Rukunegara: M'sia not quite secular

Last week, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang called on the government to amend the first precept of the Rukunegara to ‘Belief in Allah'.

All those who insisted on the Catholic Herald's ‘right' to ‘Allah' should now warmly welcome Hadi's (left) proposal made in Parliament when debating the motion of thanks on the Agong's speech. After all, these people had so enthusiastically embraced the idea that "your Allah is my Allah too".

Once ‘Allah' has been adapted into our national set of guiding principles, then every citizen should learn to understand and appreciate this word in its proper context. According to Hadi's Jan 7 statement on kalimah Allah, "there are among followers of Christianity who have made a ‘wife' and ‘son' for God". What a no-no!

Should ‘Allah' be incorporated into the Rukunegara, then Malaysians reciting it must be mindful that Allah has no Son, and adjust their mindset accordingly.

Also thanking the Agong in Parliament was Kulim Bandar Bharu MP Zulkifli Noordin who began his speech, "Assalammu'alaikum dan salam Islah. Bismillahhirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillah, sumalhamdullilah. Alhamdulillah hillazi arsalarasulahu bil huda wadiinil haq, liyuz hirohu ‘aladdii nii kullih, wakafaa billah hisyahiidaa."

It is not surprising that Zulkifli should start off with a religious salutation even in the country's highest legislative body. The Rukunegara's core tenet ‘Belief in God' implies that Malaysia is a religious country and in fact, religion is manifested at all turns of national life.

Yet there are some who are adamant Malaysia is a secular state. This is rather puzzling considering that even Taiping Parliamentarian Nga Kor Ming recites Quranic verses in public, albeit not matching Zul's fluency in Arabic.

Variety of Islamic agencies

Islam permeates every strata of the body politic, starting from the very top, i.e. the Agong as head of the religion of the federation.

At the apex of the elected system sits the prime minister: Please note that the prime ministerial complex in Putrajaya features green domes - an aspect of popular mosque architecture. There is a cabinet minister in charge of Islamic affairs. We do not have any minister to look after the welfare of followers of other religions.
In the Prime Minister's Department, there is the Muslims Religious Division, the Department of Syariah Judiciary, Tabung Haji, the Department of Zakat, Wakaf and Haji, Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim) and Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

Chairman of Ikim is ex-PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi; Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched its radio station in July 2001 and Ikim.fm has one million listeners. Jakim, not to be outdone, offers Web TV and khutbah (sermons) online, in addition to its television and radio programmes aired over RTM.

Religion is channelled to Malaysians throughout the length and breadth of the country by the state machinery, which also contributes its input to the weekly Friday communal prayer nationwide, and organises nasyid festivals, tilawah annual competitions and other events in the Muslim calendar.

At www.malaysia.gov.my - which is Malaysia's official country web portal - there is an e-solat box on Muslim prayer times on the home page and giving the direction of qiblat down to precise latitude and longitude coordinates for a list of mosques.

This same website has e-halal and e-syariah as its first and second links respectively, and their logo positioning is more prominent than the logos for Najib Abdul Razak's 1Malaysia and the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

To run all these Islam-related programmes, the bureaucracy has Islamicised, parallel to Islam here becoming bureaucratised.

Examples of these are the National Fatwa Council, sections like Baitulmal and Halal Hub, and associated professional organisations like Persatuan Ulama Malaysia and Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia (YaPEIM).

There is no shortage of trained manpower in the field of Islamic Studies - what with the wide intake by, for instance, the teacher training college dedicated to this subject, Institut Pendidikan Guru (Pendidikan Islam) in Bangi, besides the faculties in local universities and the International Islamic University (IIU).

IIU's International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (Istac) in Pesiaran Duta, KL is a grand, imposing building of Moorish-like design and Spanish-castle proportions. Istac was launched in 1987 by Mahathir while his successor Abdullah established the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) - also generously funded by the government.

