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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Islam is the religion of the federation, NOT a licence to oppress

Islam is the religion of the federation, NOT a licence to oppress
The battle lines have been drawn.
The conservatives and hardliners must have felt as if the rug had been pulled from under their feet, after the Court of Appeal delivered a landmark judgment ruling that a Negri Sembilan Shariah law outlawing cross-dressing is unconstitutional, and therefore null and void.
To call the ensuing backlash a kneejerk would be putting it mildly.
The Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association claims that the court has erred. And PAS’ influential Ulama wing has even urged a “jihad” to maintain order — a disturbing call-to-arms usually reserved for the unbelievers, apostates and so-called enemies of Islam.
Even Putrajaya was second-guessing itself. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he felt the decision was “extraordinary”, as if minorities losing their rights is an “ordinary” occurrence. (Perhaps it is.)
The worst, however, was to have a minister like Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom urging the public to defend Islam “by any method.” He even boasted of the formation of a Shariah court which has equal powers as the Federal Court — the nation’s apex court — to deal with such threats.
A very dangerous idea indeed, but then again it was a dangerous idea to have a cabinet minister in charge of Islamic affairs in the first place.
The Negri Sembilan state government has since announced it will challenge the ruling at the Federal Court, and ever since, a group of Muslim lawyers and activists have banded together to lend their minds towards the case.
Ironically, most of these people were not even aware about the case when the hearing went on. Perhaps they never thought that transgenders would actually win and finally be recognised as equal citizens of the country.
Now, they would have us believe that this battle is about the sanctity of Islam. That those who are on their side are fighting for Islam, and those who are not are out to destroy the faith and lead its adherents astray.
This has been the argument used all this while: The myth that just because Article 3 of the Federal Constitution provides for Islam as the religion of the federation, then Islam must reign supreme in this country over all else.
It was the argument Negri Sembilan used to defend itself in the Court of Appeal case. It claimed that Section 66 of the state’s Shariah Criminal Enactment is necessary, that it needed to criminalise men who cross-dress to defend the precepts of Islam, which was under its jurisdiction.
But it had failed to counter the overwhelming medical evidence of transgenderism, that transwomen are not just “men who cross-dress.” It had failed to show that it was not usurping the personal freedoms and rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Of course laws regarding precepts of Islam are allowed under each state. But then again this has never been about the precepts of Islam.
It was the same argument used in many other cases, including ZI Publication’s challenge against a Selangor Shariah Law which empowers it to seize books it considers “unIslamic.”
Islam as the religion of the federation is not a licence to bulldoze the rights of citizens, Muslims or not. Any state laws, Islamic or not, must not usurp such rights enshrined by the Constitution.
Islam may be the religion of the federation, but most certainly not the supreme law. Not in Malaysia, where our country bases itself not on Quran and Islamic scriptures.
Islamic cultures, practices and teachings — sacred as they may be to the Muslims — have no right to automatically shape the country’s policies, and must be subject to rigorous scrutiny from the public, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The Court of Appeal ruling on transgenders and the subsequent backlash is not so much about Islam and its sanctity.
It is about those who believe that every citizen should have equal rights to life, against those who wish to see minorities as second-class citizens.
It is about the jurisdiction, the limits of power bestowed to state governments and the Shariah courts which fall under them.
Regardless, some people choose to view this purely as a battle against the transgenders. They would not rest until all transgenders submit themselves to oppressive religious laws.
This is what it actually means to fight for their side: That you think transgenders do not deserve to be treated like any other fellow citizen.
That transgenders must be subjected to humiliation, and degrading abuse — vocal or physical — from religious authorities. That transgenders be deprived of an opportunity to live their lives with dignity.
That transgenders should suffer depression and distress for not being able to wear what they wish to, to look as they wish to. That transgenders should never feel comfortable in their own skin, hating themselves and what they see in the mirror.
That transgenders should continue to live their lives in shame, never accepted by the society surrounding them. And above all, to not recognise that transgenders are fellow human beings deserving of respect, acceptance, tolerance, and equal treatment.
Granted, some people actually feel that much hatred and scorn for other humans who have never done any harm to them at all; and had based their irrational hatred on what they think is their religion. To some, this is something to be proud of and to be defended to the death.
Is this discrimination and prejudice what Islam commands? I don’t think so. -Malay Mail

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