MENZIARAHI SEMULA NOVEL SHAHNON AHMAD
PROTES
Oleh: Kassim Ahmad
Darul_hikmah33@yahoo.com.my
27 Mei, 2011
Baru-baru ini saya ada sedikit masa lapang (dari kerja-kerja penulisan saya), lalu saya manfaatkan masa itu dengan membaca atau ulangbaca pelbagai jenis buku, khasnya novel oleh penulis-penulis kesukaan saya, Tongkat Warrant, Kris Mas, Pammoedya Ananta Toer, Shahno Ahmad, A. Samad Said, Anwar Ridhwan, Abdullah Hussein, Faisal Tehrani dari Dunia Melayu), Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Thomas Mann, Balzac, Boris Pasternak, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky dan Alexander Solzhnettsyn (dari Eropah).
Tergerak hati saya untuk menulis tentang novel Protes yang diterbitkan oleh penerbit Abbas Bandung, Melaka, tahun 1967. Penerbit berkata: “Bagi saya inilah pertama kalinya semenjak Hamzah Fansuri, seorang pengarang Melayu yang dengan serius dan ikhlas coba menerjuni alam filasafah dengan menggunakan bentuk sastera yang kreatif. (Ejaan disesuikan dengan kaedah ejaan baru.)
Ada beberapa sebab mengapa saya menulis esei ini. Sebab-sebab itu akan menjadi ketara sambil kita maju dalam esei ini. Saya juga bermain dengan idea untuk membuat suatu penilaian keseluruhan bagi novel-novel Shahnon. Banyak novel Shanon telah saya baca dulu, tetapi tidak semua. Namun demikian, penilain menyeluruh akan memakan masa banyak, dan saya tidak ada banyak masa.
Pada muka surat pertama dipetik kata-kata watak utama novel ini, Ferdaos, yang berbunyi: “Tujuan hidup hanya untuk mencari kebenaran, mencari kebenaran asli dengan akal dan fikiran yang tinggi.”
Novel bermula begini: “Apakah tujuan hidup?
“Soalan itu datang lagi. Dan Ferdaos coba juga memberi jawapan yang tepat. Dan jawapan yang tepat hanya satu saja.
“Hidup untuk mencari dan memburu kebenaran asli. Dan kebenaran asli itu hanya dapat dicari dan dapat diburu dengan akal yang tinggi dan fikiran yang logik. Tetapi bila Islam menetapkan adanya pula bahagian-bahagian dalam hidup ini bersifar transcendental, bahagian-bahagian yang berada di luar akal dan pemikiran manusia, bahagian-bahagian yang tidak boleh dicari dan diburu dengan akal yang sihat dan fikiran yang tinggi, maka tujuan hidup umat Islam bukan lagi untuk mencari kebenaran asli , tetapi hanya untuk hidup dalam khayalan dan angan-angan. Kiamat bersifat transcendent. Dan untuk memikirkan ada atau tidak adanya kiamat bukan soal manusia. Manusia hanya diminta percaya adanya kiamat. Syurga, pahala, bidadari, akhirat dan roh adalah berunsur transcendent. ... Islam tidak memberi sepenuh-penuh akal fikiran kepada manusia. Islam tidak memberi kemerdekaan kepada umatnya menggunakan akal dan fikiran sebebas-bebasnya.... Dan manusia yang tidak berakal dan berfikiran adalah bukan manusia sepenuhnya. Manusia Islam hanya manusia hewan.” (hlm. 1-2)
Demikian fikiran watak utama Ferdaos. Petikan panjang ini untuk menunjukkan beberapa perkara yang tidak jelas dalam fikiran Ferdaos. Pertama, makna perkataan ‘transcendent’. Kedua, perkara epistemologi, atau kaedah mengetahui. Juga Ferdaos menggunakan perkataan ‘akal tinggi’. Apakah maknanya, dan apa bezanya dengan perkataan ‘akal’?
Nampaknya, Ferdaos mendapat idea immanent dan transcendent ini dari Quran. Tuhan itu ada dalam dunia (immanent), tetapi Ia juga ada di luar dunia (transcendental). Tuhan itu Wujud Wajib, sedangkan dunia Wujud Mungkin. Suatu perkara penting yang tidak disebut dalam novel ini dua jenis ayat dalam Quran: muhkamat (jelas dengan sendirinya) dan mutasyabihat (metafora, kiasan). Konsep-konsep ‘Hari Kemudian’, ‘Akhirat’ dan sebagainya tergolong ke dalam ayat-ayat mutasybihat. Ayat-ayat jenis kedua ini tidak diketahui maknanya kecuali Tuhan, dan mereka yang membuat kajian mendalam tentangnya. Saya percaya kita mesti ada suatu kaedah saintifik untuk memahami dan mentafsir Quran. Kaedah tafsir tardisional (“Hadis mentafsirkan Quran”) tidak mencukupi lagi.
