Sunday, January 03, 2016

Have Malaysian Muslims abused Islam?

Unfortunately, Islam as a great religion has been let down kau kau by some "Muslims" in Malaysia.


The religion has been exploited by people who have no true respect for nor sincerity in their faith. Their questionable acts or exploitation of Islam for their personal benefits have brought terrible disrepute to the good name of a great religion.

Advice on the following: If the cap fits then wear it (Siapa makan cili, dia rasa pedas), otherwise the following are to be considered hypothetical cases for academic-social discussions:

Race issue - To be a 'constitutional' Malay in Malaysia, which is as good as one born an ethnic Malay (who's automatically a Muslim), one of the conditions is that the 'constitutional' Malay must be a Muslim.

Thus if one was not borned a Malay or Muslim, then one must convert to embrace Islam if one desires to be a 'constitutional' Malay.

The benefits of being a 'constitutional' Malay are the same as for ethnic Malays. 

I needn't say anymore.

Inheritance issue - say a hypothetical situation in which an Indian (may well be a Chinese) passes away. His wife is a Hindu (may well be Christian, Buddhist or Taoist) but his brother is a Muslim.

Brother claims deceased had converted to Islam though no one else in family has been aware of that. Wife protests, objects, cries that's not true but unsympathetic religious authorities takes away the body of the deceased, 'recognized' by them as a Muslim, for a Muslim burial.

Forget about his body remains - Who inherits his possessions, wife or the Muslim brother who coincidentally is the only one in the family who knows of the deceased being a Muslim convertee?

I ask because I've to admit I'm not sure of the Islamic laws on inheritance but I have been told that everything owned (left) by the deceased goes to his nearest Muslim relative, effectively his Muslim brother.

The non-Muslim wife gets zilch!

What I've heard has been that in real life or lives this/these had happened.

Question is on the veracity of the deceased's conversion when he was alive, but no one other than his only Muslim relative knows. What do you make of such a situation?

Child/Children custody issue - Do I need to discuss or provide cases? I recall there was a case a year or so back involving a Chinese family, where it's not always the husband who's the Muslim party. And that's just one case.

***

These are issues of a constitutional nature where in the 2nd and 3rd cases, two parties with different irreconcilable religions would be in dispute. Yet our civil courts had from time to time, and all too frequently, abdicated the matter to the syariah courts which have no authority to decide on constitutional issues.

The syariah courts are only religious courts dealing with the personal laws for Muslims, generally marriage, divorce and inheritance, and are subject and subordinate to the civil courts.

For example, they can't pass the death sentence, nor fine anyone over RM5000, nor deal with constitutional issues. That's indicative of their subordinate status.

From an article in TMI dated 15 May 2015:

In 1988, a full bench of five in the Supreme Court (as the Federal Court was then known) had occasion to consider Article 3 in an appeal against a mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking and possession of firearms. It was contended on behalf of the accused that Islam being the religion of the Federation, as declared in the Federal Constitution, and the Federal Constitution being the supreme law of the Federation, the imposition of the death penalty was unconstitutional, being contrary to Islamic injunction.

Although the Supreme Court acknowledged that Islam was not just a mere collection of dogmas and rituals but a complete way of life covering all fields of human activities, be they private or public, legal, political, economic, social, cultural, moral or judicial, it held that this was not the meaning intended by the framers of the Constitution.

So far as Islam was concerned, the result of the development of law by the British in Malaya had the effect of turning the legal system into a secular institution. Thus, all laws, including the administration of Islamic law, had to be validated through a secular fiat.

The court also observed that during the British colonial period, through their system of indirect rule and establishment of secular institutions, Islamic law was rendered isolated in the narrow confines of the law of marriage, divorce and inheritance — the sphere of personal law. This private aspect of Islamic law is only applicable to Muslims as their personal law.

Islam being the religion of the Federation did not mean that laws passed by Parliament must be imbued with Islamic religious principles; nor did the existence of Syariah law prior to independence require that laws of general application must conform to the Syariah, for to hold otherwise would be contrary to the constitutional and legal history of the Federation and also to the Civil Law Act 1956, which provides for the reception of English common law in this country.

It is in this sense of the dichotomy that the framers of the Constitution understood the meaning of the word “Islam” in the context of Article 3. Religion being often described as a sensitive matter in Malaysia, the concluding words of Salleh Abbas LP are noteworthy:

“... we have to set aside our personal feelings because the law in this country is still what it is today, secular law, where morality not accepted by the law is not enjoying the status of law.”

But in recent times they have been considered as 'equal' to the civil courts by some Muslims. In more than one way, we have Mahathir's 929 and 617 Declarations to thank for this incorrect and unconstitutional belief

When the civil court abandons a constitutional issue to the syariah court, it also abandons the rights of and justice for the non-Muslim party. The non-Muslim party automatically faces gross disadvantage in the syariah courts - for a start, she can't be in the court. How can there then be true justice in today's modern world?

