As dogs ate Jezebel

Malaysiakini - Daily death threat avalanche hits Syed Azmi

Organiser of the ‘I want to touch a dog’ event Syed Azmi Alhabshi has been drowning under thousands of death threats and other hateful messages within hours for holding the controversial event, according to his lawyer, Syahredzan Johan.

“He has been getting severe death threats. It is on his WhatsApp, on his phone, on his Facebook, everywhere…

"Just to give a brief (illustration), I was with him yesterday. Just in a few hours, on hisWhatsApp unread messages, there were about 1,000, nearly 2,000 (messages),” Syahredzan (right in photo) said during a press conference today.

They range from threats to break his neck to killing him on sight on the streets, Syahredzan said, and his co-organisers of the event are “extremely concerned” for his safety.

This is Malaysia in the 21st Century, where you can threaten to kill someone you disagree with or whose actions you disagree with. Maybe that's why we have adopted the national slogan of Malaysia Boleh, where we can (depending on whose side you're with/on) with impunity boleh every bloody conceivable actions.

Though there is nothing in the Quran about the uncleanliness of dogs, some Islamic school of jurisprudence (madhhab) like Syafi'i, as practiced in Malaysia, has instructed that the dog is an unclean animal. But another madhhab, Maliki, says dogs are not unclean.

What it tells us about the difference between the teachings of Syafi'i and Maliki is that it's a sectarian issue, and not that of God.

Though Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has informed us that Muslims should be at liberty to adopt the teachings of any Sunni Madhhab, the Malaysian religious authority has declared that the Syafi'i teachings MUST be observed. 

Now, would this be what (as reported by TMI) Kassim Ahmad had said about the ulama 'priesthood caste', where according to him, the ulama have become 'dictators' of the Muslim's understanding of Islam. He stated: "This class of priests control the interpretation of religion to the masses. They are dictators. There is no freedom."

Nonetheless, it seems that for quite a few in Malaysia it's worth killing someone over the issue of 'touching' a dog. I wonder whether it has given foreigners the sad impression that for us, corruption, crimes and injustice can wait while we deal with the far more critical issue of Muslims touching an unclean creature.

And that's what PAS' Khalid Samad has just said, as reported by the Malay Mail Online, that (extracts): 

The collective outrage among Muslims in the country over the recent “I Want to Touch a Dog” event only proves that many do not understand their own faith.

... the events suggest the education system has failed to prepare Muslims for the realities of life in a plural society where dogs exist, a situation not helped when the leaders themselves are unclear about Islam’s guiding principles.

Training his sights on the federal government’s revenue from gambling activities and alcohol sales, Khalid said it is symptomatic of ignorance among the faithful as to what is “halal” and “haram”.

He noted that Putrajaya has continued to ignore proposals mooted in Parliament for revenue from gambling and alcohol to be placed under a special fund to be used for infrastructure development, to avoid paying civil servants using money that is “unclean” or not “halal” — a system that is currently used by the opposition-run Kelantan government.

“So when sensitivities to matters that are dirty and ‘najis’ (filth) are not institutionalised and simply disregarded, why the surprise when Malay Muslims hug dogs? Or take bribes? They do not see such sensitivities in their daily lives and the country’s administration,” Khalid said in his latest posting on his blog, khalidsamad.com.

“But what is strange is that those who are making noise about this programme are not making noise about other ‘najis’ that is being done out in the open,” ...

Leaving above mentioned hypocrisy aside, I did a wee bit of reading on my fave book, the Old Testament, wakakaka.

I note that the Israelites and their Judean descendants considered dogs as unclean, but because the creatures fed on human corpses which were left lying around, or licked up human blood split on the ground.

Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat, for the LORD has said it!   [1 Kings 14:11]

Doesn't the above also make birds like merpati and merbok unclean a la what's good for the goose should be also for the gander?

Tell him, "This is what the LORD says: Have you murdered and also taken possession?" Then tell him, "This is what the LORD says: In the place where the dogs licked Naboth's blood, the dogs will also lick your blood!"   [1 Kings 21:19]

The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel: He who belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and he who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.   [1 Kings 21:23-24]

Hmm, those unclean birds again!

Incidentally, on Jezebel the Old Testament had always been biased against women since Genesis (in the Garden of Eden), which is hardly surprising when we know it was written by a bunch of misogynistic priests.

Eve, Tamar (who was bonked and made pregnant by her father-in-law Judah, the ancestor of all Judeans/Jews), Bathsheba, Jezebel and various other biblical women were always blamed for the sins of men, wakakaka.

Mary Magdalene, Yehoshua's partner or more likely wife, was described as a prostitute (harlot). New archaeological discoveries have found that she was Yehoshua's brightest disciple.

The biblical account of good old Rover seems to be quite different from the story behind Jews not eating pork - see my post Why Orthodox Jews don't eat pork! Note that I mentioned 'orthodox Jews' which means some modern or liberal Jews do eat pork.

I had initially wondered whether the dog thingy in the Old Testament might have something to do with the Egyptian god Anpu, who's better known to us as Anubis, wakakaka. Among ancient Egyptian gods, Anpu has a very very ancient pedigree (more than 5,000 years ago).

I observe that Muslims from yonder days had followed or adopted many Jewish practices. I wonder whether that had been a consequence of coincidences or religious adherence by the Muslims of the Jewish religious observances?

Examples of notable similarities have been:

^*#:" - ancient Egyptian for 'Ouch'

• circumcision (from Egyptian to Israelites to Muslims)
• pork etc are haram (also from Egyptian to Israelites to Muslims)
• wearing of haji cap (Jewish yarmulke)
• praying in direction towards the respective Holy City (Jerusalem and Mecca)

Mind, Jews use wine in some of their religious services while to Muslims, alcohol is of course haram.