July 13, 2012
Jittery JAWI brings Nik Raina’s Trial forward
by Din Merican
Here is a report I read on Book Banning in Malaysia and you should read it because the world is watching us and that is why JAWI is jittery and wants a quick closure to the Nik Raina case.
This religious unit is under the Prime Minister’s Department. The Minister in charge of this unit is a former Brig General Jamil Khir Baharom who is regarded by some NGOs as an Absolute Bigot!
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May 29, 2012
Respect Right to Convey and Receive Information and Ideas
(New York) – The Malaysia government should respect the right to free expression and immediately reverse its ban on a book, Allah, Liberty and Love, by Canadian Muslim writer Irshad Manji.
Home Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein banned the book, which deals with the reconciliation of faith and freedom, because it is “prejudicial to morality and public order,” according to the Federal Government Gazette on May 29, 2012.
“Banning books is nothing short of cowardly,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Malaysian society is fully capable of discussing the issues of the day without the government telling them what they can or can’t read.”
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Abu Seman Yusop said that Allah, Liberty and Love was
banned because it “is believed to have elements that can deviate Muslims from their faith, Islamic teachings and elements which insulted Islam and has received numerous complaints.” He added that a report from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) indicated that the book had elements that “could confuse the public.”
On May 29, some 20 officers from the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) with a warrant from an Islamic (Shariah) court, raided the offices of ZI Publications, which published the Malay language edition of the book. They seized about 180 copies and took Ezra Zaid, the publisher, to JAIS headquarters in the town of Shah Alam. He was released on RM 1,800 (US $570) bail and has not yet been charged.
Under the Printing Presses and Publication Law, the Home Affairs Minister has “absolute discretion” to ban books. The ban, effective throughout Malaysia, extends to possession of the book in either Malay or English and to its “importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, [and] distribution”. The ban also extends to “copies, extracts, translation, précis, and paraphrasing.”
Manji arrived in Malaysia on May 15 to take part in a promotional book tour, but learned that scheduled events had been cancelled, in part due to government pressure. Manji’s first book, The Trouble with Islam Today, published in 2004, also was controversial.
The ban on Allah, Liberty and Love violates the right to freedom of expression as provided under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Free expression entails the right both to impart and receive information and ideas, Human Rights Watch said.
“Malaysian authorities say they are protecting morality by banning Manji’s book, but this is just old-fashioned state repression,” Pearson said. “Malaysia will have a stronger claim to being a rights-respecting democracy that deserves its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council once it starts permitting Malaysians the right to seek information and to hold opinions without interference.”
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JAWI has outdone the Ministry of Home Affairs when it raided the premises of Borders, a well known and respected bookstore in Kuala Lumpur before the book was banned, and arrested and charged Nik Raina, the store manager at Borders Mid-Valley, Megamall.
In stead of acknowledging that it had erred and overreacted, JAWI chose to ask the Syariah Court to override the decision of the Civil High Court which allowed the hearing of the Stay Application which has been set for July 30, 2012. The Notice served on Nik Raina (below) means that they have circumvented the Judicial Review which is due to take place on September 5, 2012.
Jawi and all the state Islamic affairs departments have become governments within a government. They have acted completely on their own as if Muslims lack brains and faith in their beliefs. It is time to crop their unscrupulous tentacles. It is also time that religion be made a personal matter and not that of the state. This country was secular in nature when independence was achieved. It should remain like that. There is too much interference by these bigoted departments in the lives of the people.
It is also time that religion be made a personal matter and not that of the state” Ahmad Mustapha
I’m not sure where you’re going with this statement but it resonates with me and many readers on this blog. To me it is not an election slogan – and here’s why.
This is what happens when you introduce religion into the country’s Constitution. It divides a nation. A harmless statement meant to give a Malay and hence an Islamic flavor to ceremonies of state, under Article 3 of the Federal Constitution 1957 has opened the door to those hoping to move beyond and perhaps into making Islam a state religion. Another provision in the country’s Article 11(1) guarantees religous freedom and sub-clause (4) allows the state to legislate to stop the proselytization of Malays who are deemed Muslims by law according Article 160(2) an obscure part of the document dealing with definitions. The truth is and here I humbly submit that the 1957 Federal Constitution is in my view a secular constitution. It is meant to be that way.
There is no provision within the country’s Constitution that deems Malays legally as Muslims. Today we see the introduction of state syariah laws making it a strict liability and a criminal offence for Malays to miss their Friday prayers three Fridays consequtively. Where is the source of this power for the states to do that? Sub-clause 4 of Article 11 (1)? Prior to the amendment to the federal constitutin (was it Article 121(1A)?), the jurisidction of the syariah court was traditionally limited to marriages and distribution of family property. Today syariah law has been given a status equal to that of civl law based on the English common law which is a departure from the view of the country’s Founding Fathers if you will. Non-Malays and non-Muslims are right to be apprehensive about the direction things are going. Already the clash of jurisdictions have meant that Malay and Muslim values are being imposed on them (non-Malays and non-Muslims) as syariah law naturally tends to oust civil law.