Epitemologi atau kaedah mengetahui mencakupi tiga aspek: kesaksian deria (ainu’l-yaqin) keskasian akal atau logika (ilm’ul-yaqin), dan kesaksian langsung atau supraderia atau supraakal (haqq’ul-yaqin). Ambil contoh sebuah pena di tangan kita. Pertama, kita nampak pena itu dengan mata. Kedua, kita tahu pena itu telah dibuat oleh seorang tukang (walapun kita tidak melihat perbuatan itu). Akhir sekali, pena dan tukang datang dari mana? Dari tanah dan daripda Tuhan. Kita gabungkan ketiga-tiga aspek ini lalu kita dapat pengetahuan yang lengkap tentang pena itu, dan demikianlah seterusnya. Dalam epitemologi perdana Barat, aspek ketiga ditiadakan. Inilah yang menyebabkan timbulnya anggapan bahawa dunia ini kekal abadi.
Ferdaou tidak dapat hendak membuktikan bahawa segala konsep transcendental itu tiada dan bohong saja, kerana mereka di luar jengkauan akal manusia. (Mungkin frasa ‘akal tinggi’ yang digunakan Ferdaos merujuk kepada aspek ketiga ini: kita tidak tahu.)
Lawan Ferdaos itu Lokman. Kata Lokman tentang Ferdaos: “Kau seorang munafik yang terulung... Kau menolak unsur-unsur ketuhanan yang bersifat transcendental” (hlm. 5). Jadi, kebuntuan tidak dapat diselesaikan, kerana alam transcendental, alam ketuhanan, teletak di luar jangkauan fikiran manusia.
Ferdaos ada protes yang hebat terhadap Islam. Katanya: “... Islam hanya menyuruh umatnya membuat sesuatu untuk mendapat upah. Manusia dengan pendidikan yang begitu tidak akan melakukan sesuatu yang jujur dalam hidupnya...” (hlm. 6)
Sekali lagi, nampaknya, tiada Ferdaos, tiada Lokman (lawannya), tiada watak dalam novel ini yang mengetahui bahawa manusia itu ada dua tahap moralnya: yang satu mahu balasan untuk kerjanya (apa salahnya? Ini dasar keadilan), dan yang satu lagi melakukan aktivitinya semata-mata kerana Allah dan tidak mahukan habuan (ini dasar ihsan). Ingat kata-kata Jesus Christ: “Apabila pipi kanan kamu ditampar, sualah pipi kiri!” Yakni, balas kejahatan dengan kebaikan. Inilah tahap etika yang tertinggi.
Jadi, protes ini tinggal tergantung. Tiada jawapan. Kesilapannnya terlatak pada pemahaman kita kepada ajaran Quran yang tidak kesampaian. Quran mengandungi 90% lebih ilmu daripada yang ada di dalam kitab-litab suci sebelumnya. Quran itu lautan ilmu yang amat dalam. Tujuh lautan dakwat, ditambah sekali ganda, tidak mampu memperkatakan kritivti Tuhan yang tidak terbatas.
Kassim Ahmad seorang penulis bebas Malaysia. Laman webnya www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
THE PROBLEMS OF TAFSIR:
MISUNDERSTANDING, MISREPRESENTATION, AND DIFFICULTIES
IN CLASSICAL AND MODERN WORKS –
A SHORT NOTE
By: Kassim Ahmad
darul_hikmah33@yahoo.com.my
18 May, 2011
1. Is the Quran easy or difficult?
The Egyptian Muslim scholar, Dr. Rashad Khalifa, translated verse 17 of Surah 54 (Al-Qamar) as followes: “We have made the Quran easy to learn . Does anyone of you wish to learn?” (Quran: The Final Testament, 2000)
This verse is repeated four times time in this Surah, but it does not occur in any other Surah. Of course, there are many verses pointing to the straightforwardness and unimbiguity of the teachings of the Quran.
Other translators translate the same verse thus:-
“And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember ...” (Abdullah Yusof Ali: 1989).
“And in truth, We have made the Quran easy to remember ...”(Marmaduke Pickthall: The Meaning of the Glorious Quran: 1930).
“And certainly We have made the Quran easy to remember ...” (Maulana Muhammad Ali: The Holy Quran: 1st Ed. 1917: New 2002 Ed. revised).
“Hence, indeed, We have made this Quran easy to bear in mind ...” (Muhammad Asad: The Message of the Quran: 1980).