Here's the recent assessment of Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, who is Amanah (PAN) MP for Sepang and chairman of Kanun (as reported by FMT - extracts only).

Muslims have to ask themselves what the right attitude should be in this issue. To me, it depends on how Muslims define the doctrine of justice in facing non-Muslims who are genuinely denied their basic rights in any legal battle with Muslims.

It is unfortunate that some Muslims view the delicate issue of conversion only from the theological angle.

This attitude takes a simple view that the Muslim father or mother must save his or her children’s faith at all costs thus justifying denial for the non-Muslim parent to have any say on the custody or conversion of the children.

That is how they define justice. Simply put, justice equates to victory in getting custody and conversion of the children at all costs.

Any Muslim who holds this view simply endorses the unilateral action of any Muslim parent to convert their children to Islam thus ignoring the audi alteram partem (right to be heard) of the non-Muslim parent. The subscribers to this view also believe that the only forum qualified to hear the conversion case is the Syariah court. Period.

To be honest, I too hope we could reduce this nightmarish issue simplistically. But the problem with this view is that it is based on certain false assumptions.

First, it is assumed that Malaysia is governed by a single legal system administering all Malaysians regardless of their religious beliefs.

It also puts non-Muslims and Muslims on the same platform thus they must be subject to the same court namely the Syariah court.

It also assumes that before the divorce, both spouses contracted the marriage under Islamic law and not under the law reform (marriage and divorce) Act and hence there is nothing wrong if the Syariah court deals with their marital problems.

The fact that the Court of Appeal decided that only the Syariah court should have sole jurisdiction to hear and determine the validity of the conversion seems to suggest that the civil court also subscribes to the same view.

The civil court apparently does not care that the effect of the judgment is as good as closing the door of justice on the non-Muslim litigant. In other words, the court seems to play down the principles of natural justice.

That is why Muslims, particularly religious scholars, should not view this issue within the narrow compass of the theological perspective alone. On the contrary, justice for all which stands as a cardinal principle of Islam must be duly taken into account.

The Quran categorically reminds Muslims; “Let not hatred and enmity forbid you from dispensing justice. Do justice as it is closer to piety” (Al-Maidah: 8). This verse not only promotes justice for all but also enjoins Muslims to establish the most difficult part of justice, that is justice for your enemy.

That justice is the hallmark of Islam has been the view of great Muslim scholars such as Ibnu Al Qayyim Al-Jauziyyah who had aptly said; “The entire system of syariah is founded on the principles of justice, mercy and wisdom. Be that as it may, anything which is against those three principles are not syariah in spite of its labels.

Translating such principles into the case at hand, do Muslims really see any justice, mercy or wisdom in this legal battle when one litigant is forced to seek justice in the court that she is not allowed to go to, in the first place?

Well said, Yang Berhormat, you're a credit to your great religion!


Additionally, as a non-Muslim I wonder why the Islamic religious authorities don't impose QA and QC on such cases, to wit, the entry qualifications, intent and vis-a-vis Islam the spirit of the 'convertees'?

If they don't because they are hard up for whatever whoever whichever converts, then they are the ones, and not so much the 'convertees', who have insulted Islam humongously.

To paraphrase a Christian saying, "To err is human, but for a cleric it's unforgivable"!

Amin!


20 comments:

  1. mahathir refuse to work with pas that wan a islamic state, but yr najib did, we know pas under hadi wan a islamic state.


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    1. what else have you got hy..?

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    2. wakaka, i assume loose role for a while when he take a rest. we have to remind tis bunch of dap brain dun keep on shifting the blame to the past administrator, look for one that is in charge now.

      btw, any comment from u abt amanah hanipa assessment? it seem after amanah exist, the current pas under hadi only concern is bersubahat dengan umno dan sabotage dap. takde kerja lain?

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    3. that maidin is going to lose in sepang in ge14.. folks there are hardcore hadi.. if he goes back to batu pahat pun susah.. bn will make a come back.. sori la.. i read him as an opportunist.. good luck to him..

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  2. For discussion sake, let’s take a hypothetical case on a small part of ‘hukum faraid’ first.

    I am married and I have two children, one boy and one girl. The girl is adopted. To make it simple, I have no siblings and both my parents had passed away. I died suddenly and my asset worth, say is RM1.2 million. According to ‘hukum faraid’ my wife gets RM400K; my son keeps RM800K; and my daughter, so sorry lah - RM0.00. This is because my daughter is not from my bloodline. Nevertheless, it is up to my wife and my son to share some amount with my daughter. Namun pun begitu, kalau mereka berdua tidak mahu memberi my daughter satu sen apa pun, mereka adalah dianggap tidak berdosa. Clear?

