Monday, August 25, 2008

Ustaz - Saiful's dodgy Arabic renders oath dodgy

I wasn’t surprised to read Malaysiakini news item Ustaz puts BN campaign in tatters which incidentally carried an amazing time chop of 3:33 a.m. – wow!

Has Ustaz Ramlang Porigi's verdict on Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s oath of being (allegedly) sodomized by Anwar Ibrahim, discredited the allegation against the PKR de facto leader?

It depends! But you may ask, on what?

Well, on 'perception' because politics, especially the variety given out freely during an election campaign, have always been about voters’ perception.

As I posted in Problems for Anwar Ibrahim in Permatang Pauh? Anwar Ibrahim was experiencing enormous problem in the voters’ perception of his ‘character’ because of the damning Saiful's oath, more so when he (Anwar) refuses steadfastly to take up Saiful's challenge to swear he didn't sodomize his former aide.

I was of course referring to the perception of the Malay voters in Permatang Pauh, and as PAS central committee member Dr Mujahid Yusof commented on the damaging Saiful’s oath: “We’re still not sure of the impact. Morality is a serious thing to the Malays and Saiful did swear on the Quran and he did it in a mosque.”

In an attempt to neutralise Saiful's megaton WMD, PKR shipped in truckloads of Islamic ulamas to explain to the masses in Permatang Pauh why Muslims shouldn’t be swearing to Allah (swt) on such an issue.

But obviously they weren’t effective or convincing because they were political allies of Anwar. Then, worse, I heard from a sweetie that Pak Haji Hadi Awang didn’t perform to the whole nine yards in his supposed defence of Anwar Ibrahim in this respect.

Now, do I or should we care whether a potential PM of Malaysia is a gay? No, not at all, provided his sexual proclivities (whatever those have been and may be) are always consensual between two adults.

Thus, as an example, I would accept Chua Soi Lek as the PM of Malaysia though - wakakaka - this is as likely as George Bush embracing Islam or chickenhawk but ultra-bellicose Dick Cheney (who took 5 deferments to avoid going to the Vietnam war) taking up arms himself to fight in Afghanistan.

So, the issue of consensual sodomy is not and shouldn’t be a consideration for the PM-ship, as my favorite Malaysiakini columnist Dean Johns had been at pains to assert. I agree conpletely with Dean.

The consideration should be foremost about integrity, competency and fairness.

Anyway, back to Ustaz Ramlang Porigi who, not unlike Balasubarmaniam, raises questions about his impartiality when he announced his verdict on the credibility of Saiful’s oath in a PKR press conference at Yayasan Aman, the PKR headquarters in Permatang Pauh.

Yes, Azmin Ali and the ustaz both denied this and that, but would I believe in their protestations? ;-)

Now, what did the ustaz say that Malaysiakini saw fit to headline it as such that his words have shattered the thrust of the BN campaign, based no doubt on Saiful’s damning oath about Anwar Ibrahim?

I’ll attempt to list them down as Malaysiakini had reported them, as follows, together with my comments.

(a) The ustaz said he ‘had been instructed’ to witness Saiful's swearing show.


Malaysiakini journalist Chan Kok Leong wrote that in that announcement the ustaz “stunned everyone”.

Why should it, that is, stun everyone?

A bloke fronted up at a mosque wishing to take a holy oath in front of a cleric. The man in charge of the mosque instructed a minor functionary in the mosque to attend to the bloke. Everything was normal.

Indeed if anything, it did show that there was no clerical heavy metal organizing the oath taking.

(b) During the swearing, Saiful mispronounced one of the Islamic words because he had it written down in Malay instead of Arabic.


Now, I would be hilarious over this point if I can be sure I won’t offend my Muslim friends. But I need to ask: would Allah (swt) have cared one iota if one of his creations had mispronounced an Arabic word in a supposedly serious undertaking, a sumpah laknat (swearing in the face of divine retribution)?

This is precisely the sort of irrelevant hair-splitting arguments which ignored the solemn religious nature of the oath-taking that trivializes the majesty of Islam – and, alas, it’s by a cleric.