“And We have made the Quran easy to understand and to remember ...” (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: The Holy Quran: 1988 ).
“We have made the Quran easy to learn ...” (Edip Yuksel et all, Quran: A Reformist Traslation: 2007).
The Arabic word yassarna does mean “to make easy”, but the verb lilzikr means “to remember”, not “to learn”. Thus, one alternative is to conclude that the Quran is easy to remember (because of its style) , but not to learn (since it contains the profoundest thoughts). This understanding is in line with the meaning of verse 7 of Surah 3 (Ali-‘Imran) where the verse stipulates two types of verses: the muhkamat verses that are clear in themselves, and the mutasyabihat verses that are allegorical, whose meanings are known only to God and the experts, or the elect.
Yet, it stands to reason that the teachings of the Quran should be easily understood, as they are a guide to the whole of mankind.
Thus, we must conclude that the Quran is both easy and difficult to undersand. It is easy because it contains important teachings that must be accessible to all. It is also difficult because it also contains profound teachings that are inaccessible to the ordinary person. The attitude of the believer, as is stated in verse 7 of Surah 3, is that: “They say, ‘We believe in this – all of it comes from our Lord.’” The beliver or rather the Muslim submits to those teachins, although he is not able to logically reason them out.
Therefore, it must be concuded here that there is no a perfect translation of the Quran. It is not possible. It must be translated anew by every generation. Every generation must understand and interpret the Quran in terms of the available knowledge. Since knowledge increases with time, so will men’s understanding of the Quran. The Quran itself states that it contains 90% more content than previous scriptures.
2. Misrepresentation of its meanings
The best modern English translation is by the Egyption scholar, Dr Rashad Khalifa, that I have quoted above. Not only is the language modern and simple; the translation has many other merits absent from most traditional tafsir. He avoids putting his subjective arbitrary thoughts into the text, the most obvious example is verse 59 of Surah 4 where traditional tafsir states obedience to God means holding on to the Quran, while obedience to the messenger means holding on to the so-called Hadith/Sunnah. While the phrase “those in authority among you” is usually interepreted to mean obediece to a so-called clerical class (ulema) that actually does not exist in Islam. The bifurcation of knowledge into the so-called secular and religious came with the influence of Christianity.
Dr Khalifa’s researches also unveiled what has come to be known as Code 19. This Code has shown the awesome mathematical complexity of the composition of the Quran that puts its authorship to be beyond the ability of any human or group of humans.
There are many other firsts by Dr Khalifa. These are (a) the extremely important discovery of the Code 19 that I have mentioned above, (b) the correct translation of verse 87 of Surh 15 regarding the so-called “seven-oft-repeated verses” of traditional tafsir. Rashad correctly translated it as “the seven pairs and the great Qran.”, the “seven pairs referring to the 14 sets of muqattat letters standing at the head of several chapters in the Quran, and (c) the correct translation of the Quranic phase dabbat’ul min’al-ard (“a creature made of earthly materials”) and pointing to the creation of the computer. He also has 38 appendices that are informative and useful.
3. Errors in Rashad’s Translation
Having said these, the translation suffers from many errors. The most glaring is Rashad’s claim that verse 81 of Surah 3 on the “Messenger of the Covenant” refers to him. The word covenant (Ar. ‘ahdan or mithaq) refers to three types of covenants to God: by mankind as a whole, by prophets, and by believers. The verse in question (3: 81) refers to the covenant of the People of the Book, specifically the Jews and the Christians (for generally it includes all previous prophets), to believe in the last prophet, i.e. Muhammad. The advent of Prophet Muhammad is foretold in both the Old and the New Testmants, , in fact, in all previous scriptures.
Rashad’s argument that “The main function of God’s Messenger of the Covenant is to purify the scriptures and unify them into one universal message to this world from the Creator and Sustainer of this world.” cannot be accepted, simply because that has already been done, explicitly as well as implicitly (in the case of Code 19), by the Quran that Muhammad brought. As the Quran itself beautifully and succictly puts it, it “confirms and supersedes” all previous secriptures.
There is no doubt that Rashad’s discovery of Code 19 is a major breakthrough in the interpretation of the Quran. As I have stated above, the Quran has to be interpreted anew by every generation. As knowledge increases, every generation will increase its understanding of the Quran. After all, the Quran with its first command to mankind “to read in the name of the Lord, Who creates,” wrought a major revolution in man’s thinking. Before the Quran, men lived in a Pre-scientific Age – the Childhood of Mankind, we may say. After it, the Scientific Age began – the Adulthood of Mankind. Such is the revolution wrought by the Quran!
