“Try and organize a seminar to discuss if Jesus was an ordinary man or if he truly was the Son of God. Try advancing the idea that the New Testament was the work of fiction meant to corrupt the true teachings of Jesus. Do that, and you will see just why Muslims aren’t the only ones who get sensitive when their faith is questioned or ridiculed”
THE THIRD FORCE
Parit Buntar Member of Parliament (MP) Mujahid Yusof Rawa wants to table a Private Member’s Bill in the coming session of Parliament, according to a report by Free Malaysia Today (READ MORE BELOW). The report begins by saying that the Bill is intended to call for equality and the criminalizing of hate speeches.
Thereon, everything begins to crumble.
“Islam guides Muslims to be moderate in political activities and pursuits and the content of Islamic civilisation was erected based on pluralism,” says Mujahid, adding, “It is important that underlying multicultural environments such as we have in Malaysia respect humanity, promote dialogue, the concept of protection, and freedom of religion which are all principles enshrined in the Quran.”
The Amanah MP then goes on to say this:
“This is a sad time for Malaysia because we have told the world that basically we don’t respect intellectuals. What’s most unfortunate is that they are doing it in the name of Islam when in no way does Islam frown upon intellectual discourse.”
Yes, Mujahid should just have kept his mouth shut. If he had done so, nobody would have noticed how incompetent he was or how shallow his view of the Islamic world is.
The Parit Buntar MP wants you to think that Malaysia is run by an oppressive regime that forbids intellectual discourse. On the contrary, the government welcomes intellectual discourses on all fronts and merely forbids distortions to the true teachings of Islam. Even Christianity condemns such distortions – Christians in the west censured scholar and writer Reza Aslan for his work on the teachings of their Biblical saviour, Jesus Christ.
When Reza first came out with a book on Muhammad, many labelled the book the best ever on the life and times of the Prophet and Islam. The backlash he received from some Muslim groups served only to exalt his status among Christians, to a point that his work on Muhammad became an international best seller. Then, when Reza wrote a book on Jesus, everything went backward – the West did a U-turn and made every attempt to destroy his reputation.
So you see, this so-called ‘sensitivity’ on the distortion of facts is not confined only to Muslims. Christians, too, draw the line between what they regard as fact and what they regard as distortions. Reza was condemned by both Christians and Muslims alike because of his bold views on the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Now, try and organize a seminar to discuss if Jesus was an ordinary man or if he truly was the Son of God. Try advancing the idea that the New Testament was a work of fiction meant to corrupt the true teachings of Jesus. Do that, and you will see just why Muslims aren’t the only ones who get sensitive when their faith is questioned or ridiculed.
Anyway, Mujahid goes on to say this:
“Islam guides Muslims to be moderate in political activities and pursuits and the content of Islamic civilisation was erected based on pluralism. It is important that underlying multicultural environments such as we have in Malaysia respect humanity, promote dialogue, the concept of protection, and freedom of religion which are all principles enshrined in the Quran.”
Now, what exactly is this guy trying to say? From where I stand, these are all nonsensical syllables strung together just to make them appear meaningful. I honestly think that even Mujahid would scratch his head reading back the statements he made.
I mean, what kind of examples can Mujahid offer to illustrate just how Islam guides Muslims to be moderate in political activities? What sort of moderation is he talking about, and how does it relate to politics? Can he be specific?
Islamic civilisation was erected based on pluralism, he says. Again, what example can Mujahid offer us? Can he point to the era of the 1,400 years of Islamic history or region of the Islamic world is he referred to?
It is important that underlying multicultural environments such as we have in Malaysia respect humanity, promote dialogue, the concept of protection, and freedom of religion which are all principles enshrined in the Quran: and yet again, what sort of example can Mujahid offer us? Which verse of the Quran was he quoting?
Mujahid thinks that he can impress people with his ‘knowledge’ and ‘intellectuality’ on Islam by opening his mouth and having words come out. However, none of what he said makes any sense, and neither is it worthy for consideration by someone who claims to be a Muslim.
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Amanah MP seeks to table Private Member’s Bill promoting multiculturalism
(FMT) – MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa will seek to move a Private Member’s Bill in the coming sitting of the Dewan Rakyat calling for equality and criminalising hate speeches.
Mujahid, who is a vice-president of Pakatan Harapan (PH) member party Amanah, said he submitted a motion to table the bill to the Speaker’s office today.
He hoped his proposed bill would be as well received as Marang MP and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s bill seeking increased penalties for violations of shariah laws.
Hadi’s bill, known as RUU355 and which proposed amendments to the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, received the support of the Barisan Nasional government which prioritised the bill by moving it up the Dewan Rakyat’s order of business paper. However, the last sitting of the House ran out of time and the bill was not debated.
“I hope that like what they did with Hadi’s bill, they will also allow me to table my bill and that there will be an open debate on it although there wasn’t any for Hadi’s bill,” said Mujahid.
He claimed this was especially important in the face of Umno becoming increasingly extreme in its statements on matters relating to race and religion.
This, he said, worried him, especially as a Muslim MP in an Islamic party.
“Islam guides Muslims to be moderate in political activities and pursuits and the content of Islamic civilisation was erected based on pluralism,” he said at a roundtable discussion on promoting multiculturalism at the Institut Darul Ehsan here.
“It is important that underlying multicultural environments such as we have in Malaysia respect humanity, promote dialogue, the concept of protection, and freedom of religion which are all principles enshrined in the Quran.”
Mujahid said Umno had become more extreme in its rhetoric for political reasons, adding that this was also becoming increasingly apparent with PAS.
“Everyone wants to compete to become more Islamic but this is wrong because it means you are using Islam.”
Mujahid also spoke on the recent arrest of prominent Turkish writer Mustafa Akyol by Federal Territory religious authorities, saying this was a bad representation of Islam.
“This is a sad time for Malaysia because we have told the world that basically we don’t respect intellectuals.”
“What’s most unfortunate is that they are doing it in the name of Islam when in no way does Islam frown upon intellectual discourse.”
