M. Bakri Musa
This was the topic for a small group discussion at a recent seminar
organized by Kelab UMNO New York/New Jersey. I was a passive participant
at this dialogue, at least initially.
In the ensuing discussions, the students duly reaffirmed the
greatness of Islam, citing many ready examples. Islam emancipated the
ancient Bedouins out of their Age of Jahilliyah (Ignorance), and did it
all within a generation. Islam then spread as far westward as
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Andalusia and eastward
right up to China. In the process Islam inspired and created great
civilizations and empires that lasted till at least the early part of the
last century.
After over 1400 years however, Islam (at least the physical
empire, though not the faith) was done in by European colonialism. With
colonialism's ending, there was a quick resurgence of Islam. Today it is
the faith of a quarter of the world's population, and fast growing.
Islam has been part of the Malay world for well over half a
millennium. It is very much an integral part of our "Malayness" such
that the statutory definition of a Malay is tied to the faith. Our
embrace of Islam remains firm if not enhanced, despite being under
complete Western (specifically British) colonial domination for a good
portion of the time.
With the resurgence of Islam, Malays like Muslims everywhere
yearn for the return of those earlier glorious days. Thus far that is
all there is to it – just a yearning; much of the Muslim world remains
tragically mired in poverty, with its citizens deprived of their basic
human dignity and rights.
In Malaysia, the achievement gaps between Malays and
non-Malays continue to widen despite the political leadership and public
institutions being dominated by Malays. This glaring disparity remains a
continuous source of communal angst, triggering more than just a few
occasions of mass "acting out" behaviors as keris wielding and shrill
calls for Ketuanan Melayu.
Why is Islam unable to emancipate Malays as it did the ancient
Bedouins? What went wrong? Being true believers, the students rightly
asserted that there is nothing wrong with this great faith, rather with
our understanding – and thus practice – of it.
We are obsessed with rituals at the expense of appreciating
the essence of Islam, the students observed. The universal message of
Islam is lost with the associated Arabism, they continued. We are
consumed in being Arabs, or at least aping them in the belief that it is
the same thing as being Islamic or pious.
In teaching our young we are too preoccupied with being
punitive and not enough with being positive. When they are naughty or
grab a toy from another child, we would admonish them by saying that God
would punish them by burning them in hell. Such concepts are beyond the
comprehension of young minds, except to imprint on them horror-filled
images of suffering and torture.
A more understandable and thus effective way would be to teach
those children to imagine how they would feel if someone were to steal
their toys. Such an approach would also be an excellent way to impart
upon them the Golden Rule, to do unto others what you want done to you, a
basic precept in all faiths.
We make our young recite and even memorize the Quran at a very
early age without expending commensurate time and effort in teaching them
the meaning or significance of those verses in our every day lives. We
have reduced this great religion to a series of rituals instead of being
a guide to a "total way of life" that is righteous, pleases Allah, and
leads to a harmonious society. We pray, fast, pay our tithe, and
undertake the pilgrimage but then go right ahead and accept bribes,
neglect our jobs, and ignore our families and society.
We go to great lengths avoiding pork and improperly slaughtered
chicken and cows, rightly considering them haram, but we have no
compulsion in accepting bribes or neglecting our duties.
The students did a credible job of societal
self-introspection. As they were summarizing their conclusions to
present to the larger group, I enquired how we as a society have strayed
from the central message of Islam. More relevantly, how could we
rediscover the essence of Islam so that it too would do for us what it
did for the ancient Arabs?
Taqlid, Bidaa, and Tajdid
Taqlid and bidaa are two central concepts in the learning and transmission
of Islam. Taqlid refers to following the teachings of those more learned
and pious than and before us. Specifically, it refers to adhering to the
practices of one of the established schools of jurisprudence or mahdhab.
The Arabic root of the word means to place a collar around the
neck, as we would to guide an animal. The operative word there is
"guide," to lead us along the straight path.
Malay villagers however, do not put a collar around our kerbau
(buffalo) rather a ring through its nose. It serves the same purpose, and
more. For in addition to leading the animal we also effectively control
it.