4. Two sources of authority
Rashad is responsible for the so-called “Quran Alone” movement because of his book debunking the totality of Hadith. While many hadiths are fabrications foisted on the great name of Prophet Muhammad, many are also in line with the teachings of the Quran. The word ‘hadith’ is used in the Quran to mean three things: (a) ‘news’ or ‘matter’, (b) ‘message’, and (c) ‘story’. In verse 3 of Surah 66, the Prophet trusted some of his wives with a matter (hadithan). The Prophet wrote the Median Charter, the Hudaibiyyah Agreement and many letters to Kings of that time. There were all done by him as leader of the then Muslim community.
Moreover, the Quran itself stipulates two sources in the famous verse 59 of Surah 4. It is strange that a man of Rashad’s intelligence should have missed this point!
5. The Quran has two contexts
The Quran has two contexts: historical and universal. This very important truth was discovered by the Sudanese founder of the Republican Brotherhood, Mahmood Mohamad Taha, (d. (executed) 1985), in his booklet, The Second Message of Islam, first published in 1967, and published in an English translation by Abdullahi An Na’im in 1987.
Actually, it is wrong to attribute two messages to the Quran. The Quran is a single unified scripture, but it has two contexts: the historical and the universal. Take this verse on punishment for thievery: “As for the man and the woman addicted to theft, cut of their hands as a punishment for what they have earned ... But whoever repents after his wrongdoing and reforms. Allah will turn to him (mercifully). Surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (5: 38-39). In all cultural areas of the world in those times, punishment was very severe. The verse immediately following indicate the universality of Islam when the principles of punishment are (a) justice, and (b) compassion.
It is strange that lawyers of those days failed to realize the significance of the verse immediately following. This has given rise to what is known as fixed (so-called had) punishments. There are no such thing as fixed punishments, as punishements must vary according te crimes as well as to times.
6. The question of the “end of the world”
Another doubtful thing about Rashad’s interpretation is his claim that the muqataat letters gave him the date for the “end of the world” in 2280 (1710 AH). This matter is connected to what is called the Resurrection. Is the word to be understood literally, or as a metaphor for a major change in the world system? Although God is Power Absolute, He does not act illogically. The literal physical rising of billions of individual humans from the graves is a messy thing that cannot be attributed to a Wise Creator. It is stated in the Quran that man will, at the right time, live in outer space, and that in Paradise , he will ascend yet higher and higher. Therefore, it is not likely that the world will end in 269 years’ time, counting from today (2011). Furthermore, accoding to the computation of scientists, the universe will last another 100 billion years from now.
The event called resurrection is closely connected to God’s judgement. The concept of God’s judgement is also referred to in the Quran as man’s own judgement of himself. Also the billions of individual men and women of the present, past and the future are actually of one self (Ar. nafsun wahidah), according to the Quran. Therefore, concepts of the “Last Day”, “Resurrection”, Divine judgement, “Hereafter” must be understood metaphorically, not literally. The “Last Day” or the “Hereafter” is the period after the present time (future generations), “Resurrection” is a new beginning, although continuous from the old being, and Divine judgement, as I have already stated, is men’s own judgement of themselves. Such an understanding of these related concepts would reveal their beauty, order and harmony, that can logically be attributed to the activity of an Ever-active and Perfect Creator.
7. The false doctrine of abrogation
It is not necessary to say much on the so-called doctrine of abrogation, when certain verses of the Quran are said to be abrogated by others. It is a misreading of the Arabic word ayat which here means ‘message’.
8. The missing ‘Basmallah’ in Surah 9
Dr Rashad Khalifa has given an excellent explanation of this strange phomenon of the missing ‘Basmallah’ in Surah 9. It is God’s sign that He witholds His authority for this Surah because it has been tempered with. This tempering is proved by many sources, including the hadith! Moreover, it proves that the Quran is forever divinely- protected from corruption by an inernal mechanism! It is truly awesome!
9. What is man?
Reflect on this verse: “How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead and He gave you life, then He puts you to death, then He brings you back to life, then to him you ultiimately return?” (2:28). A son ‘A’ was potential in a newly-married couple. The verse calls him “dead”. Then he came to life. Then he died. Then he came to life again (was resurrected). Finally, ‘A’ returned to God.
The Quran also likens death to sleep, when a man has no consciousness. He resurrects him when he wakes up. Thus life and death, death and life is the natural cycle of an ever-recurring event in the Universe. It does not stop until the Universe exhausts itself and collapses into ruin for loss of energy. At that time, in the far future, olny God remains.
It is clear that what returned to God is the spark of the Divine Spirit that was infused into the man when he was born, i.e. the min ruhi of the Quran. The life, the nafs of the Quran not only dies, but is a single one for the whole of humankind. Therefore, a human being is mortal, dying when his time comes, but humankind is immortal, partaking in the Divine Spirit. Therefore, the human being is simultaneously mortal and immortal.
