Anwar: Islam stands for fairness, justice

Opposition leader speaks on Syariah law, hudud, Perkasa and Isma and calls for even-handedness in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: Anwar Ibrahim, making a slashing condemnation of “self-righteous self-proclaimed defenders of the faith” and Islamic terrorist groups, has called for even-handedness in Malaysia in dealing with blasphemy against any religion.

He criticised the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s blasphemous portrayal of the Prophet, but condemned the massacre of Charlie Hebdo staff. He said Prophet Muhammad had preached love and compassion among all humans, and Islam did not sanction such brutality.

“Where is the textual authority to establish that Muslims should avenge the Prophet by embarking on a killing spree?” he said.

He held that blasphemy against Christians, Jews or any other religion, or incitement against anyone on account of religion, ethnicity or culture, was unacceptable, and called on the Malaysian authorities to act even-handedly in such cases.

If action was taken against anyone for blaspheming Islam or ridiculing Muslims then the authorities must also act in cases of blasphemy or insult to other religions and faiths.

“This is not a hypothetical issue. In Malaysia, we have seen how certain prominent Muslim leaders openly insult Hindus or Christians and get away with it. Why the double standards again? Muslims must learn temperance and tolerance in the tradition of the Prophet,” he said, in a speech at an international conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar also called for dialogue and engagement with all religious groups, for a recognition that Islamic taught respect and acceptance of all religions and all peoples.

Anwar condenmed Muslim leaders who turned a blind eye to the the murder and mayhem committed by ISIS, donning the cloak of religiosity, paying lip service to the sovereignty of the faith and exploiting the ignorance of the masses.

“Indiscriminate bandying of terms like ‘Shari’ah’ and ‘hudud’ serves no purpose,” he said, except for gaining brownie points.

He criticised right-wing Malay rights pressure groups such as Perkasa and Isma, describing them as holding “truncated views of Islam” and unable to separate religion from race, but said greater efforts must be made for engagement and dialogue with all groups for a common understanding that Islam taught moderation in acts of worship, with a balance between the forbidden and the permitted.

“The halal-haram controversy must be dealt with by using a moderate approach without the need for name-calling and hostile posturing,” he said. He said controversy over use of the word Allah, and Malay translations of the Bible, could be resolved once the fundamental principle of Islam’s tolerance and acceptance of other religions and other people was understood.

“The traditional conservative members of the Malay-Muslim community must therefore be actively engaged,” he said.

Anwar urged the Muslim community to reach for the “greater jihad” – the intellectual jihad – which he said was the universal principle of respect for knowledge, including freedom of thought, publication, and assembly.

“This jihad is a permanent effort. It is the responsibility of concerned citizens and those in leadership positions to bring the wisdom of Islam to bear on all issues of conscience,” he said.

“In quibbling over whether or not hudud is mandatory or that the Shari’ah should be the law of the land, there is the unfortunate neglect of the main issues: socio-economic hardship with rising costs of living and growing unemployment, (a) widening wealth gap, housing and health care problems, and of course rampant corruption and power abuse.

In governance, transparency and accountability cannot be compromised while corruption is shunned.”

He said groups such as ISIS had perverted the concept of jihad, and pointed out that Prophet Muhammad never set up a caliphate but a community of souls.

However “among the first acts [of ISIS was] to force non-Muslims to convert and appropriate women and young girls as war booty. In their fanatical drive to expand their state, they force into marriage young women and even children or worse, raped them”, apart from other acts of brutality.

“Allah does not forbid you to be kind, uphold ties, return favours and be fair towards non-Muslims,” Anwar said.