Cahaya’s Rants

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) is a credible institution to explain about Islam to non-Muslims.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said IKIM could help translate the philosophy and principles of Islam Hadhari into action as many people failed to understand them.

He said that to this end, the “inter-faith dialogue” organised by IKIM was a good effort.

“Many people had related the poor election result to Islam Hadhari as it had different meanings for different people,” added Zahid, following a visit to IKIM here Friday.

Source: Bernama

If IKIM is such a credible institution why is it that different people have different understanding of Islam Hadhari? And why do people still fail to understand what Islam Hadhari is all about despite IKIM’s efforts at promoting its philosophy and principles?

When Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi first came to power he fashioned himself a moderate and tolerant Muslim. But instead, under his administration, race and religious relations between the many ethnic and religious groups in Malaysia got worse. Hindu temples and Orang Asli churches got demolished. The police were involved with the Islamic authorities in “body snatchings” of dead people of whom the Islamic authorities claimed were Muslim. Family legal cases involving Muslim and non-Muslim parties could not receive justice in the civil courts because the courts refused to hear their cases claiming the cases were under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.

To make matters worse, Abdullah himself and others in his administration insisted that Malaysia was an Islamic state, and any objection to that claim was seen as usurping the rights of Muslims and insulting Islam. Claims that Malaysia was an Islamic state were seen by many as attempts at diluting the supremacy of the Federal Constitution and the freedom to practise one’s religion. Calls by Article 11, a group comprising 13 NGOs, for an Inter-Faith Commission was quickly denounced and condemned, and a forum organized by the group was disrupted and ended on the advice of the police. Soon after that the government banned any discussion on whether or not Malaysia is an Islamic state.

Islam Hadhari? Totally useless and meaningless. Why do I say that?

A just and trustworthy government is one of its fundamental principles. I doubt many Malaysians see Abdullah’s administration as just and trustworthy!

Protection of the rights of minority groups and women is another. Tell that to Hindraf, the Orang Asli and the Indians whose churches and temples got demolished. Tell that to Lina Joy, Nonya Tahir, Shabashini, Sharmala, Kamariah Ali and others like them.

Islam Hadhari? The proof is in the pudding.

Further Reading:

Is Malaysia an Islamic State?

Catholic Bishops Oppose Islamic State

Malaysia Christians Protest ‘Islamic State’ Comments Ahead of Elections

AS the President of the World Assembly of Youth (WAY), President of Gerakan Belia 4B Malaysia (4B) and President of Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI), I wish to send out a strong message of protest towards the irresponsible release of the short film Fitna by Dutch film maker, Geert Wilders.

The 110 member countries of WAY, the members of 4B and DMDI are unanimous in recording their feelings of disappointment, disapproval and disgust towards the uncivilized, thoughtless and obstinate action by Geert Wilders in releasing his film, Fitna, which is defamatory and a wholly inaccurate portrayal of Islam despite protests from the international Muslim community.

We are outraged that Geert Wilders has persisted in releasing his film without permission and regard for Muslims and respect for the Holy Quran. Geert Wilders may defend the release of his film as freedom of expression. We strongly assert that Muslims will not and cannot tolerate such abuse towards Islam and such wanton disregard for the feelings of Muslims worldwide.

We further assert that there must be mutual respect, sensitivity and understanding between different religions and Geert Wilders’ irresponsible act clearly does nothing to propagate that. On the contrary, his act has succeeded in creating feelings of hatred and animosity among Muslims towards Western countries.

We immediately demand an apology from Geert Wilders on behalf of all Muslims.

The above is reproduced from Mohd Ali Rustam, the Chief Minister of Melaka’s blog.

He’s angry that Wilders did not ask permission to release his film. He’s angry that Wilders film did not regard the sensitivities of Muslims. He’s angry that the film is defamatory and does not portray Islam accurately. He’s angry that Wilder’s did not heed the protests of Muslims over the film.

So he, on behalf of all Muslims, wants an apology from Geert Wilders?

ROFL! Free Speech Vs Islamic Intolerance. Which do you suppose will Geert Wilders choose?

Wilders doesn’t give a damn what Mohd Ali Rustam wants!

Mahaguru58, a frequent contributor to Malaysiakini, believes that a “major reason why Muslims are suffering today in this world is because we have no Khalifah watching out over us.” To Mahaguru58, a Caliph to Muslims would be what the Pope is to Catholics.

I beg to differ.

The Pope is a religious leader. He has no power over the running of governments and non-Catholics. Whereas a Caliph exists in a Caliphate, and Sharia law would be the law of the land.

Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi, author of Who Needs an Islamic State?, thinks that instead of calling for a Caliphate Muslims would be better off with an EU-style confederation of democratic Muslim states.

“I believe it may be necessary to work towards a more modest objective: the creation of a leading Muslim state. The function of such a state would be to play a role similar to that being played by the United States as a leader of the west. This is much less ambitious than a caliphate and falls well short of the building an EU-type union of Muslim states, but could lead to it eventually.”

No doubt, Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi has been labeled a liberal Muslim, but to the non-Muslims, he is the kind of Muslim of whom they have nothing to fear.

The following is a video of a debate on “Who Needs an Islamic State?” between Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi and Taji Mustafa from Hizb-ut Tahrir, two Muslims with divergent views. Watch it because you’ll find it instructive on what a Caliphate would be like, if the likes of Mahaguru58 and Taji Mustafa have their way.

PUTRAJAYA, April 1 (Bernama) — The Netherlands has condemned the violent acts in the controversial movie “Fitna” which has angered Muslims worldwide and said it rejected the film’s interpretation of equating Islam with violence.Netherlands Ambassador to Malaysia Lody Embrechts said on Monday the film did not in any way reflect the perspective or policy of the Dutch government.

The movie shows the opinion of one man and not that of the Dutch government, he said.

He said Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenede has said that the film shows images of violent acts and holds the Quran responsible for them.

“The Dutch government condems such acts and those who commit them. The film equates Islam with violence. The Dutch government rejects this interpretation,” he told Bernama here.

Fitna is a 15-minute film posted on a website on Thursday that highly criticises Islam, setting verses of the Quran against a background of violent images from terrorist attacks.

Dutch legislator Geert Wilders created the film, which also shows statements from radical clerics and cites verses from the Quran interspersed with images of the Sept 11 attack on the United States, the 2004 commuter train bombings in Spain and the murder later that year of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh on an Amsterdam street.

Embrechts said the vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence. In fact, the victims are often also Muslims, he added.

He said the Dutch government, for this reason, regrets that Wilders released this film and believes it serves no purpose other than to cause offence.

“But feeling offended must never be used as an excuse for aggression and threats,” he said.

The ambassador said the Dutch government was heartened by the initial restrained reactions of Dutch Muslim organisations, adding that Muslims, Christians and people of other convictions can easily live together in peace.

“The problem is not religion, but misuse of religion to sow hatred and intolerance. That’s why the Netherlands calls for respect for everyone’s deepest convictions,” he said.

Embrechts said the Dutch government was very much aware of the concerns and the sentiments about this film in the international Muslim community.

He said the Dutch government stands for a society in which freedom and respect go hand-in-hand.

“Such a society demands dedication and commitment and, I believe, the Muslim world has a right to be angry about the film Wilders produced. However, what we should not allow is for the movie to hijack emotions and negatively impact the relationship between the Netherlands and the Muslim world.

“More than before, it is important to dialogue and work together in order to create understanding and avoid extremism,” he added.

Source: Bernama

“But feeling offended must never be used as an excuse for aggression and threats.” Riiiiiight.

Good luck trying to convince the Muslims what they shouldn’t do after they have been offended!

Muslims say “Fitna” was offensive and an insult to their Prophet and Islam. But did Geert Wilders go far enough in exposing the more important teachings of Islam?

Folks at Islam Watch do not think so.

Geert wilders film, while good, failed to explain to the ‘hear no evil, see no evil, do nothing about evil’ naive infidels that all Muslims believe ‘the Koran is the eternal divine word of God and and a copy of it is in heaven. Muslims must be obeyed without question. Most people think that the Koran is like the old testament. That Muslims can ignore the parts they don’t like. But in truth, the Koran is the eternal laws of God. Its laws and commands are valid for all times and places forever. To question it is to question the very word of God, and hence blasphemous. A Muslim’s duty is to believe and obey those divine commands without question.

The Muslims will tell the infidels what they all desperately want to hear — that the Koran is all peace and love and Osma bin laden is an aberration, not following the true Islam. But bin Laden is a true Muslim.

Wilders also did not include the 3 most important teachings of Islam:

9:5 – extermination of all non believers i.e. Infidels,

9:29 extermination of all Christians and Jews and

9:111 – those Muslims who kill and are killed performing 9:5 and 9:29 will ascend to paradise filled with full breasted, lustrous eyed virgins to sexually molest for all eternity.

Therefore, the 9/11 is Koran’s 9:111.

Read the full article called “Geert wilders film: The important points it missed” here.