Rashad also errs when he refers to God’s creation of the Homo sapiens, the khalifah of the Quran as a “temporary god”. The creation of this new being is described by on historian as a momentous event. It was strongly objected to by the angels, the angles’ knowledge being limited to animals. God’s reply to the angles was that He knows better. Of course, God knows better; He gave man the ability to know the Universe, and challenges the angels to prove that they have that ability. The angels’ failure prompted God to ask the angles to do what He prohibits all created orders from ever doing: bow down to other than to Him!
This beautiful allegory shows the All-Knowing nature of God, as well as man’s elevated position in the Universe. To this order of God, one of the angels disobeyed and that angle automatically became Satan, the Rebel-in-Chief! This shows that disobedience to God makes a disbeliver, bound for Hell. God put Adam and Eve in Paradise and warned them against going near the tree of moral knowlege. But they were duped by the devil to disobey God and God punished them by banishing them to the Earth, a temporary habitation for all human beings. The Tree of Moral Knowledge is dangerous because man may make the wrong choice, in which case he invites destruction upon himself. This is proved by the many wars that men have inflicted upon themselves, especially the two World Wars. God forbid a Third Word War! In this war, nuclear weapons would surely be used, inviting near-total destruction of modern civilization!
10. Was Abraham the original messenger of Islam?
I want to mention a last point regarding Rashad’s statement that Abraham was the original messenger of Islam. Is this true? What is clear is that all God’s messengers from the time of Adam through Idris (Enoch), Noah and others before Abraham brought to their national communities the religion of submission, i.e. Islam of that stage of human development. When Abraham came, God gave him the rituals of Islam (prayers, fasting, obligotary charity (zakat) and pilgrimage to Mecca). Abraham also prayed for the sending of Prophet Muhammad, the last prophet, to complete the message of Islam.
11. Man’s limited knowledge
within his potential ability to know the world
Although I consider Dr Rashad Khalifah as one of my many teachers, and a friend as well, I practise critical reading, in line with the divine command “to read in the name of your Lord who creates.” So I do not dismiss Rashad’s many contributions to tafsir just beacse he made one serious error about the Messenger of the Covenant.
As I said above, the Quran contains the most profound thoughts. None knows the meanings of the allegorical verses except God and those who have made a profound study of them. I have already pointed to some of Rashad’s erros in these matters. I shall go no further, except to state that there are many things in the Quran that we still do not understand or fully understand. God’s creativity is indescribably vast. It is limitless. The Quran states that if the oceans were ink, it would not be able to write down God’s words, even if the ink supply were doubled! We have to be patient; if we sincerely persevere to understand. God will surely help us. Moreover, the methodology of traditional tafsir (“the hadith interprets the Quran”) is neither adequate, nor logical. Muhammad’s mission was to receive and deliver the message to mankind. Its explanation is God’s task. We need a scientific methodology to interprete thew Quran. I have worked this out and submitted it for comment and criticism in my book, Hadis – Jawapan kepada Pengkritik.
Kassim Ahmad is a Malaysian author. His website is www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com
MISUNDERSTANDING, MISREPRESENTATION, AND DIFFICULTIES
IN CLASSICAL AND MODERN WORKS –
A SHORT NOTE
By: Kassim Ahmad
darul_hikmah33@yahoo.com.my
18 May, 2011
1. Is the Quran easy or difficult?
The Egyptian Muslim scholar, Dr. Rashad Khalifa, translated verse 17 of Surah 54 (Al-Qamar) as followes: “We have made the Quran easy to learn . Does anyone of you wish to learn?” (Quran: The Final Testament, 2000)
This verse is repeated four times time in this Surah, but it does not occur in any other Surah. Of course, there are many verses pointing to the straightforwardness and unimbiguity of the teachings of the Quran.
Other translators translate the same verse thus:-
“And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember ...” (Abdullah Yusof Ali: 1989).
“And in truth, We have made the Quran easy to remember ...”(Marmaduke Pickthall: The Meaning of the Glorious Quran: 1930).
“And certainly We have made the Quran easy to remember ...” (Maulana Muhammad Ali: The Holy Quran: 1st Ed. 1917: New 2002 Ed. revised).
“Hence, indeed, We have made this Quran easy to bear in mind ...” (Muhammad Asad: The Message of the Quran: 1980).
“And We have made the Quran easy to understand and to remember ...” (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: The Holy Quran: 1988 ).
“We have made the Quran easy to learn ...” (Edip Yuksel et all, Quran: A Reformist Traslation: 2007).
