Distributing 1 million Qurans without motive? – Ravinder Singh

“Beware the Ides of March”. This was a warning given by a soothsayer to Julius Caesar to be extra careful on the Ides of March (the 15th) as there was a plot to kill him on that day. Caesar did not stay home and was assassinated by Brutus.

Non-Muslims should similarly beware of the free distribution of a million copies of translated Qurans as there is likely to be a hidden motive.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, patron of the Islamic Information and Services Foundation that is going to distribute the translated Qurans, said that the “One Soul, One Quran” project was aimed at “lessening the misconception and alleviating fear of Islam amongst non-Muslims”.

He attributed non-Muslims’ fear of Islam to the fact that there were many interpretations and teachings on Islam these days that were not actually based on the religion.

“They like to portray Islam as a cruel, unreasonable or unjust religion and that makes non-Muslims in Malaysia afraid of Islam, when the reality is, there is nothing to fear.”

As a doctor, he should know that treating the symptoms of a disease will not contain or even eradicate the disease. It is the root cause that must be found and treated.

How will the distribution of a million copies of the translated Quran to non-Muslims who are not the problem but victims of “the many interpretations and teachings on Islam”?

Aren’t those Muslims who interpret the Quran to suit their whims and fancies who are the problem and should be dealt with? Shouldn’t they be the ones to be given the correct version of the Quran, or taught its correct interpretation?

What then should be the correct formula to correct the non-Muslims fear of Islam?

Again, as a doctor he should know that seeing is believing. When we see footage of ISIS beheading and burning people alive, what does he expect people to think of Islam and how do the good Muslims feel about their religion of peace being portrayed as a religion of violence?

Dr Mahathir, you can take the horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink. You can distribute a million copies of the translated Quran, but you can’t change the way non-Muslims see Islam as long as they see and hear what some bigoted Muslims say and do, things that the Prophet himself would not approve of.

If there is no sinister motive behind the “One Soul, One Quran” project, then the proper way of “lessening the misconception and alleviating fear of Islam amongst non-Muslims” is to educate and discipline those Muslims who are responsible for “the misleading interpretations of Islam as a cruel religion”.

Dr Mahathir, in case you can’t see it, a religion is judged not by the words in its holy books, but by the daily words and deeds of the adherents of the religion.

If the public sees that the adherents of any religion are of an exemplary character as shown by their daily lives, they don’t berate people of other faiths but respect them; they are humble; they are just; they don’t defend the indefensible – that is what speaks of a religion, and it speaks in volumes.

So, religion is evaluated by the daily words and deeds of its adherents, not by what is contained in its holy books. Daily lives of the followers of any religion are the living advertisements of the good or bad of the religion. It is accepted that there may be a few bad apples here and there, but when the numbers of the bad apples are big, or the words and deeds of even a few rotten apples are so obnoxious and so loud, and nothing is being done by the leaders of the religion or of the country, then don’t blame others for having a negative outlook of that religion.

Giving a million translated Qurans to the non-Muslims while at the same time giving the bigots a free hand to carry on their nefarious agendas is akin to giving high-tech fire extinguishers to the public to put out the fires started by a few undisciplined children in one’s family.

How the translated Qurans are going to be distributed is not known. Will they be given to non-Muslim employees in the government and private sectors? Will they be given to school children and students in other institutions of higher learning? Will they be given house-to-house? Will they be given to those with a tertiary education? Will they be given to any Tom, Dick and Harry? Will they be handed out to pedestrians in busy streets as newspapers are sometimes handed out? Will they be packed with BRIM payments? Will they be given to the vulnerable?

If the identities of the receivers of the translated Qurans are recorded in any form, they could end up having to account for the proper keeping of the holy books, even years later. Employees and students could one day find their exams, interviews as such, having questions based on the Quran, as they have been given free copies for them to read, not stored away or thrown away.

What it adds up to is that the “One Soul, One Quran” project appears to be a very subtle, veiled, long-term proselytisation project.

I for one will not accept a free copy of the Quran from the Islamic Information and Services Foundation as I don’t want to open myself to any accounting of the Holy Book. I don’t want anyone calling at my house enquiring whether I have read it, or if I need anyone to explain anything in it, or having to answer any survey questions on it, or being invited to participate in any activities related to it. No, thanks.

I have lived, studied and worked among Malay Muslims and have had no problems. There are a lot of good Muslims out there. I have learnt from them that Islam is a religion of peace, that it preachers to “do unto others what you want others to do unto you” regardless of race and religion.

If free Qurans can be given to non-Muslims, it should be reciprocal for the holy books of other religions to be given to Muslims.

Dear Dr Mahathir, the only and best way to allay the non-Muslims’ fear of Islam is to ensure that those Muslims who are giving it a bad name through their words and deeds are properly disciplined so that they do not say or do things that the Prophet himself would not approve of. Remove that cancer cell and all will be well.

* Ravinder Singh reads The Malaysian Insider.