'Muslims must embody openness of their religion'

Posted by St Low
Thursday, 12 June 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Ignorance and narrow-mindedness about Islam are the two key factors that can undo what Malaysia has achieved.

Political scientist Dr Chandra Muzaffar said many non-Malays here failed to understand Islam and its history in Malaysia, adding that the mentality would, in a sense, retard the progress of national integration.

Speaking at the forum, "Islam and the Future of Inter-Ethnic Relations in Malaysia", he said what many failed to understand was that Islam was best suited in multi-ethnic and religious conditions because of the resources it had.

"Because of the universalism embodied in the Quran, it is the only scripture that forbids a person to compel another to adopt Islam as a religion, or any other religion for that matter.

"Islam's principals of openness and accommodation were among the factors why British historian Arnold J. Toynbee once argued that of all religions, Islam was the one most capable in overcoming racism," he said.

The three-hour forum was organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (Isis) together with the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IIAIS).

The moderators of the three-hour session were Isis chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan and IIAIS chairman and chief executive officer Professor Dr Mohammad Hashim Kamali.

Chandra said he did not think that Islam, although being the official religion of the country, could deny the rights of other religions.

He, however, pointed out that there was communal damage among the Muslims who subscribed to narrow and superficial views of Islam.

"There are some Muslims who express their faith as someone who is honest, accountable, caring and compassionate. And then there are others whose expressions of faith are just the attire and how they treat their non-Muslim neighbours," he said.

He added that sometimes Muslims did not set good enough examples to earn the respect of others.

"By not setting a good example, how can you expect the non-Muslims to respect the Muslims?" he asked.

To address such issues, Chandra called for efforts to develop and transform the thinking of individuals.

"Instead of talking about a state and having a structure, let's start looking at the transformation of individuals.

"If more Muslims in Malaysia embodied the psychology towards openness and universalism, I think our country will be a much better place," he said.

On political parties' actions of using Islam to promote inter-ethnic relations, Chandra said Parti Islam SeMalaysia, Umno or any political players could not have a state that distinguished people based on faith, ethnicity and culture.

The country's politics, he said must lead one to recognise and respect equality among all citizens despite their religions and ethnicity.

Later, Jawhar said Islam was universal, accommodative and an open belief. He agreed Islam provided the best approach for any multi-religious society.

- nst