What does Hadi actually believe in?

What does Hadi actually believe in?

Mariam Mokhtar
Published: Mar 1, 2024 11:28 AM


COMMENT | Multiracial, multicultural, and multifaith Malaysia is in crisis. As far as I can remember, the Malaysia in which I grew up has always been a tolerant nation; but the country I left and returned to in the early 1990s was not the place I’d left behind, a decade earlier.

Creeping fundamentalism was slowly taking hold in Peninsular Malaysia. Religion no longer became a personal belief but a matter for public consumption.

Discourse among the Malays focused on fundamentalism and Islamism (or political islam) and not far behind, was racism. We were also crippled by the teachings of the National Civics Bureau (BTN).

Today, in 21st-century Malaysia, it is people like Abdul Hadi Awang, the outspoken president of PAS, and his conservative brethren - with their narrow and warped interpretation of Islam - that will bring Malaysia to a point of no return.

The foundation built by our multi-ethnic leaders at Merdeka risk being buried under the landslide of fundamentalist Islamism of the past 45 years.


Iranian revolution

In the 1980s, the Muslims in Malaysia felt emboldened by the events of the Iranian revolution of 1979, when Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile.

After centuries of being an empire, Iran became a theocracy. Decades of discontent, economic turmoil, and a repressive regime facilitated the change from the Pahlavi dynasty to the Islamic republic.

Malays were buoyed by the Islamic resurgence in Iran.

Religion crept into the civil service and institutions of learning. The women felt the effects most. Refusing to the dress code meant you were moved sideways and not promoted.

Many non-Malay government servants found that many Malays whom they once trained became their superiors overnight. Thus, many parents of my non-Malay friends, whose fathers joined the armed forces and had patriotically served the king and country, emigrated.

They gave the best years of their lives, whilst some had sustained severe injuries during the Emergency, but they later became “invisible” and were denied promotion. They were not of the race or faith. Naturally, they felt betrayed.

At the same time, in the 1980s, Mara students returned from studies in the Middle East and the West, but many minds were filled with radical ideas.

Decades later, these graduates would occupy positions of power and influence in government, or with their powers of persuasion would start Islamic-leaning NGOs funded by taxpayers’ money.

Today, many Malays and non-Malays imagine that it is the rural, uneducated Malay who spews fundamentalist ideas in Malaysia. No, the rural Malays are not the problem.

However, many of these smart, intelligent, well-to-do professionals, who are widely travelled and articulate in English and Malay, many of whom are in government, or PAS or religious NGOs like Isma, feel duty bound to establish syariah law and an Islamic state.


Crossing lines without repercussions

On Feb 14, Hadi caused controversy when he insulted the judiciary and attacked the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. He accused judges of having minds that were influenced by colonial thinking.

He was probably upset by the Federal Court decision whereby nine judges in an 8-1 majority decision nullified 16 out of 18 Kelantan syariah criminal provisions in the petition initiated by Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter, Yasmin Nastasha.

A week later, an unrepentant Hadi, who was clearly undeterred by his critics, who were mostly lawyers and politicians, then wrote another contentious post on his Facebook page. However, this time, he insulted the royals.

Having reminded Muslims like judges, lawyers, and politicians to safeguard their faith, Hadi said “What more rulers, to have the vision, to be wise in viewing the hereafter, and not just the interest in this world alone.”

He then said that Islam should be prioritised and that if anything apart from the religion is upheld, “all will not be safe”.

Is this a threat?

He added that there were “Too many time bombs put in place with the aim of destroying religion, race, language, and the motherland”. He said that there should be efforts to “unravel this colonial bind”.

What does he mean by “efforts”? Efforts by whom? Using what methods? By brute force or by persuasion? Was Hadi issuing another threat?

Hadi is untouchable. We practise self-censorship, he doesn’t. He’s ignored a sultan’s order. He’s not been arrested because he realises that religious indoctrination has crippled minds.

Few individuals dare censure him. They risk inviting attacks by the conservatives and being labelled anti-Islam. A few actually believe him when he says they will be punished in the afterlife.

Politicians are afraid to criticise him for fear of committing political suicide.


Famine, disease, war were easier

It is reassuring that the Selangor sultan has told Hadi off. Perhaps, the prime minister could also say something. The police and MCMC appear to treat clerics like Hadi with kid gloves.

In the olden days, life was so much simpler and we would worry about famine, disease, and war affecting our quality of life.

Today, we are forced to live by the rules set by the 4Rs (religion, race, the royals, and rasuah). To complicate matters, we must also abide by the conservatives’ penchant for the 4Cs (Christians, Communists, Chinese, and colonials).

Hadi is wrong about the western “colonisers”. All we did was to replace them with Umno-Baru colonisers, and later with conservative colonials, like Hadi.

The moderates and non-Malays must do more to change the narrative.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, X.