(c) Ramlang also revealed a Freudian slip by Saiful. He said: "Saiful also made a mistake on when Anwar Ibrahim had allegedly inserted his penis into his rectum. Instead of June 26, Saiful said he was sodomised on Aug 26 before correcting himself."


So what’s the big deal? A bloke made a mistake, perhaps under stress or just a slip, but should one straightaway say he was lying?

In fact, if one reads documentaries about police interrogation, one learns that a witness or accused who consistently doesn’t make any slipups in several interrogations is to be more suspected because that's not normal in a human being, and is more probable that the person has prepared (or being coached) to memorize the sequence of events associated with the case.

By the way, the use of the term ‘Freudian slip’ by Malaysiakini journalist Chan is incorrect in this context.

If Saiful had said (hypothetically of course, just to illustrate the use of the term ‘Freudian slip’): I inserted his … bukan bukan ... he inserted his …” – now that would be a ‘Freudian slip’ as to the consensual nature of the liaison.

Ramlang admitted he wasn’t the Imam Besar of the mosque or an ulama, yet he raised an issue of a mispronounced Arabic word, which we note that even the PAS ulamas didn’t raise ..... which has been why I reckon the ustaz has trivialized an oath taking.


Note also that Malaysiakini in PKR denies bribing Ramlang reported Azmin “… rejected the argument that the latest development nullified Saiful's swearing.”

In other words, according to Azmin (presumably also fearful of Allah swt), Saiful's oath is not nullified, but Ramlang might have contributed enough, hopefully to ‘change the perception’ of the voters in the heartland that PAS central committee member Dr Mujahid Yusof had earlier expressed his concerns about.

At the PKR press conference, Ustaz Ramlang believed that Saiful’s oath taking was politically motivated because it was done on the eve of nomination day. Then he asserted he was not representing any political party by making his revelations.

And we are informed by Malaysiakini that Ramlang has started appearing in PKR ceramahs in Permatang Pauh today, revealing his role and his view on Saiful's swearing.


;-) So he is not representing any political party eh ... wakakaka.

If I may be allowed to paraphrase Anwar Ibrahim’s favourite author: "The man doth protest too much, methinks."

23 comments:

  1. Aiyah Ktemoc,

    Why twist yourself into knots with your convoluted arguments?

    Follow the principle of Occam's Razor (or Ockham's Razor)!

    Phua Kai Lit

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Anwar Ibrahim ...experiencing enormous problem in the voters’ perception of his ‘character’"

    No-lah. I would say he is experiencing some problems in one portion of the electorate - Older generation rural Malays. The Saiful oath, together with UMNO's line that Anwar is a DAP/Chinese tool.

    But among the below-40 Malays, Saiful's arse is pretty much a discounted issue. The grumbling over the inflation in price of household essentials is a much bigger issue.

    Non-Malays ? By today, 1 day before voting day, the BN subordinate parties such as MCA, Gerakan, MIC have virtually given up campaigning, because the feedback on the ground is quite hopeless.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kaytee,
    You may want to lay off quoting too often from Malaysiakini.

    One BN friend has been complaining bitterly that Mkini's coverage of Permatang Pauh almost earns it the name "Anwarkini"....kakakakakak...

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of Prophet Muhammad's most oft-quoted sayings is "Innamal A'malu binniyaat" which basically means that God will judge our actions by our intentions. It must have been perfectly clear to anyone watching that Saiful's intention was to swear in God's name that he was sodomised by Anwar. So why dwell on technicalities?

    For all their protestations,
    I have yet to hear Nik Aziz, Haron Din, the Mufti of Perak and the rest of the so-called Ulamaks in Anwar's camp actually come out and say unequivocally in plain, simple terms that Saiful's oath is "tidak sah". Why is that?

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Saiful's intention was to swear in God's name"

    Oath scripted by Najib's special officer...

    ReplyDelete
  6. wish you are more objective though your dislike for anwar is almost legendary now.
    did you hear that he thnks the saiful is not for real in his swearing?
    did you hear that Najib's man arrange for the swearing?
    did you hear that the swearing done on eve of nomination is for political purpose?
    or are you, just like the MSM, pick and choose, to suit your purpose?

