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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Amid Umno threats for another May 13, Anwar draws a way 'TOWARDS A COHESIVE NATION'

Amid Umno threats for another May 13, Anwar draws a way 'TOWARDS A COHESIVE NATION'
The following is an excerpt from the keynote address by Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian Opposition Leader and Selangor State Economic Advisor presented at the Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur today.
I have given very serious thought to the views of all sides concerned, and today I want to reach out again with a renewed message.
It is a message overwhelmingly conceived with malice towards none but charity for the entire nation.
And together with my friends and colleagues here this evening, a message raised on the pedestal of faith and hope, not on the ashes of despair and gloom.
In this blessed month of Ramadhan, we want this is to be a message for all of us including myself to take home and share with our family, our loved ones, our neighbours and our friends so that we may move this nation forward to greater cohesiveness.
Spectre of May 13
For the past several years and in particularly since the last 18 months or so, incident after incident and circumstance after circumstance has been occurring that is indeed cause for deep concern. Collectively these developments threaten to undermine our cohesiveness as a nation as they bite away the very fabric that keeps us united.
These are not isolated cases or random occurrences touching on superficial issues. Nor are they mere events or developments happening on the fringe perpetrated by insignificant groups. On the contrary, what we are witnessing is a systematic and wholesale attempt by prominent entities to take this nation to the brink.
Race baiting and incitement to violence
In consequence of this race-baiting, they are adding fuel to the fire by fomenting increasing polarisation, recklessly spreading the disease of incitement to religious intolerance and hatred. For those using religion to incite hatred let them be reminded of Allah’s commandment in Surah Hud: 112:
“So remain on a right course as you have been commanded, [you] and those who have turned back with you [to Allah], and do not transgress. Indeed, He is Seeing of what you do”
Make no mistake. Muslims are not the only ones to be told to take the path of moderation. The admonition against extremism in religion or using it to incite ill-will and violence applies to all. In the Bible, the Book of Hosea: 8:9 we read:
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind...”
Indeed, we are a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation but that is not a cause for despair or mistrust. On the contrary, it is cause for all of us to reach out for each other. In surah al-Hujarat verse 13, Allah reminds us, not just Muslims but the entire human race:
“O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”
Federal constitution
In order to foster a culture not just of tolerance but of amity and inclusivity, the powers that be must ensure that the Federal Constitution be given pride of place. The constitution is not just a piece of paper couched in legal jargon. It is a sovereign charter of rights, freedoms, responsibilities, duties and the rules of governance of a nation. It did not come about through rancorous debate or an acrimonious war of words. It came into existence as a result of the social compact of our leaders representing the diverse communities in this country of ours.
It guarantees our right to life and liberty, to freedom of speech, assembly and association. It prescribes equality of all citizens before the law and guarantees freedom of religion.
As I have said before, these fundamental liberties, forming the bed-rock of our identity as a nation, must be respected by all communities, be they the majority or the minorities. Politicians whether in power or in the opposition must strive to honour them in word and deed. Above all, the judiciary must ensure that these safeguards remain sacrosanct.
I would like to reiterate our position that we oppose all measures and actions that violate the freedom of religion so well entrenched in the Federal Constitution and also safeguarded by Islam.
In this regard, the commentary by the late Sheikh Muhammed al-Ghazali al-Saqqa (1917-1996) on surah al- Kafirun is most enlightening. According to him; “The surah lays down one of the most fundamental principles in international relations: the recognition of all religious faiths, and the promotion of good neighbourliness and constant dialogue”.
Reasoned discourse
Secondly, it must be a reasoned discourse guided not by emotive sentiments but by rational arguments.
Nevertheless, we cannot frame the polemics of statehood and governance purely from the bifurcation of Islamic state versus secularism.
An enlightened discourse from the Islamic perspective must entail considerations in respect of the form and content of Islamic governance where labels and slogans are now considered passé. Indeed, one must go behind the façade and analyse the constituents of what is considered ideal Islamic governance.
On the syari’ah and hudud
I would like to reiterate that the position of Pakatan Rakyat on the question of the syari’ah and hudud is one to be based on consensus and in this regard the component parties have agreed to disagree while remaining firm to the commitment of ensuring the establishment of a just and equitable society for the nation regardless of race or religion.
