Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

By Amy Chew It was 3am when a 30-year-old female Malay financial researcher was woken up by her flatmate in a middle class suburb in Kuala Lumpur early this year. Six to seven men from the Selangor State Islamic Department (Jais) had entered her apartment in a "morality" raid. An anonymous phone call to the religious department alleging a man was seen entering her flat was all it took for the religious officials to descend on her home. "The men were not accompanied by any woman. They searched all our bedrooms, closets and even looked under the bed as they thought a man could be hiding there," said the researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity. The incident left her angry and helpless and helped compel her to make plans to leave Malaysia in two years. The researcher is one of an increasing number of Malay Muslims aspiring to leave this country of 30 million. In the past, it was the country's ethnic Chinese and Indians who left Malaysia in large numbers fo...

JAIS dan MAIS sendiri pun tidak begitu yakin dengan ajaran Islam... Kebimbangan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) berhubung Bible yang diterbitkan dalam bahasa Melayu jelas menunjukkan lemahnya keyakinan mereka terhadap Islam, kata Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Ijok, Dr Idris Ahmad. Dr Idris berkata, jika Jais dan Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (Mais) memainkan peranan mereka secara berkesan, tiada apa yang perlu dibimbangkan dengan penerbitan Bible dalam bahasa Melayu. “Jais tidak yakin dengan Islam? Kalau umat Islam yakin, apa hendak kisah Al-Kitab bahasa Melayu atau bahasa lain. "Siapa yang salah? Mereka tidak beri keyakinan kepada orang Melayu. Kenapa mereka tidak cermin diri sendiri mengapa orang Melayu tidak yakin dengan Islam?" katanya ketika ditemui The Malaysian Insider. Mais pada Jun lalu tidak bersetuju dengan keputusan peguam negara untuk tidak mendakwa Pertubuhan Bible Malaysia (PBM) dalam isu rampasan 320 bible bahasa Melayu dan Iban di Petaling Ja...

By Zaid Ibrahim The Economist posted a leader article recently entitled “The Tragedy of the Arabs” in the midst of the latest round of intense Israeli bombings and the killing and maiming of hundreds of Palestinian women and children. The blame for the tragedy was, as always, placed on the Arabs, particularly extremists and militant Muslims. Given that, they had the gall to suggest that it’s the Arabs themselves who are responsible for finding the solution to this violence. Israel’s criminal actions and America’s complicity were not mentioned, and neither were the brutality and mistakes of Western powers in the Middle East in the last 100 years. Meanwhile, Malaysia and the rest of the world are watching in silence, making only the most facile condemnations just as they have done in the past. The UN Security Council took a week just to come out with the usual line that “Israel has a right to defend itself”, as if the Palestinians were not human. The rest of us can only watch in hor...

Constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari has advised the police to be mindful of the law and not to act in a "mechanical" fashion. "And since when has the sultan's wrath become a reason to investigate?" "The police should be mindful of the law, apply their mind to the issue at hand. Don't just act mechanically," added the vocal academic in a statement. Aziz was commenting on the investigations under the Sedition Act against PAS leader Khalid Samad (right), whose remarks regarding the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais) angered the sultan. He said the Shah Alam MP had merely suggested amending the law to curb Mais' executive powers and did not mention the sultan. "It was others who linked his suggestion with the sultan's position and power. Khalid did not say anything about the sultan. "What's wrong about making the suggestion? Since when a suggestion to amend the law pertaining to a corporation like Mais has become seditio...

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 2/7/2014 Racist and extremist groups, most of them believed linked to Umno, the dominant party of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), have been continuously claiming that the Malay community and Islam are under threat. They use this to constantly urge Malay Muslims nationwide to come forward in order to “defend” their special rights at all costs. The question here is, who is actually threatening the Malays and Islam in particular? As we all know, the Malay Muslim community forms the majority in Malaysia. Islam has been enshrined in our Federal Constitution as the official religion in the federation and nobody can dispute this. Furthermore, it is also very clear that Umno has been ruling our nation uninterrupted since our nation achieved its independence in 1957. Under Umno’s governance, the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced and a number of Malay and Bumiputera first policies were implemented to guide and develop the community...

Christians are not alone in their struggle to use the word "Allah" in Malaysia, as Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGO) have taken it upon themselves to educate fellow Malays that the word predates Islam. Islamic NGOs, such as Sisters in Islam (SIS) and the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) , have taken to social media to spread awareness on the issue, bringing with them views that are a far cry from the threats and exclusivity espoused by groups such as Perkasa and Isma. “Yes, it is possible for Muslims to voice their support (for the Christians), and Muslims have been doing that – most visibly on social media. There’s been an outpouring of voices who have critiqued the Federal Court’s decision (on the Allah issue),” SIS programme manager Suri Kempe told The Malaysian Insider. “SIS has also been using our social media channels as a platform for discussion, which is essential for people to understand the issue and formulate an opinion.” On its Facebook page, SIS shares ...

