‘Fundamentalist’ Malaysia insulting Muslims by barring Indonesian scholar
Putrajaya is showing its "fundamentalist" stripes and is insulting the intelligence of Malaysian Muslims with its ban on Indonesian Muslim scholar Dr Ulil Abshar Abdalla from entering the country, say critics.
Ulil's sponsor, the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) chief Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa said the government was showing its inconsistency in promoting moderation by preventing Ulil from visiting Malaysia to speak against religious fundamentalism.
Former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, meanwhile, called the government "fundamentalist" and said this episode was just the latest event that showed how extremist Malaysia had become.
Zaid also called on Commonwealth countries leaders to stop being "polite" to Malaysia and to make it answer for its actions.
"The government thinks that we do not have a mind of our own and we need to be guided on what to hear, what to read and what to think. Could there be anything more condescending than that?" Farouk told The Malaysian Insider.
“Like what was tweeted by Ulil, the government could ban him from entering the country, but Islamic progressive ideas cannot be stopped.”
Putrajaya is just scared of its own shadow and should realise that the spread of ideas cannot be stopped, he added.
Ulil was to speak at a roundtable discussion organised by IRF on "Religious Fundamentalism Threat in This Century" in Bukit Damansara on October 18.
But the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) last Thursday said the forum should be stopped because Ulil was known for his liberal views.
Jakim director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha said teachings that contravene the teachings of the Shafie school of Islam and which "threatened the faith of Muslims in Malaysia" had to be stopped.
Malaysian Immigration subsequently put Ulil on its blacklist, and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times that Ulil would "mislead Muslims in the country if he is allowed to spread his brand of liberalism here".
Yesterday, the minister in charge of religion Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom reiterated that Ulil was barred from entering Malaysia because his teachings went against the Shafie school which Malaysia subscribed to.
"Something must be done to fight this kind of authoritarianism. I hope the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta next year will take a hard, long look at this fundamentalist country called Malaysia," Zaid wrote.
Zaid said Malaysia, a member of the Commonwealth, was showing signs of "autocratic fundamentalism" of the extremist kind with book bans, demonisation of liberal and democratic voices, and criminal actions against dissenters.
"Commonwealth leaders should not be too polite on Malaysia any longer, and platitudes and false praises are harmful at this stage. Please start seeking answers from the Malaysian leaders about the state of freedom and democracy in the country.
"It will be too late when the country becomes a full-fledged member of the Islamic state," the former de facto law minister said.
Zaid added that the forum's organisers should get a court order to challenge the Immigration Department for abusing its power.
"A case of this nature should be highlighted in the international arena. International organisations that are sympathetic to the cause of freedom and democracy must galvanise their forces against this kind of high-handedness," Zaid said.
Farouk told The Malaysian Insider that the forum would proceed with different panellists and a new venue.
“We will be having Prof Syed Farid Alatas from the National University of Singapore as the main speaker with Prof Tajuddin Rasdi and I as interveners."
Farouk said there was no point responding to Jakim's call to stop the forum, "unless of course, Jakim is somehow discreetly backing religious extremism and trying to prevent any movement from calling for moderation".
He also ticked off the home minister for being hasty in barring Ulil from entering the country.
“His reason that the ban was to prevent Ulil from spreading liberal ideas shows that he (Zahid) doesn't even have an inkling of Ulil's reasons to be here in Kuala Lumpur.
"Ulil is here to talk about the serious issue of growing religious fundamentalism and extremism. Zahid only showed that he was acting on mere hearsay,” said Farouk.
Ulil, who is with the Jaringan Islam Liberal movement in Indonesia, joins Australian senator Nick Xenophon and Australian activist Natalie Lowrey on the immigration blacklist and are barred from entering Malaysia.
Ulil first responded to the ban by tweeting at his handle @ulil that the Muslim community needed to dialogue more than ever as the trend of Islamic conservatism was rising in Malaysia, as it was in Indonesia.
