Time the silent majority became outraged

Malaysia Today
13 March 2006


Time the silent majority became outraged

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Marina Mahathir has just kicked up a storm. Many are outraged with
her comments about the way Muslim women in Malaysia are treated. She
feels Muslim women are not only given a raw deal but are relegated to
second-class citizens.

I have come across Muslim women who have been abandoned by their
husbands. Some are even close family friends and that makes it rather
awkward when I personally know both husband and wife. So it is best
one does not take sides in such a situation, especially when there
are always two sides to any story. After a certain period of time,
they are allowed to file for a divorce. But when the case comes up
for hearing in the syariah court, the judge asks the wife to go home
and try to reconcile with the husband.

Sometimes the husband does not turn up for the hearing, so the case
gets postponed and fixed for a later date. This goes on for some
time. Finally, after some number of years, she gets her divorce and
the husband is made to pay alimony. But he does not and she goes to
court again. But the ex-husband is not brought to book. He is just
advised that according to Islam he should pay alimony. Finally, she
gets nothing.

What is worse is when the husband suddenly comes home after a very
long absence, so she loses her right to file for a divorce since she
is no longer abandoned. She is kept lingering as a ‘married’ woman
with an absentee husband she sees once every three months. She does
not get any maintenance from her husband, and because she has many
kids at home and cannot afford a babysitter, she cannot go out to
earn a living. So it is a Catch 22 situation. You will be surpised to
know that some desperate ones end up as prostitutes, the only avenue
left for the woman to support her children.

Such things are not rare. So is Marina totally wrong in her
assumption that Muslim women get a raw deal? By the way, Islam is not
to blame for this. It is the male-dominated syariah courts that are
at fault.

Anyway, why are these people outraged? Is it because Marina is the
daughter of one-time Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad whom they
dislike so much -- so the sins of the father are borne by the
children? Or is it because Marina does not have the proper Islamic
credentials and does not carry the title ‘Ustazah’ before her name --
so she is not qualified to talk about Islam? Or is it because what
Marina said was a load of crap -- so she should not be allowed to
speak? Or is it because what she said has some truth in it -- and the
truth hurts? Or is it because what she said gives Islam a bad name --
and we do not want our dirty linen washed in public?

Should we hate Marina because we also hate her father, Dr Mahathir?
Then we should love Najib because we also love his father, Tun Razak,
and we should love Hishammuddin because we also love his father,
Hussein Onn.

Should Marina be barred from speaking because she does not have the
proper Islamic credentials such as a degree from the Medina or Cairo
universities? Well, many of us do not have an economics or law
degree, or any degree for that matter. So should we be blogging
comments about human rights, transparency, good governance,
independence of the judiciary, the 30 sen rise in petrol price and
the impact to the economy, corruption, respecting the spirit of the
constitution, and much more? We are equally as unqualified as Marina,
so we should shut our mouths and just allow people like ex-judges,
economists like Jomo, and such experts talk.

We say that Dr Mahathir is undemocratic for disallowing freedom of
speech. But we disallow his daughter from speaking as well. Are we
not equally undemocratic?

We say that Islam is a peaceful religion. We say that Islam practices
justice and fairplay. We say that Islam respects fundamental rights.
We say that Islam is a tolerant religion. But in the same breath we
do not tolerate anyone saying something that we perceive as opposed
to our view. Justice, fairplay and tolerance means allowing everyone
to express their view, how much it may go against our own. Justice,
fairplay and tolerance means defending the right of other people to
express their opposing view, while reserving our right to disagree.

We say that Islam was never propagated at the point of a sword but
spread because Islam proved a better and more just religion. We say
that countries like Spain invited the Muslims to rule them because
they saw that all those countries which were under Islam were better
countries. This is what we say. And we sell Islam by saying that
Islam is democracy, capitalism, socialism, and more, all rolled into
one. If you accept Islam then you do not need all these man-made and
Western isms because Islam is a package deal that offers you
everything under the sun -- not just the best of both worlds, but the
best of all worlds, the after-world included.

Respecting the right of Marina to express her view does not mean we
agree with what she says. We can always counter her opinion with
ours. We can always rebut what she says. And rebutting does not mean
telling her to shut up and not speak. Allowing her to speak would
demonstrate how open and tolerant Islam is towards opposing views and
this can only be positive for Islam.

There are some who say, “Do unto others as you would others do unto
you.” President Bush, as does Malaysia’s Internal Security Act, goes
by the doctrine “Do unto others BEFORE others do unto you.” So you
whack them first even as they are merely thinking of whacking you and
have not yet decided whether to do so or not.

Yes, do unto others as you would others do unto you. But somehow this
appears to be something many still cannot hold dear. And this is
evident in the way we treat others -- while if others do the same to
us we will scream blue murder.

Many have died in defence of the dignity of Prophet Muhammad. And
they died in the effort to express outrage at the way the western
media has insulted Prophet Muhammad. Well and fine. I am all for
defending the dignity of our religion if we are really committed to
our religion. And I feel expressing our opinion either in the form of
writing, talking or demonstrating is not only allowed in Islam but
fundamental to the western idea of democracy. Therefore the western
and Muslim worlds are united as to what represents fundamental rights.