Siapakah yang sebenarnya telah memperbesar-besarkan isu penggunaan kalimah Allah ini, maka dialah yang merasa kekuasaannya terancam akibat sokongan rakyat terhadapnya semakin berkurangan. Sebenarnya, Umnolah yang takut kehilangan kuasa dan kerajaan yang diterajui selama lebih dari 56 tahun. Maka disebabkan itulah, para penganut agama Kristian dijadikan mangsa nafsu politik Umno yang ganas itu. Umno berbuat demikian bagi mengelirukan rakyat jelata, khususnya mereka yang beragama Islam, dan dengan itu akan menggunakan peluang tersebut untuk cuba mengalihkan sokongan umat Islam daripada parti-parti pembangkang utama yang mempunyai ramai ahli dan penyokong Melayu, seperti PKR dan PAS, dengan menuduh kedua-dua parti tersebut kurang atau tidak Islam sepenuhnya. Islam sebenarnya tidak diancam. Orang-orang Kristian langsung tidak berpeluang untuk menguasai negara ini dan tidak mampu untuk mempengaruhi umat-umat Islam untuk keluar dari agama mereka bagi menganut Kristian. Begitu juga denga...

Pada mulanya, kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) memerangi agama Kristian, selepas itu, perangi Komunis pula dan tidak lama kemudian, nak tangkap abu mayat pula. Dan kini BN sedang berusaha untuk memerangi golongan Syiah Islam. Apakah tujuan sebenarnya BN memerangi golongan Syiah Islam? Kononnya hendak membersihkan Islam daripada gejala ajaran sesat? Sebenarnya tujuan BN untuk memerangi Syiah bukannya atas sebab agama tetapi lebih kepada tujuan politik. Ya, memang jelas tujuan BN memerangi Syiah itu sebenarnya adalah untuk menggerakkan usahanya untuk memusnahkan parti lawannya, iaitu PAS. Selama ini PAS telah menjadi batu penghalang Umno dan BN untuk memenangi sepenuhnya hati para pengundi Melayu dan Islam. Oleh sebab itulah tajuk Syiah dijadikan satu senjata untuk menamatkan riwayat PAS. Jika sekiranya BN benar-benar ingin memerangi golongan Syiah seperti apa yang didakwa, kenapa hanya sekarang baru hendak berbuat demikian? Persoalan yang seterusnya adalah, jika BN berkeras bahaw...

Mahkamah Rayuan baru-baru ini telah mengumumkan keputusan penghakiman dengan menjelaskan bahawa ahkbar terbitan kumpulan gereja Kristian Katolik, The Herald tidak boleh menggunakan istilah Allah di dalam terbitan mereka. Ya, jika dipandang dari sudut penghakiman itu sendiri, ia sememangnya hanya merujuk kepada akhbar The Herald dan tidak meliputi mana-mana terbitan yang lain seperti Al-Kitab agama Kristian yang digunakan oleh kebanyakan penduduk pribumi (orang-orang Asli di Semenanjung, bumiputra Kristian di Sabah dan Sarawak). Selain daripada itu, penghakiman tersebut juga tidak meliputi upacara sembayang yang dijalankan oleh para penganut Krisitian di dalam Bahasa Malaysia yang turut menggunakan istilah Allah untuk merujuk kepada Tuhan. Begitu juga dengan kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh perdana menteri Najib Razak, yang juga presiden Umno, menteri di jabatan perdana menteri yang juga presiden Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) Joseph Kurup dan ketua menteri Sarawak Taib Mahmm...

Ramai di antara kita, khususnya di kalangan bukan Islam mula menyoal di antara satu sama lain, apakah sebenarnya Fatwa dan kenapa ianya begitu "berkuasa", penuh dengan kontrovesi dan ianya seringkali membatasi undang-undang yang sedia ada? In adalah kerana Fatwa itu telah menjadi suatu isu yang amat besar sekarang, bahkan di kalangan umat Islam itu sendiri turut bangkit untuk mempersoal tujuan Fatwa-fatwa tersebut dikeluarkan dan apakah halatuju yang sebenarnya. Ianya juga telah menimbulkan banyak kekeliruan, salahfaham dan sebagainya, bukan sahaja di kalangan umat Islam, bahkan di kalangan bukan Islam turut merasai suatu bentuk :kongkongan" yang berkemungkinan besar akan menyukarkan mereka di suatu hari nanti. Jadi, apakah maksud sebenarnya Fatwa? Itulah yang ramai di antara kita ingin mengetahui dengan lebih lanjut. Fatwa adalah merupakan suatu pandangan dan nasihat yang dikeluarkan khusus oleh para pemimpin agama, seperti ulama, mullah dan pegawai-pegawai kan...