Religion is best kept personal between the individual and his Maker. There is nothing written in the country’s Constitution and I submit to you guys, that could be seen as a departure from that basic fundamental. Article 3 merely states that Islam is “the religion of the federation”. There is a reason why it is expressed thus and not ‘religion of the state’ or even ‘official religion’.
UMNO has put its foot in the narrow opening in the door first to counter the influence of its splinter group PMIP the predecessor of today’s PAS. As time went on, the fight for Malay support (especially rural Malay support) was raised more than a few notches by Malay politicians elbowing each other for space. Today it has developed into a full fight for the right to control the soul of the nation.
Will we see a return to the pre-1969 position when in my view we had the right balance, between the secular and the non-secular, under a Pakatan government? No. Will the country ever be able to make a mid-course correction in the direction UMNO has taken us, that PAS and PKR are committed to continue? Parties may change sides but the game remains the same. English soccer is not about to change to American football.
“Here is a report I read on Book Banning in Malaysia and you should read it because the world is watching us and that is why JAWI is jittery and wants a quick closure to the Nik Raina case.” — Dato Din Merican
Do you really think they really care?? For two decades their proud leader who can do no wrong, the one known by his initials MM, has been prancing the international stage like a proud peacock with his feathers spread open, telling every other world leader that what Malaysia does is nobody’s business but Malaysia’s own. His successor may not have such colorful feathers, faded and worn out perhaps by encounters with the female gender, but feathers he still has.
Enough said about what Najib has not said and what JAWI has done and perhaps are now directed to undo some of the damage, clearly the result of a self inflicted wound, in view of the coming elections.
What is Anwar Ibrahim saying that reverbrates with PAS and PKR leaders and with the rest of us?
“Malaysian authorities say they are protecting morality by banning ..”
comapred with,
“Malaysian society is fully capable of discussing the issues of the day without the government telling them what they can or can’t read.”
I think the latter is a better way for Malsyians for any human being dont you Jakim? You dont need to protect our morality as if we will loose it by reading books. I suggest you Jakim go and see the movie, The Way,
“THE WAY is a powerful and inspirational story about family, friends and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing and complicated world. Martin Sheen plays Tom, an irascible American doctor who comes to France to deal with the tragic loss of his son (played by Emilio Estevez). Rather than return home, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage “The Way of St. James” to honor his son’s desire to finish the journey. What Tom doesn’t plan on is the profound impact this trip will have on him. Through unexpected and oftentimes amusing experiences along “The Way,” Tom discovers the difference between “the life we live and the life we choose.”
You see Jakim, life is meant for us to be lived and part of that is to “navigate our way through this ever changing and complicated world”. If you keep wanting to tell us how to live we WONT learn anything,much like you. Go and see it , it will do you good.
Jamil Khir, in the good old days, would only be a Nizar Ugama with not pips or crowns on his shoulder. But since religion became institutionalized Kor Agama became a power into itself. Ustazs who once were nothing but minor religious officials in the units suddenly found themselves wearing officers’ uniforms and ranks. They get to be saluted and are at par with the upper crust of the officer corps.
The “bigoted” Jamil Khir would have been another insignificant ustaz whom no one give two hoots had he been around in the 70s and 80s.
That’s how far the army has degenerated today. Luckily, I left before the inevitable happened. God have mercy on the poor soldiers.
Kathy, Jakim people don’t go see movies. They are afraid that the movies will make them lose their belief and no longer become a Muslim. They believe that man cannot have his photo taken, it’s a sign of the devil. They don’t have pictures in their homes lest the family worship these photos and commit shirik.
Jakim’sa reading material is very limited and confiend to Islamic literature, thus they are unable to expand their thinking inspite of their name Jabatan Kemajuan Islam. Apa yang nak dimajukan sekiranya pemikiran mereka kolot.
Islam is a very developmental religion, a religion for all people and all times, not frozen is some time zone which Jakim is postulating. After all these years Jakim cannot still agree on two things the Halal and the Hilal. So what development are we talking about.
Kathy,
What you are saying is good but unfortunately, Jakim does not share the same sentiment as you and I do. Let me ask you this, what better way for the government to exert and preserve their power than to control the minds of their people? When I was in school, my Islamic teacher always taught us to think and to learn more about Islam ourselves and not being too dependent on other people telling us what’s right and what’s wrong. I appreciate that she taught us that way because when you read more, ask more, you understand more. But Jakim would go on a rampage before they let Muslims do that.