The Arabic word yassarna does mean “to make easy”, but the verb lilzikr means “to remember”, not “to learn”. Thus, one alternative is to conclude that the Quran is easy to remember (because of its style) , but not to learn (since it contains the profoundest thoughts). This understanding is in line with the meaning of verse 7 of Surah 3 (Ali-‘Imran) where the verse stipulates two types of verses: the muhkamat verses that are clear in themselves, and the mutasyabihat verses that are allegorical, whose meanings are known only to God and the experts, or the elect.
Yet, it stands to reason that the teachings of the Quran should be easily understood, as they are a guide to the whole of mankind.
Thus, we must conclude that the Quran is both easy and difficult to undersand. It is easy because it contains important teachings that must be accessible to all. It is also difficult because it also contains profound teachings that are inaccessible to the ordinary person. The attitude of the believer, as is stated in verse 7 of Surah 3, is that: “They say, ‘We believe in this – all of it comes from our Lord.’” The beliver or rather the Muslim submits to those teachins, although he is not able to logically reason them out.
Therefore, it must be concuded here that there is no a perfect translation of the Quran. It is not possible. It must be translated anew by every generation. Every generation must understand and interpret the Quran in terms of the available knowledge. Since knowledge increases with time, so will men’s understanding of the Quran. The Quran itself states that it contains 90% more content than previous scriptures.
2. Misrepresentation of its meanings
The best modern English translation is by the Egyption scholar, Dr Rashad Khalifa, that I have quoted above. Not only is the language modern and simple; the translation has many other merits absent from most traditional tafsir. He avoids putting his subjective arbitrary thoughts into the text, the most obvious example is verse 59 of Surah 4 where traditional tafsir states obedience to God means holding on to the Quran, while obedience to the messenger means holding on to the so-called Hadith/Sunnah. While the phrase “those in authority among you” is usually interepreted to mean obediece to a so-called clerical class (ulema) that actually does not exist in Islam. The bifurcation of knowledge into the so-called secular and religious came with the influence of Christianity.
Dr Khalifa’s researches also unveiled what has come to be known as Code 19. This Code has shown the awesome mathematical complexity of the composition of the Quran that puts its authorship to be beyond the ability of any human or group of humans.
There are many other firsts by Dr Khalifa. These are (a) the extremely important discovery of the Code 19 that I have mentioned above, (b) the correct translation of verse 87 of Surh 15 regarding the so-called “seven-oft-repeated verses” of traditional tafsir. Rashad correctly translated it as “the seven pairs and the great Qran.”, the “seven pairs referring to the 14 sets of muqattat letters standing at the head of several chapters in the Quran, and (c) the correct translation of the Quranic phase dabbat’ul min’al-ard (“a creature made of earthly materials”) and pointing to the creation of the computer. He also has 38 appendices that are informative and useful.
3. Errors in Rashad’s Translation
Having said these, the translation suffers from many errors. The most glaring is Rashad’s claim that verse 81 of Surah 3 on the “Messenger of the Covenant” refers to him. The word covenant (Ar. ‘ahdan or mithaq) refers to three types of covenants to God: by mankind as a whole, by prophets, and by believers. The verse in question (3: 81) refers to the covenant of the People of the Book, specifically the Jews and the Christians (for generally it includes all previous prophets), to believe in the last prophet, i.e. Muhammad. The advent of Prophet Muhammad is foretold in both the Old and the New Testmants, , in fact, in all previous scriptures.
Rashad’s argument that “The main function of God’s Messenger of the Covenant is to purify the scriptures and unify them into one universal message to this world from the Creator and Sustainer of this world.” cannot be accepted, simply because that has already been done, explicitly as well as implicitly (in the case of Code 19), by the Quran that Muhammad brought. As the Quran itself beautifully and succictly puts it, it “confirms and supersedes” all previous secriptures.
There is no doubt that Rashad’s discovery of Code 19 is a major breakthrough in the interpretation of the Quran. As I have stated above, the Quran has to be interpreted anew by every generation. As knowledge increases, every generation will increase its understanding of the Quran. After all, the Quran with its first command to mankind “to read in the name of the Lord, Who creates,” wrought a major revolution in man’s thinking. Before the Quran, men lived in a Pre-scientific Age – the Childhood of Mankind, we may say. After it, the Scientific Age began – the Adulthood of Mankind. Such is the revolution wrought by the Quran!