Baru-baru ini, mufti Perak mengatakan bahawa mereka-mereka yang beragama Islam membenarkan orang-orang bukan Islam menggunakan perkataan Allah itu adalah orang-orang Islam yang telah kafir. Apakah hak sebenar mufti Perak itu untuk mengkafirkan seseorang? Adakah mufti tersebut itu mempunyai tauliah yang mencukupi untuk mengkafirkan orang ramai? Adakah mufti itu mendapatkan firman daripada Allah s.w.t. untuk mengkafirkan orang-orang yang tidak disukainya? Apakah yang dimaksud mufti Perak itu yang mengatakan bahawa orang-orang Islam yang membenarkan mereka-mereka yang bukan Islam untuk menggunakan perkataan Allah adalah kafir? Nampaknya mufti Perak itu seakan-akan pejam mata, berpura-pura tidak tahu ataupun sengaja membelakangkan fakta-fakta yang sebenarnya mengenai sejarah Islam dan negara-negara Arab. Di negara-negara Arab daripada Libya, Iraq, Iran, Syria sehinggalah ke hujung benua Arab, ramai orang-orang Arab yang beragama Kristian, menggunakan kitab (bible) yang berbahasa Arab ...

The big question here is, Who Actually Insult Islam? Who actually did that? Why did all these happen to Islam in the first place? Yeah, nobody even care to look at the root cause and emotional reactions are always their choice simply because they are too ignorant about the basics of the teachings in Islam. Again we ask, Who Actually Insult Islam? According to the Perkasa national secretary Syed Hasan Syed Ali, authorities should act against those who insulted Islam first before action could be taken against Perkasa itself. Guess what? Syed Hasan has failed his own instincts when making that statement. He failed to see the root cause onto this problem and instead choose to react emotionally and in an unreasonable way, simply because his mind is current full of hate. Let us help this chap out. Insults to Islam are actually from those who had claimed themselves as Muslims brought politics into the religion, forgetting about the basics of the Islamic teachings and making use of the ...

It is a very clear fact that the ruler of a state was definitely ill-advised and confused on the recently provoked "Allah" controversy. Nobody in this country have ever wanted such issue being provoked, politicized, misused or mismanaged. Well, what was the root cause onto all these problems? It is in front of our eyes almost every day. The religion was institutionalized, thus being politicized by many politicians, and now being used as a hate engine in order to get rid of somebody that the other somebody dislike. The worst thing of all is, the ruler of the state is currently surrounded by advisors who are mostly aligned to the current ruling elites in Putrajaya. As such, we would say he has been ill-advised and confused. He has been swayed around the clock and did not know what has actually transpired out there. And just because he was being ill-informed and confused, he issued a decree which was against the will of the people and everyone nationwide is now criticizin...

Can all political leaders including the prime minister himself, all his cabinet ministers and civil servants stop politicizing religion and acting like God or Allah? Can political leaders concentrate and focus only on the running the daily affairs of the country while the civil service should professionally focus mainly on the nation's administration and policies laid down by the government of the day? Let the religious people handle their religions and liaison amongst themselves. These religious leaders are considered expert in their respective religions and they are the one's who should dictate policies and procedures in regards to the religions that they are appointed or elected to take charge. Politicians should not interfere on religious matters and religions would be politicized from bad to worst, because all religious matters and issues related to inter-religious conflict, liaison and so on are case sensitive and they need to be handled as careful and cautious as poss...

Penang BN chairman and Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow had recently mentioned that the state government is heading towards Islamisation as there are now about 300 percent hike of allocations for Islamic affairs but no much given to the Penang Chinese Town Hall. Well, what is Teng trying to say exactly here? The Penang Umno Youth and Perkasa has been saying that the Malays and Muslims in Penang has been systematically marginalised by the state government ever since Pakatan Rakyat has taken over in 2008. This means, whatever Teng is saying now contradicts to what his Umno counterparts has been saying about the Penang DAP-led Pakatan state government. Same goes to all those BN leaders at the federal level. Umno says DAP is merely making use of PAS and would eventually Christianise this nation as well as turning Malaysia into a republic, while Umno's  number two partner MCA says that DAP is merely a tool of PAS and when Pakatan takes over the nation, Malaysia would be ...