Therein lies the problem. Does taqlid mean letting us be
guided or be controlled? Is taqlid a collar slung loosely around our
neck to nudge us to the left or right as a rein to a horse, or a ring
pierced through our nose as with our kerbau? There is a vast difference
between paying deference to precedents (as lawyers and judges do) versus
being held captive by them. If it were the latter, slavery would still
be legal in America.
Likewise with bidaa; with every khutba the Imam would duly
warn the flock of the awesome Hellfire that awaits those who would dare
engage in bidaa. Invariably the word is translated as "innovation."
"Innovation" means more than just change; it implies change for the
better, and thus something commendable and to strive for. Bidaa
obviously does not mean innovation; it is closer to corruption or
adulteration, hence the dire warning against partaking in it!
My point here was to sensitize the students to the potential
treacherous trap in interpreting the meaning of words especially where
translations were involved. Such dangers exist even without
translations, as words can change their meanings and connotations over
time. During the prophet's time for example, poets were held in low
regard, as clearly stated in some Quranic verses, as they used their
talent to mock the prophet.
Thus when a religious scholar quotes a verse from the Quran or
hadith and then confidently assert with such certitude, "And the verse
means … ," that belies an arrogant mindset, impervious to reasons and
intolerant of differing interpretations. A more humble and also accurate
way would be to add the proviso, "When approximately translated."
Translations are at best approximate and provisional.
Our Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., anticipated this erosion and
corruption of the faith, as had happened to earlier revelations to other
prophets before him. Hence the Quranic references to the appearance of a
"prophet amongst us every hundred years" to renew the faith by getting rid
of the inevitable accretions of extraneous practices and beliefs that
would inevitably develop over time. "Prophet" here of course means
"leader," as to Muslims Muhammad, s.a.w, was the Last Prophet.
This concept of renewal or tajdid is a long established
tradition in Islam. However, we cannot have renewal if we remain a slave
to precedents, or if we consider every change a bidaa or an affront to
taqlid. Islam has never been short of reformers, right from the first
rightly-guided caliphs to the rationalists Mutazilites and many
modern-day reformers. Like reformers in other faith, some have paid
dearly for their attempts.
America with its freedom provides fertile ground for the
renewal of Islam. America is also fortunate in having many brilliant
Islamic scholars who have been driven away from their native land for
their innovative ideas. To their folks back home, these reformers are
engaging in bidaa, a mortal sin.
We are also fortunate in America to have the freedom to
explore the rich and varied traditions of our faith. In Malaysia you
could be detained under the ISA for reading Shiite literature! To put
that in perspective, that is the same punishment if you were to engage in
subversive or communist activities. Add to that the favorite past time of
our leaders: banning books and restricting speakers! That ring through
our noses can be very restricting!
What went Right
To end the students' discussion on a positive note, I asked them to
consider the flip side of their query, to ponder what went right. I
nudged them to imagine what would have happened had Islam not landed on
our shores.
One student reacted with horror at that prospect as we would
then still have our animist ways and Hindu beliefs. At which point I
enquired whether the Balinese (who are racially Malays) are somehow
inferior to us because they are not Muslims. Or for that matter the
Protestant Bataks in Sumatra.
As that seemed to dampen the discussion, I volunteered that
there are many things that went right with Islam and Malays. Seeing it
strictly from my professional perspective, I am glad that Malays are
Muslims. When I was a surgeon in Malaysia, I never saw a single case of
alcohol-related injuries among Malays. Before America had its strict
drunk driving laws, a large part of my work as a surgeon was to repair
the horrible damages wrecked by drunks. In the Philippines,
alcohol-related crimes and injuries are rampant.
I wish our Quran would have similar explicit prohibitions
against drugs and corruption as it does against alcohol!
On a higher level, Islam introduced the written word to our
world. Once a society adopted a written culture, there is a quantum lap
in its intellectual development. Yes, before the arrival of Arabic
Malays had Sanskrit, but that was a dead language. Many of the ancient
Malay literature are adaptations of stories from the Middle East, and our
language borrows heavily from Arabic.
On that positive note we ended the discussion. What went
wrong is not with Islam rather how we have missed the essence of this
great faith in our obsession with its peripherals.
December 21, 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my
No comments:
Post a Comment