Muslims indiference - Farish A Noor

Yet the question remains: If Muslims can get so worked up by the fact that
some right-wing Dutch politician hungering for publicity can stir up a
debate by demeaning the Quran, why is it that so many Muslims remain
indifferent to how their fellow Muslims treat the holy texts of other
faiths and belief-systems?
By Farish A. Noor
7 February 2008

Not too long ago, a certain Dutch politician – Geert Wilders, leader of
the far-right Dutch Freedom party – caused a stir in that rather flat
country by suggesting that the Quran should be banned on the
grounds that it was a 'dangerous book' that spread the message of hate
and violence. As the rather pointless and tiresome debate took its
course, other right-wing politicians chipped in, suggesting things such
as new laws that forbade the reading of the Quran in public, limiting the
sale and dissemination of the Quran in Dutch society, controlling the
number of Qurans being brought into the country, etc. Needless to say,
Geert Wilders got what he wanted, which was to project himself yet again
on the national stage as a rather loud and outlandish advocate of
far-right causes.
Predictably, the Muslim community of Holland and other European
countries were upset by Wilders' remarks. Many came to the fore to insist
that all this talk about banning Qurans was part and parcel of a wider
trend of Islamophobia in the EU;
that it was essentially racist and that it was an attempt to rob Muslims
in Europe of their fundamental rights and liberties. What offended many
Muslims was the suggestion that the Quran could be seen by some as a
'dangerous text' which Wilders even compared to Hitler's Mein Kampf: An
ironic comparison to say the least considering Wilders' own far-right
political leanings.
That Muslims would be offended by such claims and demands is
understandable as no doubt most faith communities regard their sacred
books as precisely that: sacred arks that bear the message of God and
divine revelation. To even suggest that the Quran could be read profanely
as some terrorists' manual or guidebook for fanatics was to demean the
text, and by extension Islam and Muslims.
Yet the question remains: If Muslims can get so worked up by the fact
that some right-wing Dutch politician hungering for publicity can stir up
a debate by demeaning the Quran, why is it that so many Muslims remain
indifferent to how their fellow Muslims treat the holy texts of other
faiths and belief-systems?
A case in point is the recent seizure of thirty-two Bibles from a
Malaysian Christian who was on her journey back to Malaysia from the
Philippines. Upon arrival in Malaysia, her bags were checked by the
customs authorities and all of the Bibles were confiscated, on the
grounds that they had to be vetted by the Ministry of Internal Security.
But since when were Bibles deemed a security threat in Malaysia, and to
whom might they pose a danger?
More worrying still is the fact that the customs officers – who we were
told were Muslim – had seized the Bibles on their own initiative, despite
there not being any formal ban on Bibles in the country. (After all, there
are literally millions of Christians of all denominations in Malaysia and
they have lived there for decades if not centuries, so why the fear of
Bibles now?)
In the event the Bibles were eventually returned to the Malaysian
Christian in question, but worrying doubts remain. What will be the fate
of other books of other religions and belief-systems? As a scholar who
teaches comparative religion, I have in my
collection not only numerous editions of the Bible but also Taoist,
Buddhist, Hindu, Tantric, Animist and Jewish texts. Are these to be
screen and vetted too? And on what grounds; that as a person born to the
Muslim faith (a contingency of history that I did not decide or
determine, I might add) I am not allowed to read such texts for fear that
I may be 'contaminated' by alien ideas of alien creeds?
Predictably the first to react to the seizure of the Bibles were the
Christians of Malaysia. But it is sad to note that the same level of
anger and outrage that was expressed by Muslims over the Muslim-bashing
sentiments of a Dutch politician thousands of miles away was not evident
when this outrage was perpetrated on their own shores.
Universally this has become the norm, where religious communities the
world over have grown more introverted, inward-looking and consequently
selfish in their motives and concerns. In the same way that non-Muslims
seemed relatively indifferent to the constant Muslim-bashing that is
taking place in places like Europe today; Muslims are equally indifferent
when injustices such as the seizure of holy books are meted out to those
who are not of their flock. Should this trend continue then we are
certainly on the verge of a balkanisation of the religious communities of
the world, and this spells trouble for multi-faith nations like Malaysia
and the countries of the West.
The remedies are primarily political ones, which include
controls on hate-speech and fear-mongering by far-right demagogues like
Wilders in Holland and other equally right-wing demagogues in other
communities, including Muslim communities too. But all this can only work
if we begin with the fundamental premise that sacredness is not something
exclusive to ourselves and our own faith community. When Muslims,
Christians, Hindus, Buddhists alike realise and respect the sacredness in
the other, and drop the claim that they alone monopolise all that is good
and holy; perhaps then we will be one step closer to recognising the
fundamental humanity we share with each other – whether we like it or
not.
Dr. Farish A. Noor is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore; and
one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia. org research site.

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