Kecaman yang begitu hebat sekali terhadap ahli parlimen Lembah Pantai Nurul Izzah anwar baru-baru ini berikutan kenyataannya mengenai kebebasan beragama telah menimbul pelbagai tanda tanya mengenai keikhlasan sebenarnya mereka-mereka yang hebat melemparkan kecaman tersebut. Menurut kebanyakan saluran media massa utama yang dimiliki oleh Umno dan kerajaan pusat, ahli parlimen dari PKR itu telah "melanggar" akidah Islam dengan menyeru agar kebebasan beragama perlu diberikan kepada orang-orang Melayu yang ingin meninggalkan Islam dan Nurul Izzah perlu dikenakan dengan hukuman yang setimpal dengan kenyataan beliau itu. Daripada kita asyik menumpukan perhatian terhadap segala-gala kecaman yang tidak berfaedah itu, marilah kita lihat dengan lebih jelas dan dengan secara realiti mengapa perlakuan murtad itu telah menjadi semakin berleluasa. Adakah ianya diakibatkan oleh perbuatan parti-parti pembangkang pada keseluruhannya? Siapakah yang sedang memerintah negara ini sekaran...

Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai Nurul Izzah Anwar telah menyatakan bahawa memang tidak ada paksaan di dalam keagamaan dan beliau berkata demikian bukannya daripada pandangan beliau sendiri. Nurul Izzah menyatakan perkara tersebut berdasarkan rujukan beliau dengan Surah Al-Baqarah 2:256 di dalam Al-Quran. Kenyataan yang satu lagi adalah Nurul Izzah membuat kenyataan tersebut di dalam satu seminar anjuran sebuah institut kajian umum dan bukannya di dalam satu ceramah anjuran parti politik. Jadi, siapakah sebenarnya yang telah mempolitikkan agama ataupun mencampuradukkan agama dengan politik di sini? Dari manakah tindak balas itu datang? Semua pihak tahu, sebaik sahaja Nurul Izzah menyatakan perkara tersebut, tindak balas yang pertama datangnya daripada Umno, iaitu sebuah parti politik yang sedang memerintah negara ini dan menguasai sebuah gabungan parti-parti campuran yang digelar Barisan Nasional (BN). Jadi, sejak daripada hari Nurul Izzah membuat kenyataan tersebut, Umnolah yang t...

In the recent news report it was mentioned that PKR vice president and member of parliament for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar had said that there should be no compulsion in religion even for the Malays. Then, the very next day, an Umno-owned newspaper, Utusan Melayu quickly twisted her statement by saying that Nurul has called on the Malays to leave their religion. Did Nurul really said that? Has she ever mention in public calling on the Malays to leave their religion? What basis does Utusan has to allege or assume that her statements represents what has been claimed "Malays should leave their religion"? So, who actually terrorised the entire situation here? Yes, it was the Umno leaders, their own newspapers and their heavily funded NGOs who are doing all those nasty work around in order to provoke hatred and violence. Actually, what has Nurul mentioned was based on the fact that she had indeed referred to the Al-Quran's Surah Al-Baqarah verse 2:256 which cle...

A pondok -based religious school teacher named Abdullah Sa'amah today declared that is is haram for Muslims to support and vote for DAP and added that MCA was acceptable because this Barisan Nasional (BN) component party recognised Islam's pre-eminence. According to that religious teacher, it is compulsoryy for the Muslims in PAS, Umno and PKR to reject DAP because of the later's struggle for equality for all Malaysians. He also added that it is sinful too to support and vote for political parties that are aligned with DAP. We wonder who is this Abdullah Sa'amah and he just suddenly popped out from nowhere simply to just issue his kind of "fatwa". What right or qualification does he has do issue such religious decree? He reasoned that DAP is haram because the party was against the implementation of hudud laws in this country. But Abdullah Sa'amah's memory later deteriorated when he forgotten that it was MCA who had first opposed the hudud and ot...

(Rencana ini telah disiarkan di kolum saya dalam portal berita Malaysia-Chronicle) Irshad Manji adalah seorang penulis rakyat Kanada berketurunan Uganda yang telah menyatakan bahawa beliau adalah seorang penganut Islam yang taat dan beriman terhadap agama yang dianutinya selama ini. Baru-baru ini, beliau telah datang ke Malaysia bagi melancarkan satu lagi hasil penulisannya yang bertajuk “Allah, Kebebasan dan Cinta” yang telah diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Bagaimanapun, belum sempat buku tersebut diedarkan ke seluruh negara, kementerian dalam negeri (KDN) yang bertindak atas aduan Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) dan Jabatan Hal-ehwal Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (Jawi) telah menggunakan Seksyen 7 (1) Akta Percetakan dan Penerbitan 1984 untuk mengharamkan buku tersebut dengan alasan isi kandungannya adalah jelas bertentangan dengan ajaran al-Quran dan Hadis. Pengharaman ini adalah kali kedua buat buku hasil karya Irshad Manji. Buku pertamanya yang dikaran...