    ReplyDelete
  7. "One BN friend has been complaining bitterly that Mkini's coverage of Permatang Pauh almost earns it the name "Anwarkini"....kakakakakak..."

    Hey, I claim credit for calling it Anwarkini first [1], i.e. right after Ijok, if anyone wants to claim prior art please let me know and I will cede my title to you.

    [1] http://thesilo.wordpress.com/2007/04/28/ijok-coverage-malaysiakini-why-not-just-call-it-anwarkini/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Anonymous 1:36 pm

    I think Ktemoc should change the
    name of this blog to
    "Anti-Anwar"! :-)
    Truth in advertising, you know.

    By the way, there is a blog called
    "Anti-Khairy".

    Phua Kai Lit

    ReplyDelete
  9. The numerous malay drug mules and mulettes (female mules) jailed overseas need to take a page from saiful's "art of war" (no fight to sun tzu's) and start swearing on their quran. Then they will be freed and able to return home in time for hari raya

    ReplyDelete
  10. I wasn’t surprised to read Malaysiakini news item Ustaz puts BN campaign in tatters which incidentally carried an amazing time chop of 3:33 a.m. – wow!


    3.3am, Malaysiakini wake up tp post this!!! You can deduce how rich is Anwar!! Can buy up Steven Gan of Malaysiakini easily.

    Malaysia how now joined the cult of RPK, Susan Loone:):)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Extract from Anwar kini (formerly known as Malaysiakini)

    http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/88468

    Journalists were unable to grill Ramlang for more answers as PKR wrapped up the press conference after just 15 minutes, stating that the imam was tired and needed to rest.


    On why he chose to use the PKR platform to clear the air, he said that the party was the only one which offered to back him.

    "When the attacks began, no-one defended me. But I'm thankful that PKR has invited

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Ktemoc

    We are talking about an imam who is supposed to be closer to Allah than us mere mortals.
    Can he be forced if he is God-fearing enough?
    Can he be a turn-coat for a few dollars more?
    Wonder how much in US dollars he's richer.
    Saiful swore on the eve of nomination day.
    The imam reneged on the eve of polling.
    PKR calling the kettle black.
    Wakaka.
    But the main fact remains Saiful had saved his soul in the name of Allah.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "... an imam ... is supposed to be closer to Allah than us mere mortals."

    Muslims, discuss the above please. True? False?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Najib said saiful is "jambu".
    Is that a freudian slip of sorts, I find it loaded with meaning esp in view of najib`s rear inclination as claimed by PI Bala.

    ReplyDelete
  15. kaytee,

    I too read the Malaysiakini report waiting to discover the startling revelation. Surprise... there wasn't any.

    Anyway, there is something that I disagree with you and your favourite Malaysiakini columnist. The issue of a gay PM.

    I don't want to be labelled liberal or conservative but the idea of a gay Malaysian PM just doesn't cut it for me. Yes, you can say it is a consensual act between adults. But the problem is not the sexual orientation but an issue of integrity.

    For me, it's ok for the PM to be gay as long he is open about it. Come out of the closet if you know what i mean. If he can't be honest with himself, who knows what else he could be hiding?

    And what happens when an enemy or God forbid, a Singaporean secret agent - hahaha - stumbles on the PM having a passionate liaison in his chambers. The PM would be open to blackmail and the security of the nation would be compromised.

    So Anwar, please come out of the closet. I promise to vote for you then. hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  16. It is a fact that if a superior asked you to witness the ceremony , you have to do your duty , nothing wrong with that !
    Before this came out he was cursed , called all sorts of names ,called a BN and UMNO dog etc .

    Ramlang also revealed that he was only instructed to witness the ceremony by his superiors.

    "I also wish to deny that I received any money to witness the swearing. I was only acting on instructions," said Ramlang

    Well it proves that he was not paid by BN or UMNO to witness the swearing .

    And he has to explain the matter to protect the role of the mosques and the institution.

    He is indeed a righteous guy .

    "It is a political conspiracy by Umno to use religion to save themselves.