4. Two sources of authority
Rashad is responsible for the so-called “Quran Alone” movement because of his book debunking the totality of Hadith. While many hadiths are fabrications foisted on the great name of Prophet Muhammad, many are also in line with the teachings of the Quran. The word ‘hadith’ is used in the Quran to mean three things: (a) ‘news’ or ‘matter’, (b) ‘message’, and (c) ‘story’. In verse 3 of Surah 66, the Prophet trusted some of his wives with a matter (hadithan). The Prophet wrote the Median Charter, the Hudaibiyyah Agreement and many letters to Kings of that time. There were all done by him as leader of the then Muslim community.
Moreover, the Quran itself stipulates two sources in the famous verse 59 of Surah 4. It is strange that a man of Rashad’s intelligence should have missed this point!
5. The Quran has two contexts
The Quran has two contexts: historical and universal. This very important truth was discovered by the Sudanese founder of the Republican Brotherhood, Mahmood Mohamad Taha, (d. (executed) 1985), in his booklet, The Second Message of Islam, first published in 1967, and published in an English translation by Abdullahi An Na’im in 1987.
Actually, it is wrong to attribute two messages to the Quran. The Quran is a single unified scripture, but it has two contexts: the historical and the universal. Take this verse on punishment for thievery: “As for the man and the woman addicted to theft, cut of their hands as a punishment for what they have earned ... But whoever repents after his wrongdoing and reforms. Allah will turn to him (mercifully). Surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (5: 38-39). In all cultural areas of the world in those times, punishment was very severe. The verse immediately following indicate the universality of Islam when the principles of punishment are (a) justice, and (b) compassion.
It is strange that lawyers of those days failed to realize the significance of the verse immediately following. This has given rise to what is known as fixed (so-called had) punishments. There are no such thing as fixed punishments, as punishements must vary according te crimes as well as to times.
6. The question of the “end of the world”
Another doubtful thing about Rashad’s interpretation is his claim that the muqataat letters gave him the date for the “end of the world” in 2280 (1710 AH). This matter is connected to what is called the Resurrection. Is the word to be understood literally, or as a metaphor for a major change in the world system? Although God is Power Absolute, He does not act illogically. The literal physical rising of billions of individual humans from the graves is a messy thing that cannot be attributed to a Wise Creator. It is stated in the Quran that man will, at the right time, live in outer space, and that in Paradise , he will ascend yet higher and higher. Therefore, it is not likely that the world will end in 269 years’ time, counting from today (2011). Furthermore, accoding to the computation of scientists, the universe will last another 100 billion years from now.
The event called resurrection is closely connected to God’s judgement. The concept of God’s judgement is also referred to in the Quran as man’s own judgement of himself. Also the billions of individual men and women of the present, past and the future are actually of one self (Ar. nafsun wahidah), according to the Quran. Therefore, concepts of the “Last Day”, “Resurrection”, Divine judgement, “Hereafter” must be understood metaphorically, not literally. The “Last Day” or the “Hereafter” is the period after the present time (future generations), “Resurrection” is a new beginning, although continuous from the old being, and Divine judgement, as I have already stated, is men’s own judgement of themselves. Such an understanding of these related concepts would reveal their beauty, order and harmony, that can logically be attributed to the activity of an Ever-active and Perfect Creator.
7. The false doctrine of abrogation
It is not necessary to say much on the so-called doctrine of abrogation, when certain verses of the Quran are said to be abrogated by others. It is a misreading of the Arabic word ayat which here means ‘message’.
8. The missing ‘Basmallah’ in Surah 9
Dr Rashad Khalifa has given an excellent explanation of this strange phomenon of the missing ‘Basmallah’ in Surah 9. It is God’s sign that He witholds His authority for this Surah because it has been tempered with. This tempering is proved by many sources, including the hadith! Moreover, it proves that the Quran is forever divinely- protected from corruption by an inernal mechanism! It is truly awesome!
9. What is man?
Reflect on this verse: “How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead and He gave you life, then He puts you to death, then He brings you back to life, then to him you ultiimately return?” (2:28). A son ‘A’ was potential in a newly-married couple. The verse calls him “dead”. Then he came to life. Then he died. Then he came to life again (was resurrected). Finally, ‘A’ returned to God.
The Quran also likens death to sleep, when a man has no consciousness. He resurrects him when he wakes up. Thus life and death, death and life is the natural cycle of an ever-recurring event in the Universe. It does not stop until the Universe exhausts itself and collapses into ruin for loss of energy. At that time, in the far future, olny God remains.
It is clear that what returned to God is the spark of the Divine Spirit that was infused into the man when he was born, i.e. the min ruhi of the Quran. The life, the nafs of the Quran not only dies, but is a single one for the whole of humankind. Therefore, a human being is mortal, dying when his time comes, but humankind is immortal, partaking in the Divine Spirit. Therefore, the human being is simultaneously mortal and immortal.
