Sarah Sabaratnam and Loretta Ann Soosayraj's article 'More Arab than the Arabs?'( Life and Times, April 28) recently echoed the concern expressed by the new Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Dr Rais Yatim about the 'Arabization' of Malay culture and the "rejection of many ancient Malay traditions and rituals considered un-Islamic, which resulted in the rejection of Malay culture."

The minister saw the rejection by some Malays of the Hindu-rooted adat bersanding and the increasing popularity of ketayap among the young Muslims and the jubbah among the older ones as signs of the rejection. A number of cultural activists shared the concern.

Will the minister reintroduce the Hindu-rooted traditions and rituals into the Malay culture?

There are concerns that he might use his ministry to turn the 'cultural clock' back to the pre-Islamic era, thus restoring the haram (unlawful) and syirik (act of assigning partners to Allah) elements into the Malay culture.

There are misunderstandings in the joint authors' article which oblige us to respond. The misunderstandings, in our view, have to do with their apparent lack of understanding of Islam and that of the minister and cultural activists.

The authors are perhaps, blameless. There are a great number of Muslims out there who simply fail to grasp the true meaning and significance of Islam in their life. They too, tend to have a misplaced view on the Islamisation of the Malay culture.

A way of life

Let us first state the fundamental on which our view stands. Unlike other religions, Islam is a way of life - an ad-deen. What it means is that a Muslim in his or her life must follow what Islam requires him or her to do.

Islam permeates into every aspect of the lives of Muslims from personal to family life, society and life as a nation. It has rules on politics, business and economic, education, government, social, culture, international relations and so forth.

These rules come from the Quran (the Words of Allah and the Muslims' Holy Book), Hadith (sayings, explanations, clarifications and practical examples by the prophet) and consensus opinions of Islamic scholars.

To give an example, in Islam there is no such thing as the separation of religion and politics. If we Muslims do this, it means that politics is Godless, that is, in our political behaviours and actions, there is no consideration of halal (lawful) and haram, good or sinful acts and heaven and hell. This is against the teachings of Islam.

For us Muslims, Islam - a religion that comes from God - is supreme in that it rules our life, not the other way round. It should rule all our affairs in life, no exception.

Now, we present our view.

Islamic culture and Arab culture are two different things. One who says that Arab culture is not necessarily Islamic is indeed right as it is not necessarily free from haram and syirik elements.

For example, belly dancing (photo) is not Islamic but it is an Arabic dance. So are cultures and traditions of the non-Arab Muslims.

The Malay culture and traditions, especially because of their Hindu roots, are no exception.

It is therefore incumbent upon the Muslims, regardless of their racial origins, to follow the culture of Islam in their life. That means to clean their cultures of un-Islamic elements.

What is Islamic culture then? The answer is quite straight forward. All cultures are Islamic when they conform to the tenets of Islam.

Cleaning process

Historically, the Malays, since they knew religion, were originally Hindus. Only since the 13th or early 14th century they took Islam as their religion. Since then, the process of 'cleaning Malay culture of un-Islamic elements' has been going on but somehow, some of those elements remain and others keep slipping in.

The cleaning process will continue. With the revival of Islam, the process will intensify. Values - old and new - associated with the Malays that are un-Islamic will eventually go as their understanding of the religion and its significance grows deeper.

The Malay Muslims want makyong, dikir barat, wayang kulit and other forms of cultural and art expressions that are free of un-Islamic elements. So, if there is 'the rejection of many ancient Malay traditions and rituals considered un-Islamic', it does not mean that the Malays are neglecting their culture as claimed.

On the contrary, they love their culture and in a dynamic way, they are bringing their cultural and art life into conformity with Islam - the haram and syirik elements must go. This shouldn't be misunderstood.

Another misunderstanding is on the issue of wearing the kopiah, serban and jubbah. Muslims everywhere have been adorning these since time immemorial. They wear them when praying, in classrooms, at special functions such as weddings or when celebrating the hari raya. Some even wear them all the time.

Like the sarong and baju Melayu, kopiah, serban and jubbah have always been part of the attire of Muslims in Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. They even combined the kopiah with Western clothes and baju Melayu.

