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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Where’s the ‘kemajuan’ in Jakim’s name?

That a mere discussion is seen as a threat speaks volumes about how our authorities perceive Islam.
COMMENT
By Nur Haziqah Abdul Malek
jakim Ulil Abshar Abdalla300I was ecstatic when I heard that there was going to be a roundtable discussion on Islamic fundamentalism featuring scholar Ulil Abshar Abdalla. Finally, someone was going to talk about it and we were going to talk about it in the midst of all sorts of conflicts about the faith. I would have registered to attend the discussion.
However, my enthusiasm was soon destroyed by Jakim’s statements opposing the event and the government’s decision to bar Ulil Abshar from participating in the discussion.
The fact that a mere discussion is seen as a threat speaks volumes about how our religious authorities perceive Islam and how much they fear they may be proven wrong.
Sharing opinions is something that people have always done. Through the ages, the ulamas of Islam have always done it. They have discussions and they debate in order to come to an agreement before they issue fatwas. The people at Jakim probably think they already know all there is to know about liberalism. Even so, what is wrong about letting others who don’t know so much try to get some knowledge from those who may be able to offer it?
Furthermore, no one is going to issue a fatwa. It is going to be just a discussion on a topic relevant to current times. A talk. No one is going to hand down any ruling.
I’ve read a lot of comments from a lot of Muslims. Many say liberalism is deviant. Well, okay, if that’s what they think. But does that mean that someone who subscribes to it should be shut up? Anyway, putting aside the argument about free speech, the discussion wasn’t even going to touch on liberalism directly. It was going to be about fundamentalism.
Some people are scared of knowledge. They are afraid of being misled. But I haven’t heard of anyone being scared about learning history, even if it is false history that is being taught. We still go by the book in order to get good grades. But God forbid when it comes to learning more from each other about religion.
I’m sure many people can think for themselves and weigh the strength of the information they receive. To deny this fact shows just how much the authorities want to control our minds, or how lowly they think of us as thinking people.
Just where did the kemajuan in Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia go?
Nur Haziqah Abdul Malek is an FMT reader.

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