    But wait, Allah will ask me: Why I did not take care of my adopted daughter? Why I did not do the ‘hibah’ before I die? ‘Hibah’ is like a will but is NOT a will. In Islam there is no will. Thus, I cannot make a will to give all my money to whom it may concern as I like in the event of my death. Clear?

    In a ‘hibah’ I can only give a maximum of 30% of my asset to my daughter. So, in above scenario, if I have done the ‘hibah’ before I die, my daughter will get RM360K; my wife will get RM280K; and my son will get RM560K. My wife may curse me, but insyaAllah, Allah would say to me, welcome to heaven. Clear?

    Now, let’s go back to issues in this post. The convertee issue - a non muslim married couple of which one decided to convert to Islam. It is the responsibility of the cleric/imam/kadhi to ask the husband to resolve all the patrimonial issue first. Once, he is muslim-ised, ‘maka terjatuhlah talak’ i.e. they are automatically divorced. From that moment, it is ‘haram’ to make love as it is considered ‘zina’. Therefore, such conversion cannot be kept secret. Thus, the husband must divorce his wife and settle/sign/seal all whatsoever civil rights/claims of the wife first, and then only the cleric/imam/kadhi should proceed with his conversion to Islam. Once the husband became a Muslim; the bekas- non-muslim-wife has no legal right on the husband’s asset. Clear?

    In the event that the patrimonial agreement/settlement is not done, the husband/cleric/imam/kadhi akan ‘berdosa besar’ dengan Allah kerana mereka telah melakukan satu PENGANIAYAAN dengan MENIDAKAN HAK-HAK seseorang isteri. ‘Berdosa besar’ means kalau tidak bertaubat and make it good/right, pembalasanya ialah api neraka – hell fire. Clear?

    So, in the case as illustrated by KT, the husband (deceased), his brother and ALL those who kept secret in regard to the conversion of the deceased to Islam, kesemua mereka itu ‘berdosa besar’. Harta simati yang the brother dapat itu can be considered ‘haram’ kerana dia telah MENIDAKAN HAK isteri abangnya kerana dia tahu bahawasanya abangnya telah memeluk islam tetapi dia telah merahsiakanya. Clear?

    To resolve the issue, my suggestion/recommendation is that husband’s asset acquired before he became a muslim should be settled in the civil court and any assets acquired after he became a muslim should be settled in accordance to the ‘hukum faraid’. This inheritance issue must be resolved in that manner. It is not a difficult thing to do. There is a clear demarcation line. It may take a year or two. [To continue…]

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  3. On the child/children custody issue, those who want to convert to islam, likewise, must resolve the custodian issue first, then only proceed to be a muslim. Allah jua yang lebih mengetahui apa yang ada di dalam hati, jiwa dan naluri kamu. Kalau kamu sudah ada NIAT hendak memeluk islam dan kamu menangguhkanya kerana kamu perlu menyelesaikan perihal pendirian dan keagamaan ahli keluarga kamu terlebih dahulu, dan kemudian kamu pula meninggal dunia sebelum sempat kamu memeluk islam, insyaAllah kamu sudah di anggap muslim di sisi Allah, dan insyaAllah kamu akan dimasukan ke dalam syorga Allah, walau cara apa sekali pun dan di mana jua jasad kamu disemadikan.

    Kepada Tok-Tok Imam nasihat saya janganlah terburu-buru sangat dan tergesa-gesa berebut hendak mengislamkan seseorang bukan islam, kerana perbuatan kamu itu mungkin akan MENIDAKAN HAK seseorang insan yang lemah lagi tidak berdaya, dan bahawa sesungguhnya PENGANIAYAAN itu adalah diantara satu dosa-dosa besar. Dan jua ingatlah wahai Tok-Tok Imam bahawa sesunguhnya kamu hendaklah sentiasa berlaku dan bersifat adil kepada semua makhluk Allah termasuk yang bukan islam. I would subscribe to that “To err is human, but to a cleric it’s unforgiveable”!

    In regard to the constitutional Malay/Muslim; this is a true story - I have a non muslim/malay friend who married a muslim/malay wife. During the course of his marriage, he acquired lots and lots of cheap malay reserve land and built a mansion on one of it. Today, he had divorced his wife and married a non muslim, I think, because he did not introduce me to his new wife when I visited him at his mansion on two occasions. So, I guess he is perhaps already a ‘murtad’? But he keeps the land though. He did not break any law. There is a lacuna in our law indeed.. “THE CONSTITUTIONAL MALAY”… Where morality not expected by the framers of the Constitution is enjoying the status of law.

