Malaysia a moderate Muslim Nation??

For those who have no time, or "no stomach" to read TheStar for various reasons, this is a piece of opinion you should read, nevertheless. Whither Moderation, by Zainah Anwar To make sure you read the whole column, I have extracted some of it below, and therein you can find ALL the reasons why the non Malays do not trust the Govt, even though they believe that 1Malaysia is a good thing as well as Single Stream Schools. Islam in Malaysia is being "portrayed" by the so called 'learned' men in cloth as an 'exclusive' religion, and any indirect involvement in it by non Muslims is seen as tainting the religious purity.(the latest example being the issue of non Muslims not allowed in mosques). In a nutshell, you can see the superficiality of those "in charge" of religious affairs from the incident of the harassment and arrest of Dr Asri. One of the enforcers purportedly shouted, "what if you are a graduate, I am also a graduate" thereby proving his total insecurity and lack of rationality in his actions.. As Zainah has commented, do we have the political leadership to overcome all these what has been so elegantly expressed.. " Malaysia to take the lead as a model moderate Muslim country – only to find its Islamic agenda hijacked by the very ideology that has contributed to the decay of other Muslim countries, where Muslims killing other Muslims for their belief and political affiliation have become the norm.

Well ,we have to see, but I am not sanguine, and certainly not in my lifetime.

Tam

Extracts:... What kind of Islam does the Prime Minister envi­sage in his 1Malaysia? Certainly not the Islam of the Selangor State Religious Depart­ment (JAIS) and the PGSM who accused Dr Asri of all manner of dastardly insults to Islam as they perceive it.

Dr Asri’s position on issues such as freedom of religion, differences of opinion in Islam, the imperative for reform, his criticisms of the delays and bias against women in the syariah courts, of khalwat laws and invasion of privacy, book banning and fatwa against yoga and kongsi raya have put him on the wrong side of the conservatives who dominate the religious bureaucracy and the Islamic state ideologues and their supremacist thinking.

For too long in this country, those who claim to speak in God’s name have cowed too many into silent submission and perpetual ignorance. For too long, our political leaders have not shown the courage or the will to fully deal with the threat posed by these religious zealots within government and their own parties.

What is desperately needed now is leadership, courage, and vision to stand up for what is right for Malaysia – that there is no place in a country like ours for an Islam that is punitive, cruel, misogynistic, and intolerant.