Check Out and Not Leave

03/12: You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave
Category: General Posted by: Raja Petra
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Use ISA on those who leave Islam, says lecturer
Anis Ibrahim
New Straits Times
30 Nov 2006
KUALA LUMPUR: Suggestions on how to deal with those who leave Islam came in many forms at a convention yesterday, ranging from the Internal Security Act, lengthy counselling to even elimination. International Islamic University law lecturer Dr Zulkifly Muda, who advocated the use of the ISA, however said this law should be refined for apostates. “Instead of a jail sentence, they should be put in rehabilitation by the state religious department for three months. IIU lecturers may also assist in counselling.”
He said the death penalty for apostasy subscribed under Islam was not suitable for the moment. “The apostates are not the only ones to blame for leaving the religion. There are other parties who have contributed to their confusion and disillusionment.”
“The apostate may be unable to appreciate Islam due to the acts of his parents, family or the authorities. Although apostasy is a serious crime in Islam, death would be an unfair penalty,” added Zulkifly. He was speaking to about 200 participants at a convention on ‘Religious Freedom and Apostasy: Towards a Practical Solution’ at IIU yesterday.
Zulkifly said the majority of apostates were non-Muslims who converted to marry Muslims, only to leave Islam upon dissolution of the marriage. “Converts! usually return to their original faiths because of loss of interest in continuing as a Muslim or lack of financial or emotional support upon divorce. This normally results in them giving up.’
Later in the afternoon, former High Court judge Datuk Faiza Thamby Chik chaired a discussion on Syariah jurisdiction. “I cannot go into detail, but Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution is absolutely clear that the Syariah courts have jurisdiction in apos! tasy matters. What is important is that we seek a solution on how to d eal with those who wish to leave Islam.”
Among suggestions were that those who had applied to change their religion should receive counselling with a Muslim family for three months, after which they would be asked for their stand. Faiza, who delivered the High Court judgment in the Lina Joy apostasy case, said recommendations would be forwarded to religious experts in due course. The Federal Court decision on the Lina Joy case is still pending.
Another speaker, Negeri Sembilan Mufti Datuk Mohd Murtadza Ahmad said the concept of freedom of religion in Islam had been misinterpreted. “The Quranic verse ‘There is no compulsion in religion’ does not mean that a Muslim can leave Islam as he wishes, it means that non-Muslims cannot be forced to enter Islam. “This verse has been misquoted by so many. Once someone is a Muslim, he is bound by its rules, just as those professing other faiths are bound by th! eirs,” he said.
Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria said serious action should be taken against apostates. “The Muslim community is like a body. For example if a leg has become gangrenous, it should be cut off otherwise it would be dangerous for the rest of the body. Apostates can influence the rest of the community.”
The one-day event was officiated by Syariah Judicial Department director-general Datuk Sheikh Ghazali Abdul Rahman.
Well, there yo! u have it. The experts have spoken. So can all debates and disputes on the matter now be laid to rest? Those not well-read or learned in matters of Islam should not offer any unsolicited advice as this would only serve to confuse the matter further.
Okay, okay, I know what you are going to argue. Well, I have heard them all before. So, before you waste valuable bandwidth by posting your comments, allow me to pre-empt your arguments by saying what you are going to say before you say it.
Your argument is going to be about Dr Zulkifly Muda’s statement that the ISA should be used on those who leave Islam. You are going to argue that the ISA is detention without trial and this therefore goes against Islamic teachings. You are also going to argue that the ISA is preventive detention, and this means detention BEFORE a crime is committed, which again you are going to say goes against Islam because in Islam one cannot be punished for a crime one has not committed yet.
Though I would not dare disagree with you and say that you are wrong (because you are actually right), nevertheless, you must appreciate the concept of the ends justifying the means. This means: though what the good doctor has proposed may be un-Islamic, it is sometimes necessary to propagate un-Islamic teachings if it is for the good of Islam. In other words, there is nothing illegal in committing an illegal act if the ultimate objective is to do good. I mean, going against Islam for the good of Islam can be considered Islamic. (At least this is what ! I think Dr Zulkifly is trying to say).
Dr Zulkifly did explain that most of those who leave Islam originally became Muslims because of marriage to a Muslim. They then left Islam once their marriages broke up. Maybe you can allow me at this point to digress a bit. My wife became a Muslim in 1973 at the age of 18. She converted in front of the Grand Imam of the National Mosque. To be fair to him, he did explain to my wife that she need not become a Muslim if the! purpose is to marry me, as she was a Catholic and she could marry me without converting to Islam.
My wife, however, said that she still wanted to convert and that it had nothing to do with the fact she was going to marry me. Her Catholic name was Mable and she took a ‘Muslim’ name of Marina though I don’t believe it is really a Muslim name as such. The Imam said that she need not adopt the Abdullah surname so she retained her Lee surname and became Marina Lee. The National Registration Department clerk however insisted tha! t the ‘Abdullah’ appear in her new identity card so they changed her name to Marina Lee Binti Abdullah. Then the Road Transport Department insisted that her original name according to her birth certificate also be shown on her driving licence. So they changed it again to Mable d/o (daughter of) James Anthony Lee @ Marina Lee Binti Abdullah.
But the problem is: the driving licence was too small for this new long name so they issued her a driving licence in ! two pieces to accommodate the entire ‘Mable d/o James Anthony Lee @ Marina Lee Binti Abdullah’. So now my wife has two driving licences, the second being an attachment for the long name. Luckily they did not insist on inserting ‘Puan Hajjah’ in as well. If not she would be carrying three driving licences.