I’ve observed how some Muslims in Malaysia are so dependent on Jakim to tell them what to do that they wouldn’t bother to learn about Islam themselves. Some even thought that following a different school of jurisprudence, i.e hanafi, maliki, would be considered going astray from Islam. Some thought marrying without Jakim’s certification would be considered illegal. That’s what Jakim had done to Muslims and specifically the Malays. They had encouraged them to be dependent, ignorant and to some extent hateful.
It’s just wishful thinking if you think Jakim would let us learn ourselves. They’d prefer telling us what to do.
Didi,
It’s common argument not just from Jakim but many Malay Muslims that you cannot learn Islam by yourself. If you learn Islam without a teacher then your teacher is Shaitan.
The Shafiee school is a minority. Majority of Muslims are Hanafis. If we strictly follow Shafiee then Malay Muslim pilgrims will have a hard time doing the tawaf as we will be in contact with the opposite sex at every turn around the Kaabah. Malay Muslim pilgrims will constantly break their tawaf to go and take Wudhu.
That’s how far the army has degenerated today. Luckily, I left before the inevitable happened. God have mercy on the poor soldiers.
Tok Cik – July 14, 2012 at 12:22 am
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Lt.Gen Affendi,
What does Lt.Gen Amin say??
Agi Idup agi ngelaban! Dato.
Yes I know they dont go and see movies. They dont do anything but wear a green turban and long jubah and look awful silly because culturally we are malays and thats not our dress code.
In fact this is my suggestion to challenge the faculties of our young ones at school. Have different languages at school ,whether it is a European or the Tamil language, Chinese, Japanese. Then tie a 4 week over seas trip to the languages to learnn about other people. Their language, their lives. Then challenge our students to see what the different religions do towards charity, human rights, taking care of the poor and vulnerable for the 4 weeks they are there. This will challenge their own faith, their identity as a human person. This will make them reflect on their own journey in life . This will have a profound effect on them. Send them to Africa where there is poverty where they have to do service. This will make them learn religion and faith and to have empathy and compassion better than what those Jakim will ever do for them in two lifetimes. Then again it is wishful thinking. But nonetheless I wish.
No harm in wishful thinking Kathy. Unlike old geezers like Bean and Dato Din where the whole kampong, rivers and bendang are our playground, the children of today will not survive one day without their Wifi games, iphone and ipads. Their parents won’t even let them play in the storm drains to catch tadpoles and you want them to visit Africa? Even serving NS is already considered hardship for these spoiled brats.
okay forget Africa for now , lets take baby steps and start with what other religions and other people do to uphold the command of charity, human rights, helping the poor, education the poor in different countries Europe, China, India.
This has a few advantages, one learning languages will use parts of brains they never would, and two seeing the world ,interacting and exhanging ideas, giving oour youths a purpose, and three really pondering deep about whether we just talk and arrest in religion or we live our religous commands faithfully and help others.
The iphones & ipads will soon become ” haram” to be prohibited by Jakim/s law, if once they see some enlightening matters being discussed by ‘ liberated ‘ muslims’ who are beginning to demonstrate ‘ intelligence ‘, orang malaya ?
Fast forward re Nik Raina’s persecution, just be cautious by her lawyers, we know how ‘intelligent’ they are. They quickly desire to ” convict” b’coz they want to preempt, and they know they will succeed, the judicial review which have frequently decided in their ‘ favour’. viz no Interference with religious matters, and Jakim is the rightfull authority to enorce ” God’s words “…. so please be carefull…..
According to Jakim it is Haram for a Malay Muslim to visit other places of worship other than the mesjid. So how to learn about other religion? I went to a Methodist school and the first period is Scripture where we learn about Jesus Christ and Mary and all the other prophet. Now half a century later I am still a practising Muslim and have not been converted or will be converted to Christianity unless God willith it. I wonder if Jakim can explain this or am I the exception. Maybe if the Jakim folks were to visit the Vatican they will come out Catholic.
And how come you’re missing your foreskin and has not become a Jew?
And how come both got on a skull cap and one not become the other. JAKIM has had to come around and introduce edible and batek colored caps and have them certified ‘halal’ and not ‘kosher’?
Bean, check out teloqbesaq for latest business opp. Then have it certified halal by Jakim and you’re on your way to making millions.
Losing foreskin is the trademark of both Jews and Muslims and we are cousins related through uncles Ishak and Ismail or Isaac and Ishmael.
But the Torah is about 3,000 years old, New Testament about 2,000 and Koran about 1,600 (?) years old. How old is the Kamasutra??