YOURSAY | Don’t use religion for political gain

YOURSAY | ‘The failure to rein in religious extremism will come to haunt this nation.’

Jill Ireland case: Putrajaya defying royal decrees - Bersatu

Kilimanjaro: This is the problem when religion is brought into the political sphere. Today, the spectre of drama we are watching is hilarious. Muslims against non-Muslims and what is more, Muslims against Muslims.

It is religion that propelled them to the height of power and it is also religion that brought about their downfall. There is nothing more than religious politics that will do the greatest damage.

As has been the similar case in all religions, sharing the same God and Prophet did not stop divisions within the same religion.

If this political division of the religion has divided even Malays, then for the religion to remain in sanctity, it should be removed from the political domain.

While Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, had come up with the idea of Islam as the religion of the Federation, it was merely to give recognition.

Surfing through the years after independence, Tunku had explicitly wanted a secular Constitution and a secular nation.

It is a tragedy that some politicians had other ideas. With the notion that might is right, it has led to a fractured nation that, for the first time in history, saw three prime ministers in five years.

That notion of might is right has become so hollow in reality. It has now become a norm to have hung Parliaments that have deeply shaken and divided the nation.

All fingers point to the quarrels and disputes about religion as a path towards political domination.

We all know who the Malay leaders are who let the genie out of the bottle. That genie had a dual purpose - to control both Malay opposition leaders primarily and to put the non-Malays in their place.

It is neither my nor anyone’s wish to see a “warring” nation. But that is where it will descend eventually. The notion of Islam Madani or Islam Hadhari moderating it will become a failure. That is what history has taught us.

The failure to rein in religious extremism will come to haunt this nation. It may be a bit too late for this. In the true sense, it is the case of closing the barn door when the horse had already bolted.

Cite Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and even Thailand, the security apparatus was reduced to watching from the sidelines.

When the people ransacked the homes of top political leaders in Sri Lanka, it showed that even the security apparatus could only do that much.

For you and me, all we have with us are prayers and hope that better sense will prevail, but expecting politicians to come to their senses is like “kucing bertanduk” (when cats grow horns/when pigs fly).

They will ultimately ruin the nation and their weapon will be religion. I have no doubts about that. Religion is a weapon mightier than the sword, but the problem is it can cut both ways.

Apanama is back: Bersatu information chief Razali Idris, do not spin and twist what the rulers of Johor and Selangor had said.

First, on March 18, 2021, Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar backed the federal government’s decision to appeal against a court ruling allowing non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” for religious and educational purposes.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Christians can use “Allah” in religious publications, striking down a ban that dated back to 1986.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Thursday (Mar 18), the sultan said: “I call on the federal government to continue the appeal in these proceedings. In fact, I will direct the Johor Islamic Religious Council to take any necessary action and provide support for the appeal effort.”

This is not a royal decree by the Sultan of Johor.

Secondly, on March 23, 2021, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah directed the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) to apply to intervene in the appeal against the High Court decision allowing Christians to use the word “Allah” in religious publications for educational purposes.

The Selangor ruler said his stand was in tandem with the Federal Court’s decision in the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur vs the Home Minister case in 2014 as well as the Selangor edict issued on Feb 18, 2010, which states the term “Allah” could not be used to refer to God by religions aside from Islam.

“It is the responsibility of Muslims to prevent the usage of ‘Allah’ if there are elements of misuse or insult towards the term.”

This is also not a royal decree by the Sultan of Selangor.

Get your facts right before spinning to confuse the public. Of course, you did it purposely since state elections are on the way.

George Lourdesamy: What royal decree? Under which provision of the Federal Constitution was the decree issued? Was the decree issued by the Conference of Rulers?

The sultans of Selangor and Johor only advised the federal government to appeal and for their respective state Islamic religious councils to intervene in the matter.

The subject matter of the High Court decision was the impugned Home Ministry directive of 1986 purportedly issued under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 that supposedly banned the importation, sale, and distribution of Christian publications that used the four Arabic words in question.

These are matters exclusively under the jurisdiction of the federal government and have nothing to do with the states.

The various Islamic enactments in the states that prohibit the use of more than 12 Arabic terms by non-Muslims in the practice of their religions were not the subject matter of the Jill Ireland judicial review application in the High Court.

Furthermore, the Sabah and Sarawak Islamic ordinances do not prohibit these words in their states. Sarawak does not have an official religion.

The decision of the High Court is limited to the facts of the case and did not touch upon the constitutionality of the nine state Islamic laws that prohibit non-Muslims from using certain Arabic words in their religion.

Bersatu, as usual, is trying to inflame matters to gain support from Muslim voters in the six state elections.

Cogito Ergo Sum: Desperate to raise flagging support, Bersatu will rather the nation go up in smoke than take the middle road.

Reports from the ground must indicate a colossal loss for Perikatan Nasional in the upcoming state elections, even in states now run by them.

The youth are fed up with being told what they can and cannot do while their families are starving. The older folks are stumped as to why, despite hard work and dedication for decades, they are still poor.

Bersatu had a go as administrator and made it worse. Now, without a cause célèbre, they choose the path they hope will take away attention from bread and butter issues.

drngsc: Bersatu is trying to divide Malaysia by playing the 3R (race, religion, and royalty) card again.

Please let us move on. Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-religious nation where we respect each other and royalty. If you want the Malaysians to support you, please help to make Malaysia prosperous and let us all live in harmony.

Newday: Bersatu, at your convenience, you cite the sultans as your ultimate law reference. Yet, when you were part of the government coup you showed nothing but contempt for the rulers. Your statement is 100 percent political.

Embun: This entire issue on the use of the word Allah will never end in Malaysia as long as democratic space is denied and the assertion of the supremacy of one race and religion overrides all logic and rational behaviour.

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