    What conpiracy ? Everything here is a conspiracy ! Including the arrest of the two Perak exco s ?
    In the first place why are they discussing that in a hotel ? So BN paid them to discuss that in a hotel !When they were arrested by the ACA , they shifted the blame to Tajol Rosli the former Perak MB . If they have nothing to hide ,what can Tajol Rosli do ? What can the ACA do ? Oh yes this is another conspiracy ! To be caught !

    But surprising Big News like this , nothing written in Susan Loone !

    When the guys who were arrested by the polis for assaulting the two photographers also nothing in those blogs . When the photographers were assaulted , The conspiracy theory were that they were BN people pretending to be PKR people who assaulted them , next they were saying they were agent provocaters by BN , not to be left out , were they were Special Branch operatives . Now that they have been caught and found that they were indeed PKR members , Divisional heads of PKR , suddenly very quite , even if a hornet were to sting them , also no sound from them .

    Back to the swearing thing , the main thing is not the imam witnessing the ceremony , whether senior or junior or chief imam is not the issue . Whether the imam is an UMNO or PKR member is also not the issue . That was just a procedure that someone from the mosque must be around to witness .
    As for the text , whether it is written by him or written by someone is inmaterial . It is still a text . If I were him I would have done the same thing , have it all written down what I want say , just in case I said the wrong thing or missed out certain things as this is a sumpah laknat between him and god .

    But the most important factor is that he swore with a Koran and inside a mosque . Whether I am a muslim or not , I believe NO sane person would hold a religious book and swore something that is not true in a religious place .
    Therefore I believe him NOT the guy who has until today dared not repeat what that young man has done .

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear chaptokam

    "It is a fact that if a superior asked you to witness the ceremony , you have to do your duty , nothing wrong with that !"

    What kind of logic is that?
    If you are "asked" by your superior to do something that you think is morally wrong, you should refuse to follow the order at the very beginning. This is integrity. So this imam guy should have refused the order right from the beginning.

    "I was only following orders" is the excuse/rationalisation given by the lower-ranking Nazis in the Nuremberg Trials, you know!

    Phua Kai Lit

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi chaptokam 10:38 pm

    Your post is exactly the same
    as the post by loo seow pek
    on Susan Loone's blog!

    Are you quoting him wholesale?
    Or are you impersonating loo seow pek or is loo seow pek impersonating you?
    Or are you two one and the same person??



    Phua Kai Lit

    ReplyDelete
  19. Phua Kai Lit

    one is dr dekyl the other is mr hyde.hahaha look at the time of posting my friend ?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear chaptokam

    Well, I'll conclude that you wrote the piece and loo seow pek plagiarised you then! :-)

    Loo has only been writing pornography in Susan Loone's blog. So I was surprised to see him (her?) with a decent post. Anyway, I think loo is either an UMNO cybertrooper or a juvenile out to
    disrupt the flow of comments.
    But I am inclined to conclude the
    former from an earlier post where loo expounded on his/her philosophy of politics and political morality (utterly cynical and Machiavellian!).

    Cheerio

    Phua Kai Lit

    ReplyDelete
  21. Phua Kai Lit

    time in Susan's blog is always one hour earlier ie Bangkok time . Loo's posting is at 10.22 , so it should be 11.22pm .

    btw there are so many people impersonating loo seow pek . I have just read the last two / three articles and there are so many impersonators . Guess Susan is busy , so no ban yet ! Susan should know whether chap is loo or loo is chap . Loo actually got my permission to post . He is my the other half over there .

    ReplyDelete
  22. Dear chaptokam

    Then loo seow pek should credit you
    properly for what you have written.

    Loo is not only a political pornographer but also a plagiariser!

    Although I disagree with you politically, I think you should not associate with such people.
    Such people only debase the quality of debate over issues of vital importance for Malaysia
    and our future.

    Cheerio

    Phua Kai Lit

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dear Phua Kai Lit

    You wrote:
    "If you are "asked" by your superior to do something that you think is morally wrong, you should refuse to follow the order at the very beginning. This is integrity. So this imam guy should have refused the order right from the beginning.

    "I was only following orders" is the excuse/rationalisation given by the lower-ranking Nazis in the Nuremberg Trials, you know!"

    Dear Phua,

    If you think this imam has no integrity for listening to orders. Why are you listening to what he has to say?

    ReplyDelete