony in this country.

Hating each other destroys our salvation both in this world and the next. We must all take this to heart or we risk losing the centre and soul of our nation and being.

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.