He told The Malaysian Insider in a phone interview that he had been a guest of the government under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2002 at a conference on Islam.-TMI
Ulil's sponsor, the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) chief Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa said the government was showing its inconsistency in promoting moderation by preventing Ulil from visiting Malaysia to speak against religious fundamentalism.
Former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, meanwhile, called the government "fundamentalist" and said this episode was just the latest event that showed how extremist Malaysia had become.
Zaid also called on Commonwealth countries leaders to stop being "polite" to Malaysia and to make it answer for its actions.
"The government thinks that we do not have a mind of our own and we need to be guided on what to hear, what to read and what to think. Could there be anything more condescending than that?" Farouk told The Malaysian Insider.
“Like what was tweeted by Ulil, the government could ban him from entering the country, but Islamic progressive ideas cannot be stopped.”
Putrajaya is just scared of its own shadow and should realise that the spread of ideas cannot be stopped, he added.
Ulil was to speak at a roundtable discussion organised by IRF on "Religious Fundamentalism Threat in This Century" in Bukit Damansara on October 18.
But the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) last Thursday said the forum should be stopped because Ulil was known for his liberal views.
Jakim director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha said teachings that contravene the teachings of the Shafie school of Islam and which "threatened the faith of Muslims in Malaysia" had to be stopped.
Malaysian Immigration subsequently put Ulil on its blacklist, and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times that Ulil would "mislead Muslims in the country if he is allowed to spread his brand of liberalism here".
Yesterday, the minister in charge of religion Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom reiterated that Ulil was barred from entering Malaysia because his teachings went against the Shafie school which Malaysia subscribed to.
This prompted Zaid in blog post to take the government to task for its increasingly authoritarian stance.
"Something must be done to fight this kind of authoritarianism. I hope the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta next year will take a hard, long look at this fundamentalist country called Malaysia," Zaid wrote.
Zaid said Malaysia, a member of the Commonwealth, was showing signs of "autocratic fundamentalism" of the extremist kind with book bans, demonisation of liberal and democratic voices, and criminal actions against dissenters.
"Commonwealth leaders should not be too polite on Malaysia any longer, and platitudes and false praises are harmful at this stage. Please start seeking answers from the Malaysian leaders about the state of freedom and democracy in the country.
"It will be too late when the country becomes a full-fledged member of the Islamic state," the former de facto law minister said.
Zaid added that the forum's organisers should get a court order to challenge the Immigration Department for abusing its power.
"A case of this nature should be highlighted in the international arena. International organisations that are sympathetic to the cause of freedom and democracy must galvanise their forces against this kind of high-handedness," Zaid said.
Farouk told The Malaysian Insider that the forum would proceed with different panellists and a new venue.
“We will be having Prof Syed Farid Alatas from the National University of Singapore as the main speaker with Prof Tajuddin Rasdi and I as interveners."
Farouk said there was no point responding to Jakim's call to stop the forum, "unless of course, Jakim is somehow discreetly backing religious extremism and trying to prevent any movement from calling for moderation".
He also ticked off the home minister for being hasty in barring Ulil from entering the country.
“His reason that the ban was to prevent Ulil from spreading liberal ideas shows that he (Zahid) doesn't even have an inkling of Ulil's reasons to be here in Kuala Lumpur.
"Ulil is here to talk about the serious issue of growing religious fundamentalism and extremism. Zahid only showed that he was acting on mere hearsay,” said Farouk.
Ulil, who is with the Jaringan Islam Liberal movement in Indonesia, joins Australian senator Nick Xenophon and Australian activist Natalie Lowrey on the immigration blacklist and are barred from entering Malaysia.
Ulil first responded to the ban by tweeting at his handle @ulil that the Muslim community needed to dialogue more than ever as the trend of Islamic conservatism was rising in Malaysia, as it was in Indonesia.
He told The Malaysian Insider in a phone interview that he had been a guest of the government under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2002 at a conference on Islam.-TMI
