|
Malaysia: Push For Islamic Revival Causing Rifts In Society
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
JAKARTA (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Just before the start of the month of Ramadan, authorities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, cleaned the streets of video CDs and other videotapes depicting the extreme violence in Ambon, the Malukus, in Indonesia.
The reason behind the crackdown was seen as an attempt to soften an Islamic push in a country run conservatively by the regime of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Rumors persist in Kuala Lumpur streets that even mosques in the city will not be allowed to sell these videos, an attempt seen by some by the police and the special branch to halt Islamic resurgence in Malaysia.
Video footage filmed by Malaysians and Indonesians in the Malukus show the aftermath of the massacre in several mosques and villages where Christians, filled with revenge, chopped Muslims to pieces.
Malaysia has had a rough history banning Islamic materials that touch on politics and conversions of Muslims to other faiths. It, however, and until now, had never stopped the distribution of footage showing violence against Muslims.
Malayasian National Television RTM has screened special footages of Serbian atrocities in Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia, while the authorities allowed the sale of the footage around the country.
The official policy in Malaysia is that Islam should not be used in local politics and that the issue of Murtaads (those who leave Islam) is a private and personal individual matter.
Islamic revivalism in Malaysia is a growing trend and there seems to be no reversing the situation, Alim Ghani, a video distributor in Kuala Lumpur, said.
For supporters of the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), politics and Islam cannot be separated. The Muslim opposition party professes the mixing of Islam and politics saying that Islam forbids wrongdoings even in politics.
The ruling Malay party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), believes there should be a difference between Islam and politics.
Many of its supporters told IslamOnline in a brief survey that they feel Islam should be kept in mosques and should not be allowed to spill outside its premises.
Specific guidelines have also been given not to allow politics into the mosques, considered as a sanctuary for the soul.
The PAS made inroads in Malaysia thanks to the platform of Friday prayers where the party penetrated into the hearts Muslims, showing them that excessive development has ruined their culture and faith.
The Anwar Ibrahim saga that erupted in 1998, after his revocation as Deputy Prime Minister and subsequent jailing, has helped the PAS push its Islamic message to elite Malays, many of whom who have reverted to Islam.
The UMNO, however, insists that a push towards Islam in Malaysia would hurt race relations among the sparsely represented nation. Malaysia is 55% Muslim, 30% Chinese and nine percent Indians, the rest of the population are classified as natives and others.
PAS critics recently said the push in Islamization in Terengganu and Kelantan (two states run by the Muslim opposition party) has scared off both Muslims and non-Muslims.
UMNO ministers said PAS electoral wins in the country in 1999 also scared off investors, adding that further investments in PAS-led states are unlikely.
Other UMNO stalwarts recently said Malays had become petty when it comes to Islam, placing emphasis on the wrong things. They say Muslims have adopted a holier-than-thou attitude that frustrates other races.
This conspires to work against genuine integration of races in Malaysia and has reached a stage where racism is now on the rise in the country, IslamOnline was told.
The authorities are said to be worried with the rise of racism in universities and schools where Chinese and Indians are not mixing with Malays. They blame the PAS for this situation and vow to block the Islamic party with strong measures.
Racial unity is now the focus point of Mahathir's addresses in Malaysia. On Friday, he reminded the people not to allow the destruction of the unique national formula that had so far proved to be effective in Malaysia.
He said this formula was effective in bringing development and ensuring harmony in the country.
Datuk Seri (title given to him) Mahathir Mohamad said the formula included politics of moderation, racial unity, and an administrative machinery receptive to directives that implemented policies drawn up by the government elected by the people.
"Vision 2020 is only 19 years away and is not something impossible to be achieved by the people of Malaysia if all these factors are in place," he said when addressing top civil servants at a function at the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) at Bukit Kiara.
However, the online-based Stopinjustice rights group said Malaysia had survived the last 40 years without severe racial jolts.
The group wrote in one of its feature articles that the Malaysian regime had developed a culture of fear among Malaysians that is now culminating in stand-offs between Malay and non-Malay groups around the country.
The PAS has also been instrumental in breaking the clamps of suppression on the local press by building its own Internet based publications. The PAS, unlike the UMNO proposes a completely free and fair press.
The advent of the Internet and the push of the PAS among the Malays mean a possible end to the solid grip of the government on information control.
The PAS and UMNO are set to sit at the same table and discuss ways and means to bring unity among the Malays in Malaysia. However, the PAS has insisted that talks with the UMNO should focus on national unity and not Malay unity.
The Islamic party believes the Malays are united under the umbrella of Islam and that the political divide in the Malay landscape is a natural thing, and says the most important message now was for political forces to provide security for all the races and transmit that Islam is not the enemy of non-Muslims.
|