State moral policing

At state level, the rulers are head of Islam. Each state - even those without sultans - has its own Islamic Department. Selangor appears to have two, i.e. Mais (Majlis Agama Islam Selangor) and Jais (Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor).

Then there are the Pejabat Kadi and the Syariah courts. At last count, 60 percent of the Malaysian population are Muslim. Department of Statistics census is carried out once every 10 years, and the next one which is due in July might see this percentage revised upwards.

Therefore two-thirds of Malaysians are subject to syariah and can be caned for drinking beer. Such a situation infers that a whole lot of people fall under the ambit of Islamic law and this is non-negotiable. It is just that the Islamic state parameters have not been clarified to the non-Muslim minorities.

Furthermore, there are quarters seeking to extend the reach of Islamic law. Jakim director-general Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz in an interview with Milenia Muslim (Feb 2010) told the magazine his agency is making efforts to expand the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court to enable it to impose stiffer penalties.

Earlier last year, Zulkifli (left) had tried to table a series of private member's motions covering ecclesiastical laws and jurisprudence in order "to elevate the status of Islam".

Last month saw the caning of women carried out for the ‘crime' of premarital sex, a moral transgression which is not punishable under the Penal Code - thus bringing us nearer to Zul's Utopia where the caretaker role of Islam is administratively from womb to tomb.

For an example of this, in the purpose-built Islamic city of Putrajaya, 192.38 hectares of land has been set aside as burial ground and a huge chunk of it for Muslim cemeteries. The Raudhatul Sakinah concept, including beautiful landscaping (like the rest of the administrative capital's Arabian Nights of man-made lakes and spectacular bridges) will cost RM42 million for its Phases One and Two.

‘Dakwah' is a duty

PAS is also riding on the crest of Islamism. Its Mursyidul Am Nik Aziz Nik Mat talked about his party's dakwah aspirations in the March 12-14 edition of the PAS newspaper which carried the banner headline ‘Opportunity to proselytise'.

The Harakah front page story explained in huge, bold letters: "There is more room to spread Islam [in Pakatan] together with DAP and Keadilan compared to unity with Umno".

The spiritual advisor's message on the second anniversary of the historic March 8 tsunami can be read in full in his blog. Excerpt below (my translation):

"...DAP leaders including Karpal Singh (right) no longer attack Islam. Instead, there has been positive development when there are those among the Pakatan Rakyat leaders (including in DAP) who have begun to be accomplished in reading the Quran and furthermore the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat state government in Penang has bravely pledged to emulate the style of governance of the Caliph Umar Abdul Aziz. Consider how Gerakan, MCA and MIC have for so long (since Merdeka) been partners with Umno in BN but are yet to understand Islam".

Nik Aziz is optimistic that the opposition platform gives PAS the chance to share Islam with coalition leaders like Lim Guan Eng and Pakatan grassroots members. PAS stole the march on Umno who could have offered to share the ‘Allah' word under Najib's "We are One" project but missed the golden opportunity.

What the Tuan Guru said is logical as the Umno membership is already entirely Muslim, and moreover the Pakatan partners present a greater potential for Islam to be disseminated, such as PKR's Elizabeth Wong who turned up at a function in tudung.

Who knows if PAS, informally, would be more successful with its supporters' club than the bodies specifically doing missionary work like Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim) and Perkim?

Islamic or secular?

So is Malaysia an Islamic state or a secular country?

For comparison, secular countries do not have apostasy laws. Nor is there anywhere a Christian State where someone like Ridhuan Tee, formerly a Christian and Buddhist, could be subject to jail, and made to undergo counselling and rehabilitation before he is released by the court and "Christian department" if he wishes to be Muslim.

But Malaysia has apostasy laws and stipulates an ‘exit permit' requirement. What does that, and the hardly exhaustive list of Islamic facets to national life (described above) make this country? Secular?

HELEN ANG used to be a journalist. In future, she would like to be a practising cartoonist. But for the present, she is in the NGO circles and settling down to more serious writing and reading of social issues.