Cahaya's Rants

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno is set to be caned by the syariah court in Malaysia for the crime of drinking beer in public, drinking beer in a hotel bar to be more specific.

The irony to this story is that Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno wants her punishment to be carried out as soon as possible and that it be carried out in public.

Even  though she wants the punishment to be carried out in public, I think the real reason for wanting that is not to deter other Muslims from consuming alcohol but to SHAME the Islamic laws and the court that meted out that punishment.

After all what is drinking beer in a hotel bar compared to the real crimes committed by fellow Malaysian Muslims?  Especially the corruption that is rampant among the ruling elites in the country?

Malaysia prides itself as being a modern and progressive Muslim country but if Kartika’s punishment is not retracted, Malaysia is nothing but another backward and barbaric Muslim country.

PETALING JAYA: The spying and reporting by the two Al-Islam journalists were offensive and contrary to the Malaysian culture of peace, harmony and tolerance, the MCA NGO Liaison Bureau said Saturday.

Its chairman Datuk Ti Lian Ker called on the Home Minister to act against individuals, institutions or publications that acted in a manner deemed “provocative or sensitive to another religion.”

He said this when supporting the statement by Executive committee chairman of Christian Federation of Malaysia Rev Ng Moon Ling that it was a breach of the spirit of the guarantee of freedom of religion in the Constitution when the journalists spied on Christians and participated in their Holy Communion.

Source: thestar.com.my

Imagine if the tables had been turned, that a couple of Malaysian Christian jounalists had spied on Muslims and participated in their Islamic rituals at their mosques.

Can you imagine the outcry, the outrage, the teeth gnashing, the protests in the streets complete with banners containing racial and religious slurs against the perpetrators?

In Malaysia, cultural and religious sensitivity is a one way street. The demand for respect and tolerance only applies to Islam, the official religion of the country.

The catholic church, the MCA, and all other religious groups in Malaysia can complain about this outrage, but there will be no action taken against the two journalists by the police for their offensive behaviour, behaviour that broke the law (Section 298A (1) of the Penal Code) protecting religious and racial harmony in Malaysia.

Further Reading:

Al Islam totally insensitive to Catholics

Two Malaysian Muslim Journalists Spark Anger With Church Article

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) — The Western media’s generally biased reporting on Islam and the Muslim community and how it has affected the Muslim world will be the main topic of discussion at next week’s international conference on representation of Islam and Muslims in the media.

The two-day conference entitled, ‘Representation of Islam and Muslim in Media’ and attended by communication scholars, is held at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here on Tuesday.

Organised by the Department of Communication Kuliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), the conference will look into various aspects of how Islam and Muslims are represented in the media.

Head of IIUM Department of Communication, Dr Azmuddin Ibrahim said among areas to be looked into included the reporting on war and conflicts in Muslim countries and Islam in non-main stream media in Muslim and Western societies.

He said the conference would also touch on Islam in the orientalist literature (past and present), fictional representation of Muslims, Islam and the new media, Deconstructing and Reconstructing Islam, Representation of Islam as a Civilization and Media Framing of Islam.

“From this conference, we hope to see whether there is really biasness in media reporting on Islam and Muslims…from there, we hope to get ideas on how to put things in place (proper perspective).

“Probably, we could suggest more studies be done so that we can get the true picture of what is happening. Otherwise, it is not fair for Islam and the Muslims,” he told Bernama here today.

Dr Azmuddin said the generally negative reporting on Islam and Muslim by the Western media worsened, particularly after the 2001 Sept 11 incident, whereby Islam and Muslims were usually associated with backwardness, extremist and fundamentalists, threatening and other negative images, thus putting Muslims under scrutiny by others.

Is reporting the truth on what goes on with Islam and Muslims bias? Take for example the following stories.

Muslims storm Protestant school in Jakarta, injuring 265 students

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Police evacuated the Christian Theological Arastamar Institute (STT SETIA) which is located in an eastern district of the Indonesian capital after it suffered damages during clashes between Christians and Muslims over the week-end. At least 1,500 students were moved to nearby police headquarters and a local Christian-based political party. The situation remains critical and further violence between opposite factions cannot be ruled out.

“The school foundation urged us to intervene to protect people,” said East Jakarta District Police Chief Senior Superintendent. “For this reason we moved everyone out.”

Last night hundreds of residents from the village of Kampung Pulo had taken up arms threatening to storm the school after being instigated by an imam at a local mosque who claimed that a bunch of Christian gangsters were coming to “protect” the school after it was attacked on Saturday by a Muslim mob, causing damage to the building and hurting hundreds.

Full story here.

Bali terrorist: “For Islam, dying by decapitation is a blessing”
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – According to Islamic law, it is better “to die by decapitation than by gunshot”, and no “repentance or regret” must be shown over violence committed “in the name of holy war”. This is the “spiritual testament” of Imam Samudra, one of the three people responsible for the massacre in Bali in 2002, in which more than 200 people died. The three are awaiting judgment from the Indonesian authorities.