The clerk at the National Registration Department disagreed with the Grand Iman of the National Mosque and changed my wife’s name from Marina Lee to Marina Lee Binti Abdullah and the clerk at the Road Transport Departm! ent disagreed again by changing her name, yet again, to Mable d/o James Anthony Lee @ Marina Lee Binti Abdullah. And with that my wife finally became a ‘proper’ Muslim.
Anyway, the point I am trying to make is, the Imam did say my wife need not convert to Islam. She, however, wanted to. But the Imam did not caution her that once she converts to Islam then there is no turning back. If she later discovers that Islam is not really the religion she wants, she ! cannot go back to being a Catholic but must remain a Muslim till the d ay she dies. And the Imam also failed to caution her that she could be arrested or be put to death if she decides she wants to revert to being a Catholic.
This is something that converts should be told so that they do not find out later that they are stuck as Muslims -- and they find this out too late, after becoming a Muslim, and not before they convert. After all, we do not want non-Muslims having the impression that they had been tricked into becoming Muslim! s. They might think that since it is so easy changing from another religion to becoming a Muslim then it must be as easy to leave Islam.
Intending converts must be told to read the fine-print in the contract. Once they become Muslims then that is that. There is no turning back. If they are converting not because they have finally discovered the true religion but so that they can marry a Muslim, then they must be made aware that if the marriage breaks down they! must still remain a Muslim even though they are no longer married to a Muslim. So they must become Muslims because they want to, and because they believe in Islam, and not so that they can marry a Muslim. And they should also know that a Muslim husband can divorce his wife by just reciting the phrase “I divorce you” and that is the end of the marriage.
Once the non-Muslims know this but still insist on becoming a Muslim, then they would have only themselves to blame once their husband abandons them later and they are stuck a! s a Muslim without a husband for the rest of their life.
Dr Zulkifly said that the penalty for leaving Islam is death -- though he feels it is unfair to use the death penalty. The Perak Mufti agrees with this and equates such people as gangrene that needs to be destroyed. Now hold on a minute! If according to Islam the proper punishment for those who murtad (apostasy) is death, then how can it be unfair? If that is what Islam says then that is what Islam says. How can we declare that Islam’s laws are unfair and propose that we change the laws to something else? Is this permitted? He then proposes another form of punishment, detention without trial under the ISA. But is not Islam against the ISA? How can they propose that they not comply with what Islam stipulates because the Islamic form of punishment is unfair and instead propose another form of punishment which Islam is against and say that it is fairer? Are they implying that Islamic laws are too harsh while other laws that go against Islam are better?
Hmm, I am getting a bit confused here -- Islam, no good, anti-Islam, better. Well, maybe I am not as learned as all these people so this is probably why I cannot see the logic here. After all, I have only read the Quran and have not studied all the other Holy Books in Islam so my knowledge is quite limited. And that is the problem with people like me who only study the Quran. We end up thinking that only what the Quran says is correct while when we come across something that contradicts the Quran we think this must be wrong. This is what separates the learned from people like me. While we cannot see beyond the Quran, the learned peo! ple can also see what is not in the Quran and understand how to interp ret all those rules that appear to contradict the Quran. And this is the danger of reading only the Quran without additional input from learned people who read more than just the Quran.
I hope you now comprehend the issue (because I don’t). Those who leave Islam should be put to death. However, though this is what Islam says, and though it is not in the Quran, it is unfair to put them to death. Instead, we will detain them without trial under the ISA, though ! Islam does not allow anyone to be punished unless he or she is proven beyond any shadow of doubt in a properly conducted trial to have committed a crime.
Hey, something has just come to mind. The Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), ABIM and JIM are all against the ISA. The Anti-ISA Movement (AIM, or GMI in Bahasa Malaysia) was started and headed by the PAS President and comprises of dozens of NGOs, in particular Islamic movements like ABIM and JIM. Now, I wonder ! whether they are going to disband AIM since the religious scholars wan t to now use the ISA to detain those who leave Islam. How can the Islamic movements continue opposing the ISA when they want to use that un-Islamic law for the good of Islam?
Wow, really confusing is it not? Never mind. After all, of late, the ISA is being used against Muslims anyway. Those being detained under the ISA since 2001 have all been Muslim ‘deviants’ and ‘extremists’. Yes, I agree with what Dr Zulkifly said about the ISA being ‘refined’. ! To start off we can retain the acronym but call it the Islamic Security Act instead and get the Mufti council to pass a fatwah (decree) that, in Islam, the ends justify the means as long as it is for the good of Islam and an illegal act can be perpetuated as long as it benefits Islam. And let us all go pray that after this the non-Muslims will not fear Islam and not refuse to become Muslims even if their lives depended on it. Hmm....come to think of it, their lives will depend on it.
Hotel California
By Eagles
On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
The warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night.
There she stood in the doorway
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
This could be heaven or this could be hell
Then she lit up a candle
And she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say.
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place, such a lovely face
There’s plenty of room at the Hotel California!
Any time of year, you can find it here.
Her mind is definitely twisted
She’s got her Mercedes Benz
She’s got a lotta pretty, pretty boys
That she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget.
So I called up the captain
Please bring me my wine
He said, “We haven't had that spirit here since 1969”
And still those voices they’re calling from far away
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to ! hear them say.
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place, such a lovely face
They’re livin’ it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis.
! Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink Champaign on ice< cleaned="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">And she said, “We are all just prisoners here of our own device”
In the masters chambers they’re gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knifes but they just can’t k! ill the beast.
Last thing I remember, I was runnin’ for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
“Good night”, said the night man, “We are programmed to receive
You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.”