WHAT ELSE FROM NAJIB! Shariah Index survey biased against minorities & 'academically dishonest' - civil society

KUALA LUMPUR - A recently leaked survey for the Malaysian Shariah Index has drawn harsh criticism from civil society groups for its leading questions, which they said were manipulative and contained disturbing assertions on the country’s religious minorities.

With scarce information on the index available to the public, the groups were also worried over the confidential nature of the citizen survey given the impact the project would have towards the whole country.

“The questionnaire contains no definitions or explanations, and makes the assumption that some, if not all of that information is accessible and available to the public,” women rights group Sisters in Islam’s (SIS) Suriani Kempe said in a text message to Malay Mail Online.

“It might as well be measuring public perception instead of trying to ascertain the degree to which certain areas are Shariah-compliant (what does that even mean?),” the group’s programme manager asked, calling the survey “academically dishonest”.

On Saturday, Malay Mail Online reported that Malaysia’s success in preventing the spread of Christianisation, queer activities, apostasy, and deviant teachings are among some of the measures used to determine the country’s adherence to Shariah requirements, according to the survey.

The confidential survey, which contributed towards developing the recently-launched Malaysian Shariah Index, also measures Putrajaya’s success in spreading Islamic values and cultures among Malaysians, either through the arts scene, mass media or schools.

“A survey which is meant to contribute towards public policy and laws affecting all Malaysians cannot be confidential: it should be the opposite,” said Honey Tan, a spokesman of the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (Comango).

“Open and broad-based consultations with Malaysian civil society should have been carried out during the development of a survey which is meant to contribute towards the development of a Shariah Index,” she said.

Among the questions the survey asked under the “economy” category was whether prostitution activities and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) “phenomenon” are “worrying” in the country.

“We feel the structure of the questions will influence and cloud the minds of the respondents,” offered S. Thilaga, a representative of transgender rights group Justice for Sisters (JFS).

Sisters in Islam’s (SIS) Suriani Kempe

“We find the methodology to be biased, problematic and unethical, and problematic methodologies will produce very questionable and misleading findings.”

Thilaga pointed out that the question on LGBT reflected the state’s hostile position towards the sexual minorities, and its poor understanding of gender, sexual orientation, sex work and economy.

Furthermore, Thilaga said the survey was extremely inaccurate and misleading to conflate sex work with LGBT persons, which further perpetuated the idea that LGBT persons are deviants and immoral.

Meanwhile, Tan was baffled that Christianity was singled out, as the Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of religion for all.

“It is of great concern that Christianity is singled out in a question related to the proselytising of a religion. Christians form only around 9 per cent of the population, and Buddhists form around 20 per cent,” said Tan.

In addition, Suriani questioned Putrajaya’s careless spending of money on an initiative similar to one that it had funded before since 2006, but has since been abandoned.

The Malaysian government had previously funded a Shariah Index project handled by the Cordoba Initiative led by New York-based Muslim cleric Feisal Abdul Rauf.

“At a time when we as a country seem to be tightening our belts, why is the government spending money on such an opaque initiative, that seems to have been done before? And to what end?

“Will this result in increased transparency of certain religious institutions like the Baitulmal? Will this index lead the religious authorities to greater accountability and transparency?” she asked, referring to the Islamic financial institution.

Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the Malaysian Shariah Index, saying the index will not only “scientifically” measure Malaysia’s compliance with Shariah, or the Islamic moral code, but also the seriousness of its efforts in doing so.

Najib first announced the index last year and said it was developed through an effort spearheaded by the Malaysian Department of Islamic Development in collaboration with the International Islamic University of Malaysia and the Islamic Missionary Foundation of Malaysia.

Muslims make up 61.3 per cent of the Malaysian population, followed by Buddhists at 19.8 per cent, and Christians at 9.2 per cent, according to the latest census data from 2010. - Malay Mail