By Sahabat Seperjuangan
What have Isma and Perkasa taking part in a coming liberalism conference in well-heeled Bangsar, a liberal Malay-Muslim lawyer showing her middle finger to her detractors in a forum on Rang Undang Undang 355 (RUU) in an industrial estate in Shah Alam, and Tuan Guru Hadi Awang’s visit to Wisma Fujian in the heart of KL’s Chinatown got in common?
Where once upon a time the debate on hudud was confined to Islamic enclaves on the East Coast with the passing in the state assemblies of Kelantan in 1993 and of Terengganu in 2003 of the Shariah Criminal Enactments, the arguments are now encroaching upon urban turf on the opposite coast.
What seemed remote 10 or 20 years ago has travelled some way across the Main Range and planted itself in the everyday consciousness of city slickers. It is a rising tide and brings with it portions of elation and frustration, depending on which side you stand on as to the differing opinions doing the rounds on how to save Malaysia.
During the Cold War, the cry “The Russians are coming!” was enough to raise alarm and consternation among the populace of the liberal West facing the prospect of being swamped by godless Communism.
Now that RUU is coming, secularists in Malaysia are worried sick by the Islamists’ insistence that return to a godly obeisance is the way forward.
Tuan Guru Hadi Awang’s foray into facing the Federation of Hokkien Associations of Malaysia (FHAM) on a Sunday morning, fresh after special prayers the day before for a dear departed comrade and Mursyidul Am, Almarhum Datuk Haron Din, did not fare well. Instead, it highlighted the wide gulf that exists between the Fujian Federation and the Islamists.
To waiting reporters, FHAM President Tan Sri Khoo Chai Kaa’s pronouncement of not understanding what Hadi said and his unanswered plea for somebody to enlighten him are proof enough that Hadi’s speech on his rationale for the RUU went way over the heads of the Hokkiens.
Nobody can seriously blame them because Hadi peppered his delivery with Arabic terms like qisas and qazaf that meant nothing to people not schooled in shariah.
But the obstinacy with which FHAM wants to pursue the signature campaign without knowing what RUU is all about does not cast the Hokkiens in a good light. How can intelligent people oppose something they know nothing about?
Anybody with the interest of the nation at heart would have sought to improve his comprehension of this burning issue, and would welcome any effort to shed light on this crucial matter that can change the course of a country, instead of merely offering blind resistance.
Hadi’s initiative at this engagement can only be applauded by all fair-minded citizens, but it has not been a good start. Nevertheless, it is a start and a harbinger of what is to come as PAS embarks on its policy of peaceful change through a process of mature dialogue, its policy of budaya politik matang dan sejahtera.
Hadi’s call has paved the way for follow-up sessions and both sides should endeavour to meet again to go down the learning curve. For the Islamists, it must be to hear of and allay the fears, unfounded or real, of Malaysians of other races and religions, and for the other side to appreciate how committed some Muslims are to practising their religion in the way they are obliged to, not only in honour of the Quran, but respecting the Federal Constitution which enshrines the right of every citizen to practise his religion freely.
Concomitantly, there cannot be violation of the rights of the minorities to perpetuate what is good and right in their culture.
Nobody is forcing hudud or anything related to it upon you at the point of a gun. PAS is committed to following the parliamentary route.
Sahabat Seperjuangan is an FMT reader.
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