Raid on M'kini: The face of 'Moderate Islam' at work?

Post-Sept 11, we have seen the governments of many, if not all, Muslim countries race for the coveted title of 'moderate Muslim state'. The powers that be in Washington have been kind enough to honour some of their allies by bestowing upon them such laudable credentials.

Yet o­ne thing remains true: the human rights record of most Muslim countries remains appalling at best, and some of those states that have been recognised as 'model Muslim states' by the mainstream Western media happen to have an atrocious record when it comes to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It is against this sordid backdrop of realist geopolitics that we ought to read what is happening in Malaysia today.

The raid o­n the offices of Malaysiakini.com by the Malaysian police and the confiscation of vital office equipment was, without doubt, o­ne of the biggest own-goals scored by Umno against itself in recent months. If the bright sparks in Umno Youth thought that by doing so they would score points in the race for media coverage and publicity, they were certainly right: But o­nly in the sense of making themselves look like a motley crew of hapless individuals who could not pen a simple letter in response to the o­ne that was published by Malaysiakini.com.

I for o­ne do not agree with the entire contents of the letter written by the individual going by the pen-name of Petrof. For a start, I think the letter lacked proper historical analysis and failed to take into account important factors like the impact of colonisation and how colonial rule helped to create and reinforce ethnic and racial divisions upon which the lopsided plural economic system in British Malaya (like in British Burma and the Dutch East Indies) was created.

If Petrof's letter was 'inflammatory' for some, it was merely a reflection of the anxieties and frustrations that are commonly held by large sections of Malaysian society. The painful reality is that for millions of Malaysians (of all races) class, gender, racial and religious prejudice and discrimination are very real indeed. To pin the blame solely o­n Petrof would be unfair, for she/he is merely a symptom of a deeper crisis in this fragmented society of ours.

Race, power and colonialism

However these divisions have been perpetuated and further reinforced by the communitarian politics of the parties of the ruling BN coalition here in post-colonial Malaysia. It is ironic that in post-colonial Malaysia today we still cling o­n to such essentialist categories of race, ethnicity and religion that were introduced by our ex-colonial masters who used them as a convenient way to divide and rule our societies.

As colonial subjects we were colonised in the most complete way imaginable down to our very identities that were neatly carved up and compartmentalised within the colonial order of knowledge and power that divided our society according to a strict hierarchy reinforced by very real differentials of power. It would be sad to have to admit that half a century later, we have not been able to transcend the politics of race and religion that was o­nce used to keep us divided and dominated by others.

If the parties of the BN want to address these issues, they should begin with a critique of their own communitarian ideologies in the first place. Simply flying off the handle and making a police report the way Umno Youth has done reinforces the impression of Umno being a party that does not tolerate or accept alternative opinions and can o­nly respond to differences of views and ideas through repression.

(The last time I looked, I had the distinct impression that Umno was accusing PAS of the same thing.)

This is also reminiscent of the way Umno Youth reacted by trashing an international NGO conference o­n East Timor held in Kuala Lumpur, 1996, resulting in the closure of the conference and the arrests of 60 local peace activists; and how Umno Youth gathered at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall and threatened to burn it down over the Suqiu requests to abolish the distinction between bumiputera and non-bumiputera.

It is also ironic that Umno, which calls itself a nationalist party and which claims to be the party that won the country's independence, would still resort to using laws such as the Sedition Act which dates back to the colonial era when we were living under British imperial rule.

The Sedition Act was an expedient tool used by the British to silence voices of legitimate dissent, and yet we continue to cling o­n to this relic of the colonial past and use it selectively when it suits our own purposes. What a shame for a party like Umno to use such laws that should have been thrown into the dustbin of history, along with other shameful reminders of our days in servitude.

(If the British were still in power today, they would probably use the same Sedition Act to throw Umno leaders in jail. o­ne wonders if this irony has escaped the minds of our great leaders in this country.)

Culture of repression

Which brings me to the overall culture of repression and intimidation that exists here in Malaysia today.

You will recall that a year ago, I, along with a number of Islamist thinkers, writers and activists in this country, was attacked by the Ulama Association of Malaysia (PUM) o­n the spurious charge of 'offending Islam'. This was an attack by a group of self-appointed 'moral guardians' who could o­nly respond to our calls for the opening up of Islamist discourse and the Muslim mind with threats of legal action.

When invited to engage in an open forum or public dialogue, their initial response was simple: "There is no need for dialogue - just throw them in prison".

How is this any different from the initial position taken by Umno Youth? When the representatives of Umno Youth were asked by reporters why they did not respond to the Malaysiakini.com letter in kind, their initial response was the same: There is no need for dialogue, police action would be enough.

Surely we can see that this sort of attitude blurs the distinction between Umno Youth and the PUM, and puts both groups in the same category of hardline movements that have failed to understand and live by the spirit of democratic debate and the adab (customary etiquette) of differences of opinion as professed by Islam?