“Until I die, I will show no repentance for my actions”, the terrorist is believed to have said to his brother Lulu Jamaluddin during a recent conversation at the maximum-security prison on the island of Nusakambangan, in central Java. He also added that a holy war, conducted through “the use of bombs” and suicide bombing attacks, is “blessed by God”, for which reason he will never make “appeals to clemency” to avoid the death penalty.

Full story here.

How do folks participating in the international conference propose the western media report these stories? Pretend that the people who storm the Protestant school were not Muslims? That their actions were not religiously motivated?

How about the Bali terrorist’s remorselessness? Should the media pretend that his heinous act had nothing to do with his faith?

The media’s reporting of Islam will only change if there are less violence perpetrated by Muslims especially on non-Muslims.

Geert Wilders is reported to be planning on making a sequel to Fitna. Despite complaints by various Muslim groups against him, and even charges filed against him in Jordan, Geert Wilders does not seem deterred by the uproar he has raised.

I say, good for him for exercising his right to free speech!

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Bernama) — The key to ensure better relations between the Muslim world and western nations is by correcting the foreign media’s perception of Islam as a religion of terror synonymous with the Al-Qaeda movement, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said Monday.

“One of the stumbling blocks is the power of the media in the West that doesn’t seem to give a margin for us to come in into understanding Islam more objectively.

“The coverage they give is more about sensational news about terror, about captivity, about war and not on the other side of Islam which I have always been stressing — the life of Muslims.

“Therefore, the tenets of Islam urging us to be calm and be appreciative of beauty and the world have never been put forward in a manner that is coercive enough or effective enough. There lies the problem,” he said in his welcoming remarks at the “Third International Conference On the Muslim World and The West: Bridging the Gap”.

Rais stressed this point owing to rising Islamophobia among westerners.

Rais said even the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and other Islamic organisations and associations had never taken steps to correct this wrong point of view painted by the western media which equates Muslims and Islam with the Al-Qaeda.

“Actually, this is not the reality, it is a political movement by the Al-Qaeda. Islam is not Al-Qaeda. This notion has not been dispelled by any group, be it the OIC or regional Islamic organisations in the world.

“As such, every time when the Al-Qaeda issue crops up in Britain, it is equated with Islam. This is the wrong perception which we need to address.

“How do you do this?. I think it is only with the concerted efforts of our own Islamic media to project the truth. We have to have the forum, we have to have the media treatment and we have to have the political will among OIC members to project this sort of idea and image,” he said.

“Therefore, the tenets of Islam urging us to be calm and be appreciative of beauty and the world have never been put forward in a manner that is coercive enough or effective enough. There lies the problem.”

Huh.

Maybe Rais Yatim should begin by addressing Malaysia’s response to the movie, Fitna. Public protests and boycott, anyone?

Should the west be blamed for their perception of Islam when they see the following images? Should they be blamed for thinking that Islam’s adherents are easily provoked and prone to violence?

Rais Yatim, tell these people that “the tenets of Islam urging us to be calm and be appreciative of beauty”! If they listen to you, the West might be inclined to change their perception of Islam.

This, according to MENJ of Critical Thoughts, is the kind of “response” that is needed from Muslims, an intellectual response and not one based on emotion”. Ok, I applaud that call, instead of rioting in the streets and calling for the deaths of whoever has “insulted” Islam!

But to call Schism an “intellectual response”? There is nothing intellectual about the film! Only the gullible, the ill-informed, and the Muslims who desperately need to feel good again after Fitna, might find this movie a good response!

Saeed Al-Saeed said, “It is easy to take parts of any Holy (sic) book that are out of context (sic) and make it sound like the most inhuman book ever written. That is what Geert Wilders did to gather more supporters to his hateful ideology. To create schism.” but his movie still can’t deny the fact that the 9/11 hijackers, the bombers in Spain, London, Bali and Beslan did their heinous crimes because of their religion.

The following are among the last words of Muhammad Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers.

You should feel complete tranquility, because the time between you and your marriage [in heaven] is very short. Afterwards begins the happy life, where God is satisfied with you, and eternal bliss ‘in the company of the prophets, the companions, the martyrs and the good people, who are all good company’. Ask God for his mercy and be optimistic, because [the Prophet], peace be upon him, used to prefer optimism in all his affairs.

When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers. God said: ‘Strike above the neck, and strike at all of their extremities.’ Know that the gardens of paradise are waiting for you in all their beauty, and the women of paradise are waiting, calling out, ‘Come hither, friend of God.’ They have dressed in their most beautiful clothing.

Geert Wilders took the verses of the Koran out of context in Fitna? Tell me again.