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  4. It is the Muslim extremists like Ali Tinju,Ikan Bakar Jamal,Ismail Sabri and little Napoleans like Ah Tee,who was born a Chinese,but inside his fucked upside down mind thinks that he is 100% pure Malay.It is these fuckers who gave Islam and Muslims a bad name.

    A very weak government under Najib and Umno/BN,who is unable to rein in these Muslim extremists,are the main problems.This is the main reason that the Chinese and Indians are fleeing the BN.Much to the delights of the DAP.

    Unless,Najib and Umno/BN manage to get back their lost balls, and rein in these extremists,the Chinese and Indians will stick with the opposition,which is another upside down and sick coalition.Either ways,Malaysians are stuck with two very sick coalitions and are fucked,one way or the other.

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    1. Ah I see u steering your ship in a different direction now. Turn 180 degrees n return to shore. Anwar awaits u with open arms. Hehehe.

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  5. With Ali Tinju,Ikan Bakar Jamal,Ismail Sabri,Ah Tee and their little Napoleans screaming their lungs out,like ladies scorned,have made Ibrahim Ali look like Mother Teresa.

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  6. Malaysia is Islam country.
    Non-Islam have right , but cannot interfere with Islam.
    Any legal matters on Islam religion can only be decided in Syariah court, not civil court.
    Indira can ask the Syariah court to hear her case. Why she refuse ?
    There is also one more important matter. The children have been in Islam for 5 years now. There will be big trouble if court orders them to be un-Islam.

    Anyone remember the Natrah tragedy ?

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    1. the crux of yr comment is "the children have been in islam for 5 years now"

      do u know y many countries set limit on porn, driving, gambling, smoking, alcohol for children? n yr idea for case like tis is natrah tragedy?

      change yr nick la, or u still couldn't grasp the title of tis post?

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    2. So? the muslims in France should keep quiet. Stopping complaining about certain atheists elements that banned hijab and burqa. Or leave France........hahahahaha

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  7. Has anyone noticed that these conversion troubles usually revolve around Indians ?
    Its just a fact, a data item, not being racist.

    If there were to be conversion and Muslim/non-Muslim issues , the worse trouble ought to be among Sarawakians, where many families and extended relatives are a complex melange of Muslims/ Christians/ Buddhists/ animists as well as Malays, non-Muslim Natives, Chinese, mixed ancestry, uncertain ancestry (wakakaka) etc.

    But there is very minimal trouble in Sarawak.
    So there is more than law, judiciary and constitutional factors at work here. Its largely a people problem.

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    1. Simply because the majority of sarawakians are christians. However, I do hope that sarawakians may unleash their power......at least to punish that motherfucker kaytee

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  8. Those appointed officers of religious departments are the Malays who abused Islam.When these sicko officers have nothing to do,they take turns sitting on each others faces.

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  9. Like Christianity, Islam is an aggressively proselytizing religion.
    Saudara Baru , souls saved for Allah, Jehovah, Elohim, Yahweh, etc. are very welcome.

    Strict Incoming QA / QC is not an encouraged part of the SOP.

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    1. Not to mention the red book for atheists.......hahahaha

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  10. From En.Hasan's clarifications above, it is obvious that for these problem cases, the clerics/imams/kadhis are negligent when they validated the conversions before the outstanding obligations are settled, and their actions can be considered to be dereliction of their duties.

    In Islam, is there any censure or punishment (just like in other offenses) for these 'dosa-dosa besar', instead of waiting for hellfire?

    Would institutions like JAKIM, MAIS, JAIS, JAWI etc condone these transgressions instead of taking action to prevent further cases like this?

    Lastly, do the Muslims in Malaysia think in the same way, or are they also like the PAS youth fella who proclaimed the recent Indira Gandhi case as a victory for Islam?

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    1. You are right Al Bert; institutions like JAKIM, MAIS, JAIS, JAWI, and many others need to be revamped. The only person that I personally see who can do this is Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Albakri. I strongly feel that he should be appointed a senator to replace Jamil Khir Baharom.

      There are many malays/muslims who are agreeable with Adenan Satem. Even Nik Abduh has changed.. two days ago he said era melawan UMNO dengan cara amarah dan emosi sudah berakhir... kita mesti gunakan ilmu, iman dan kematangan.

      On Pas & Hadi.. don't worry, he is my mentor. But I don't wear loose whites and skull caps. Just jeans and linen short sleeves or pagoda round-necks.

      Cheers bro..

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  11. Malaysia is set to be a developed nation come 2020.At least that is what ours leaders said.Than,how come a country going to be a developed nation,have moronic leaders who appoint numb skulls and assholes to head the respective departments and agencies.My two cents worth.Our leaders are as stupid as the eunuch opposition.Go figure.

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