On hudud
Sheikh al-Qardhawi asserts that before the Prophet implemented hudud, the prerequisite was to ensure that the Muslim community must be fully prepared for it by having reached the level of advancement in aspects of faith, religious laws, morals, ethics and values. He maintains that other laws pertaining to Islam should be implemented first before the implementation of hudud which is not ‘top priority’ especially while other crucial matters pertaining to the umma remain unresolved.
This categorisation clearly shows that hudud law is but one constituent of the vast corpus of the Shari’ah and not, as some parties would suggest, the be-all and end-all of Islamic law. On the contrary, as stated by al-Qardhawi, hudud law occupies the bottom rung in the overall scheme of the implementation of the syari’ah.
Higher objectives (Maqasid) and Jurisprudence of priorities (Fiqh aulawiyat)
It remains to be said that this discourse is not about placing hudud in a less than favourable light but rather that al-Qardhawi’s view is part and parcel of his jurisprudence of priorities (fiqh aulawiyat) where the principles of the higher objectives of the Shari’ah (maqasid al-shari’ah) warrant that matters of importance for the community should be ordered according to priorities. Consequently, the implementation of hudud, being lower in the hierarchy of priorities, cannot supersede the attainment of the higher objectives of the Shari’ah.
The Taliban claims that they want syari’ah law as ordained in the Qur’an and in their book, education for girls and kite-flying are haram. Before that, Sudan ordained syari’ah as the law of the land and we need not reinvent the wheel to show what a basket case Sudan has become – one declared by the international community as a failed state.
Similarly, the ardent advocates of secularism should not be too quick to judge. They should try to understand the rationale behind the scepticism among Muslim societies on account of the fact many of the countries under secular rule are also essentially dictatorships or autocracies notorious for corruption and gross abuse of human rights.
Mustafa Kamal established Turkey as the first Muslim secular state adopting an exclusively secular policy at the expense of the religion. But he was by no means a democrat and his secular policies written into the constitution did not come about via democratic process but was imposed top down by the military.
In the history of modern Islam, there has been no secular leader who was in any sense a democrat. Sukarno, Gamal Nasir, Saddam Hussein, Hafiz al-Asad, Hosni Mubarak – all were secular and all were dictators!
The issue therefore is not whether we are secular or Islamic but whether we are democratic or not democratic. In this equation the questions of freedom and justice loom large. Issues of governance are paramount. Rather than being obsessed with labels, we need to ensure that there are policies that move the nation forward, not set the nation backwards.
We are in full agreement that we want democracy. Perhaps, we may differ in how we lay stress on the name: some prefer secular democracy and yet some wish to call it Islamic democracy. In both of them, justice and freedom remain paramount. These are shades of differentiation and I am hopeful that they will not prevent us from working in unison for the common cause as has been proven time and again as in, for example, Bersih 1, 2 and 3.
As a Muslim, I am profoundly concerned with the painful suffering of the Muslim umma in the Middle East and South Asia. We take comfort and some degree of pride with the successes in democratic reform made in Turkey, Indonesia and to a limited extent, Tunisia as yet a fledgling democracy.
World Forum for Muslim democrats
Nevertheless, a significant number of Muslim countries are still in the grip of dictatorship and authoritarian rule signified by rampant corruption and abuse of power and some are branded as failed states. Grinding poverty, high levels of illiteracy and unemployment, extremely low standards of livingand gross inequities in income distribution – these are the stark realties of much of the Muslim world of the 21st century.
The time has come for a new democratic movement on a global scale to mobilise resources and efforts to spearhead democratisation in the Muslim world. In this regard, I have initiated a ‘World Forum for Muslim Democrats’. The primary goal is to establish a common platform for leaders, intellectuals and professionals of the Islamic faith to articulate their progressive views on matters pertaining to freedom, democracy and justice.
The Forum will be inclusive of the multifarious political and religious persuasions in order to promote greater understanding and dynamics in the discourse.
Conclusion
In working towards a cohesive Malaysia, we must stay focused on the things that really matter to us as a nation. These are the issues of governance, transparency and accountability. Our ultimate goal is full constitutional democracy not on paper but in practice where justice and freedom prevail and the rule of law supersedes the rule of man. We must strive for greater productivity, robust economic growth, better education, health care and housing, and higher living standards for all – subsumed under a humane economy where social justice is paramount.

Anwar Ibrahim is Malaysia Opposition Leader

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