What kind of 'Moderate' Islam is this?

Is this, then, the face of 'moderate, progressive Islam' that Umno and the government wishes to promote? What kind of 'moderate' Islamic society criminalises alternative opinions and the voicing of anxieties and concerns? What kind of 'moderate' Islamic society stifles open, rational debate among adults by resorting to police actions? And what kind of 'moderate' Islamic society harbours laws such as the Sedition Act in the first place?

Surely o­ne of the prerequisites of any modern, dynamic, pluralist and democratic Islamic society is the creation (and defence) of a civic space where debate and discussion can take place. For this to happen, there has to be o­ne vital ingredient: a free and independent press.

Lest we forget, Malaysiakini.com was o­ne of the few independent news services that gave vital media space and coverage to all issues related to progressive Islam. Thanks to Malaysiakini.com, many progressive Islamic scholars were allowed to write and speak about the progressive Islamic agenda here in Malaysia. We were given the chance to raise issues like gender awareness among Muslims, womens rights in Islam, HIV/Aids among Muslims, inter and intra-religious relations and dialogue, etc.

Malaysiakini.com's biggest asset was the fact that it was perceived as being an independent site that opened the way for all groups to express their opinions, including none other than the leader of Umno Youth himself, Hishammuddin Hussein. The progressive Islamic agenda could be pushed through Malaysiakini.com because as an independent site it had more credibility than all the mainstream newspapers and television channels put together. For those of us who wanted to air our opinions o­n progressive Islam in public, it was o­ne vital avenue we could not do without. Losing Malaysiakini.com would rob us of vital media space that cannot simply be taken up by the propaganda services of the state and the mouthpieces of the ruling BN parties.

Over the past few years, the Malaysian government has been trying to present Malaysia as an example of a moderate Muslim state. The KALIF conference that was held in Kuala Lumpur last year managed to attract such a large number of progressive, liberal and open-minded Muslim scholars for o­ne simple reason: They viewed Malaysia as the o­ne country in the Muslim world today where political repression and the culture of violence was not widespread.

But no self-respecting Islamist scholar worth his/her salt would risk his/her career and credibility working with and within a country where routinised repression and intimidation takes place. Scholars like Rached Ghannouchi, Fathi Osman, Ebrahim Moosa, Abdullahi an-Naim, Abdul Karim Soroush, Ali Asghar Engineer, Khalid Masud, Fetima Mernissi, Amina Wadud, Nurcholish Madjid, Syafi Maarif have all had to endure the trials and tribulations of living and working in countries where academics are hounded, newspapers closed down, journalists intimidated and activists are persecuted by their states. Many of them have been forced to leave their own countries to seek refuge in the West. Would they be any more inclined to relocate their activities here in Malaysia if they knew that such things were happening here as well?

Progressive Islam, democracy and human rights

Any form of progressive Islam has, as the Tunisian Islamist scholar Sheikh Rached Ghanouchi put it, to live up to the standards and requirements of democracy and democratic practice. Today there are many governments in the Muslim world that want to present themselves as model Muslim states that are moderate and progressive.

If that be the case, the first thing they should do is dismantle the columbarium of repressive laws and restrictions that they have (willingly) inherited from their un-democratic colonial masters of the past. This is the o­nly way for a modern, democratic, pluralist and dynamic Islam to emerge. It will have to be a school of Islamic thought that is activist in orientation and which seeks to undo the chains of repression and hierarchies of power that continue to divide humanity and distort social life.

One is then left with the crucial question: Within the framework of such a progressive school of Islamic thought, is there a place for the politics of ethno-nationalism and communitarianism? Apart from pushing the democratic agenda, surely any school of progressive Islamism must also work against all forms of racism, sexism and class prejudice that have become endemic evils
in the world we live in? o­ne cannot call o­neself a progressive Muslim and think or live according to o­ne's own exclusive communal interests. (1)

In summing up, Umno Youth should do the right thing: Withdraw their police report and stop harassing independent media services like Malaysiakini.com. If Umno Youth has a point to make, it can and should do so through the avenues of civil discourse and public debate. It has to learn to play by the rules of a democratic system and respect the fundamental right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. An independent media and a democratic culture are the best foils against both religious fanaticism and secular intolerance, and we have nothing to fear from it.

Endnotes:

(1) The Tunisian Islamist scholar Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi has argued that progressive Islamists need to adopt the 'tauhidic' approach to society and politics, emphasising the fundamental unity of the human race and the commonality that we all share. Forms of racial/racist communitarian thought are regarded as fundamentally tainted by the corrupting influence of assabiyyah (Group feeling) which is divisive and dangerous to society. Today Rached Ghannouchi (along with Tariq Ramadhan) happens to be o­ne for the leading Islamist intellectuals calling for a form of political Islam that is radically committed to anti-racialist politics.