The recent raid on a Kuala Lumpur nightclub by the Federal Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) was unIslamic.

This view may come as a surprise to some Muslims and perhaps to a much larger number of non-Muslims. The raid showed an image of Islam opposite to what it really is, unfortunately making some Muslims and non-Muslims fearful of the religion. This should not be so and the issue calls for immediate clarification and correction.

The raid was unIslamic at two levels. One, at the level of principles - the use of state force and fear to instill morality and religiosity. Two, at the level of implementation - the excessive harshness, the humiliation and abuse of power.

Islam, without doubt, aims for high standards of morality in the individual and society. It has also to be stressed that Muslims are expected to encourage and promulgate morality in all peoples, Muslims or otherwise. True Islam is not narrow or parochial but universal. It aims fundamentally for the well being of all.

How then, would such a noble and universal aim be attained?

Certainly not through the method of force and pervasive fear. Nor excessive harshness and humiliation in the method's execution. Reason : these do not work. When one studies societies with a pervasive and powerful religio-moral police, one finds that morality has not been internally imbued to a high level in the individual and society.

Only the outward symptoms of immorality disappear, but the acts still occur - they either go underground, or are perpetrated abroad. The society has therefore not advanced or benefited. There are much more effective methods than force and fear to attain a moral society. Look at morally successful societies in the world currently and in history. We will see that their values have been imbued through culture, upbringing and education.

Furthermore the method of force and pervasive fear, as a fundamental principle for the inculcation of morality and religiosity, is unIslamic. The broad thrust in Islam is human individual dignity and freedom (with certain responsibilities being attached). In Islam, human dignity is sacred as it has been awarded by God, to all humans.

Compulsion absent

Acts in Islam that restrict full-fledged freedom are moderately few in number. These should have clear, as opposed to speculative, bases. The reality in Muslim society is opposite - there is an excess of unpermitted acts, many based on speculative bases.

Islam categorically says there is no compulsion in matters of faith. It respects reason and operates with rationality. It also teaches moderation or the middle way. Let us note that moderation is already imbedded in the fabric of Islam - therefore moderation does not mean 'diluted Islam' or 'Westernised Islam'. Non-Islamic acts are not 'moderate Islam' but simply non-Islam.

It is wrong to believe that a ruling is more Islamic if it is more restrictive/rigid/strict/extreme - this misunderstanding is very common and highly unfortunate. All in all, the Islamic argument against the use of force and fear in inculcating morality and religiosity is clear.

In Muslim history, the explanation for the deep encroachment of the state religio-moral police into personal lives and individual freedom can perhaps be attributed to political forces, not to Islamic precepts. The encroachments first began during periods when certain caliphs in the Ummayad and Abbasid dynasties - monarchies ruling over most of the world's Muslims at that time - experienced loss of power and were viewed by Islamic scholars and the masses as illegitimate. Some of those state encroachments have come down the ages to current Muslim societies and wrongly perceived as Islamic teachings.

Backwardness in certain Muslim societies have been traced to certain practitioners of Islam going against the fundamentals of the religion in its complete, pragmatic whole. Errors in religious text interpretation come in various forms, some of the more common ones are shallowness, small-mindedness, parochiality, narrow-mindedness, among others, usually involving only a partial reading of the religious verses. There are also errors of deduction. Frequently, backward values and bad habits or traditions in society masquerade, in the eyes of many Muslims and non-Muslims, as Islam. This is very unfortunate as those retrogressive values are wrongly seen as sacrosanct and defended as such.

Apply scientific basis

Any method to attain the universal Islamic aim of the moral individual and society, for Muslims and non-Muslims, has to have strong scientific basis. This is the best assurance for results.

One suggestion is to have scientifically-verified, effective moral education for children in schools and homes. People are easiest moulded when young. Later as adults, they will be given freedom and discretion without state encroachment, except for serious offences. The moralising force would come primarily from within the individual, supplemented with family, peer and social pressure or advice, and only finally from the state for serious offences. If morality among the young is wanting, it is time to re-examine the nature of religio-moral education and the home.

Those in authority in the various Islamic religious organisations without the properly Islamic (i.e. progressive) worldview should be replaced. If there are not enough Malaysians to fill the positions, we can use the right foreign Muslim experts for the time being. The subsequently reformed policies must be ensured to be correctly implemented.

The image of Islam and Muslims is bad, especially in the mainstream international media, mostly controlled by Zionists and imperialists. This is partly due to distortions, lies and other unjust acts of the enemies of Islam and Muslims, on other occasions to bad acts by Muslims themselves, on other occasions to mistakes, ignorance or misunderstanding. It is clear from the Jawi raid and many other events that Islam must not be equated to every wrong thing that Muslims do. Islam and Muslims are related, but not identical.

This is not an attempt to frustrate the Islamic vision of universal moral uprightness in the individual and society. It is in fact showing a method of how to attain it best. The method of applying pervasive state force and fear would not achieve the aim.

Pervasive fear of the religio-moral police would dampen or extinguish society's creativity and intellectual energies. This will lead to the serious problem of low national competitiveness, in addition to moral problems.

The relevant laws relating to state coercion to morality and religiosity (the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997) must be replaced by scientifically-verified, effective religio-moral education in schools and homes, coupled with freedom, responsibilities and dignity of the individual upon attainment of adulthood. Let us not confuse aims with means.

TIA ALEXANDER, a practising Muslim, monitors and analyses global political issues with special focus on Islam and the Muslim world.