In fact, history told us that when Ibnu Batuta (a renowned Muslim traveller) visited Acheh in the 15th century (8th Hijrah), the Sultan of Acheh presented him with three pieces of serban showing that serban had already come to be accepted as a Malay tradition then. Therefore, to say that the Malays have abandoned their traditional dress in favour of Arab garbs is not true.

The coming of Islam to this region had indeed enriched the Malay culture as Islam and Muslims have a rich cultural heritage.

As we can see today, Malays and other Muslims who come to pray at the mosques are in different attires and they are free to put on any kind of attires so long as they do not expose their aurat.

Following the prophet

There is no such thing as a specific Islamic dress. What is incumbent upon the Muslims is to dress decently, that is, not to reveal body parts that are considered aurat. Dresses of any styles which conform to this dress code are indeed Islamic.

So, ketayap, serban and jubbah are all Islamic attire. So are baju Melayu with songkok and shirts and long pants and three-piece suits.

Hence, to say that "some Malays are more Arab than the Arabs themselves" is not funny.

Nevertheless, we agree that "putting on the kopiah, serban and jubbah does not make one more Muslim."

How do we know what is in their soul? But, to this one must add that some Malays are more western than westerners themselves and a Malay who puts on a three-piece suit and necktie in the blazing afternoon sun will not make him English.

Ironically, nobody questions when the Malays come to work and pray in Western clothes.

Those Malay Muslims who wear serban and jubbah regularly, do so for the love of Prophet Muhamad (SAW) as there is a Hadith that says that Allah gives handsome reward to those who follow the traditions of the prophet.

Serban and jubbah were the regular attires of the prophet and his companions and also great Islamic scholars. As rightly said by Johan Jaafar, "Culture is about acceptability by a society."

So, if this is the case, what could be wrong with wearing serban and jubbah then? It is not so much about 'Arabisation' as claimed but this is about preserving what have come to be part of Malay Muslim traditions and cultural heritage.

There was also a call to define "what forms of art forms are against the tenets of Islam."

Well, a straight forward answer is any form of cultural and art expressions and traditions - Arab or non-Arab - that promote indecency (maksiat) are against the tenets of Islam. To a Muslim, moderate or otherwise, a maksiat is a maksiat.

Muslims were thought that syirik is a big sin and a Muslim who committed syirik and did not repent will not enter paradise. Hence, Malay Muslim and culture and arts must be free from haram and syirik elements.

Misplaced view

Hence, to regard "the Arabization of Malays and the cleansing of Malay cultural elements deemed un-Islamic" as a 'real threat' is a misplaced view. The Arab and non-Arab Muslims elsewhere are cleaning their culture of un-Islamic elements. This is part of the Islamic revivalism that is sweeping the Islamic world today. After all, the prophet didn't totally discard the jahiliyyah traditions, he merely cleansed them of haram and syirik elements. Of course, the clear-cut cases were different matters.

It should be understood that Malay Muslims are part of the global Muslim society - minus the 'terrorists' - and like it or not, this is where the Malay Muslims should belong and identify themselves. There is no way for the Malays to totally disengage themselves from the Arab influence as well as the influence of the non-Arab Muslim cultures and traditions, just like the Christians, Hindus and Buddhists and their respective global communities.

After all, Muslims from around the globe converge to Mecca and Medina annually - they meet, interact, exchange views and integrate, culturally and spiritually. The Malay Muslims have every right to be associated with the Islamic civilisation, past and present and its rich cultural heritage and the current Islamic revivalism. Of course, they must also not forget that they are part of the regional and global community.

Finally, in our view what we need to really examine is the damaging influence of hedonism and the so-called 'yellow culture' on our society today, especially the youngsters. These cultures certainly defy many tenets of Malay culture and traditions, and also the culture and traditions of other Malaysians. For that matter, they also defy the tenets of world religions. They have caused irreparable cultural damage.

The phenomenal rise in crimes, sex-related offences, exploitation of women, homosexuality, lesbianism, obscenity, vulgarity and moral decadence in our society certainly has something to do with - besides other bigger factors - the uncontrolled spread of these cultures. Hence, the real threat to the Malay culture is hedonism and yellow culture, not 'Arabization'.

Unfortunately, nobody seems to question or care. Isn't this an irony?

Dr Rosli Yaakop holds a Ph D in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, USA. He is an economic columnist with Harakah and currently Negeri Sembilan PAS Commissioner while his wife Anumma M Bawanater is a bank officer.