However, there are certain boundaries and limits to be observed when
expressing our opinion -- whether it be written, spoken or
demonstrated. For example, we can argue and debate with an opponent
to get our points across, but we cannot take out a gun and shoot the
adversary in the head if he or she disagrees with our view. We can
demonstrate, even how noisy the demonstration may be, but we cannot
burn down a building or kill anyone as the protection of life and
property is paramount in Islam.

Islam allows us to retaliate of course. But we can only retaliate if
our life and that of our family, or our property, are in jeopardy. If
a foreign country declares war on Malaysia and invades us, it is not
only allowed but our Islamic duty to take up arms and repel the
invaders. That is how important our territory, meaning property, is
to Islam.

If this is the importance Islam places on our life and property, how
do you think Islam views the life and property of others? As much as
we may take up arms and kill in defence of our life and property (as
well as that of our family and nation), we must also take up arms in
defence of the life and property of others, especially if they are
being oppressed. This is very clear in Islam.

Okay, we are obligated to fight against the oppressor in defence of
the oppressed. But what if the oppressor is Muslim and the oppressed
non-Muslim? Well, then we have to fight against the Muslim in the
interest of the non-Muslim. Yes, of course, all Muslims are
‘brothers’, but if the Muslim is zalim (cruel), then we have to
oppose him or her. And if the Muslim oppresses the non-Muslim, then
we have to take the side of the non-Muslim. Justice cuts across all
racial and religious boundaries.

So, express outrage all you want. When non-Muslims act zalim towards
Islam, express outrage, as this is required in Islam. But when
Muslims also act zalim, even if it is towards non-Muslims, then we
must express outrage as well. Do unto others as you would others do
unto you. Scream when non-Muslims insult the Prophet by publishing
caricatures of him, which are not really that funny anyway. But also
scream when Muslims equally insult the Prophet by giving him a bad
name in acting zalim and using Islam as the excuse for doing so. This
act is worse than any caricature of the Prophet as it does more harm
than mere cartoons.

Salman Rushdie is a most controversial Islamic writer who I believe
still has a price on his head. I would certainly not want to claim
that he is my role model but this is what he wrote of the ‘silent
Muslims’ in a New York Times article three years ago: “As their
ancient, deeply civilized culture of love, art and philosophical
reflection is hijacked by paranoiacs, racists, liars, male
supremacists, tyrants, fanatics and violence junkies, why are they
not screaming?”

Someone sent me the piece below which I would like to share with you.
I did not write this but I think it is good we all understand what
they have to say so that we can get a better perception of the non-
Muslim view towards Muslims. If not for anything, at least it would
make us more aware of what others think of us.

We wake up this morning to CNN showing rampaging Muslims around the
world. In Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific Rim, Muslim mobs
spreading mayhem. It seems that these mighty mad Muslims are rioting
and firing their ever-present AK-47s into the air because of
cartoons. Yup, this latest epidemic of Muslim outrage comes to us
because some newspapers in Norway and Denmark published some cartoons
depicting Muhammad, in one of them as having a turban that looks like
a bomb.

Muslim outrage huh. OK ... let's do a little historical review. Just
some lowlights:

Muslims fly commercial airliners into buildings in New York City. No
Muslim outrage.

Muslim officials block the exit where schoolgirls are trying to
escape a burning building because their faces were exposed and 15
girls die. No Muslim outrage.

Muslims cut off the heads of three teenaged girls on their way to a
Christian school in Indonesia. No Muslim outrage.

Muslims murder teachers trying to teach Muslim children in Iraq. No
Muslim outrage.

Muslims murder over 80 tourists with car bombs outside cafes and
hotels in Egypt. No Muslim outrage.

A Muslim attacks a missionary children's school in India. Kills six.
No Muslim outrage.

Muslims slaughter hundreds of children and teachers in Beslan,
Russia. Muslims shoot children in the back. No Muslim outrage.

Let's go way back. Muslims kidnap and kill athletes at the Munich
Summer Olympics. No Muslim outrage.

Muslims fire rocket-propelled grenades into schools full of children
in Israel. No Muslim outrage.

Muslims murder more than 50 commuters in attacks on London subways
and buses. Over 700 are injured. No Muslim outrage.

Muslims massacre dozens of innocents at a Passover Seder. No Muslim
outrage.

Muslims murder innocent vacationers in Bali. No Muslim outrage.

Muslim newspapers publish anti-Semitic cartoons. No Muslim outrage.

Muslims are involved, on one side or the other, in almost every one
of the 125+ shooting wars around the world. No Muslim outrage.

Muslims beat the charred bodies of Western civilians with their
shoes, then hang them from a bridge. No Muslim outrage.

Newspapers in Denmark and Norway publish cartoons depicting Mohammad.
Muslims are outraged.

Dead children. Dead tourists. Dead teachers. Dead doctors and nurses.
Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of
Muslims. No Muslim outrage. But publish a cartoon depicting Mohammad
with a bomb for a turban and all hell breaks loose.

We know and understand that these bloodthirsty murderers do not
represent the majority of the world's Muslims. BUT WHEN WILL THE
MAJORITY OF THE WORLD'S MUSLIMS BECOME OUTRAGED? When will THEY take
to the streets to express their outrage at the radicals who are
making their religion the object of worldwide hatred and ridicule?

Ends