Rashad also errs when he refers to God’s creation of the Homo sapiens, the khalifah of the Quran as a “temporary god”. The creation of this new being is described by on historian as a momentous event. It was strongly objected to by the angels, the angles’ knowledge being limited to animals. God’s reply to the angles was that He knows better. Of course, God knows better; He gave man the ability to know the Universe, and challenges the angels to prove that they have that ability. The angels’ failure prompted God to ask the angles to do what He prohibits all created orders from ever doing: bow down to other than to Him!
This beautiful allegory shows the All-Knowing nature of God, as well as man’s elevated position in the Universe. To this order of God, one of the angels disobeyed and that angle automatically became Satan, the Rebel-in-Chief! This shows that disobedience to God makes a disbeliver, bound for Hell. God put Adam and Eve in Paradise and warned them against going near the tree of moral knowlege. But they were duped by the devil to disobey God and God punished them by banishing them to the Earth, a temporary habitation for all human beings. The Tree of Moral Knowledge is dangerous because man may make the wrong choice, in which case he invites destruction upon himself. This is proved by the many wars that men have inflicted upon themselves, especially the two World Wars. God forbid a Third Word War! In this war, nuclear weapons would surely be used, inviting near-total destruction of modern civilization!
10. Was Abraham the original messenger of Islam?
I want to mention a last point regarding Rashad’s statement that Abraham was the original messenger of Islam. Is this true? What is clear is that all God’s messengers from the time of Adam through Idris (Enoch), Noah and others before Abraham brought to their national communities the religion of submission, i.e. Islam of that stage of human development. When Abraham came, God gave him the rituals of Islam (prayers, fasting, obligotary charity (zakat) and pilgrimage to Mecca). Abraham also prayed for the sending of Prophet Muhammad, the last prophet, to complete the message of Islam.
11. Man’s limited knowledge
within his potential ability to know the world
Although I consider Dr Rashad Khalifah as one of my many teachers, and a friend as well, I practise critical reading, in line with the divine command “to read in the name of your Lord who creates.” So I do not dismiss Rashad’s many contributions to tafsir just beacse he made one serious error about the Messenger of the Covenant.
As I said above, the Quran contains the most profound thoughts. None knows the meanings of the allegorical verses except God and those who have made a profound study of them. I have already pointed to some of Rashad’s erros in these matters. I shall go no further, except to state that there are many things in the Quran that we still do not understand or fully understand. God’s creativity is indescribably vast. It is limitless. The Quran states that if the oceans were ink, it would not be able to write down God’s words, even if the ink supply were doubled! We have to be patient; if we sincerely persevere to understand. God will surely help us. Moreover, the methodology of traditional tafsir (“the hadith interprets the Quran”) is neither adequate, nor logical. Muhammad’s mission was to receive and deliver the message to mankind. Its explanation is God’s task. We need a scientific methodology to interprete thew Quran. I have worked this out and submitted it for comment and criticism in my book, Hadis – Jawapan kepada Pengkritik.
Kassim Ahmad is a Malaysian author. His website is www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com
Sunday, May 08, 2011
SURAT KEPADA SORAYA TENTANG PENGAJIAN AL-QURAN
Oleh: Kassim Ahmad
kassim311@yahoo.com
9 Mei, 2011.
1. Papa bangga dengan Sor kerana keinginan kuat Sor untuk memahami ajaran Quran. Teruskan, tetapi kerja harian kita juga (bekerja, buat kerja rumah dan mungkin belajar juga) mesti dilakukan.
2. Quran itu kitab suci Tuhan yang akhir kepada manusia. Ia mengandungi 90% lebih daripada kitab-kitab dulu. Ia juga dipelihara oleh Tuhan Sendiri dari korapsi manusia melalui apa yang dipanggil Kod 19.
3. Orang yang beriman dengan Tuhan itu terdiri daripada (a) Muslim, yakni tunduk kepada Tuhan, walaupun tanpa mengetahui, (b) Mukmin, yakni dia beriman secara sukarela.
4. Kita beriman kepada ajaran-ajaran Quran sepenuhnya, walaupun banyak ajaran itu kita tidak faham sekarang. Kefahaman kita akan bertambah dengan pertambahan pendidikan dan penglaman kita, sedikit demi sedikit.
5. Manusia terdiri dari dua unsur: (a) nafs/diri/hayat/ego, dan (b) roh (dari roh Tuhan). Semua manusia berasal dari satu nafs saja, walaupun individu banyak. Nafs mati bila sampai masanya (ajal). Roh tidak mati. Dia kembali kepada Tuhan, seperti lampu letrik yang kita tutup suisnya kembali ke matahari.
6. Manusia melalui tiga peringkat kejiwaan: (a) nafsul-amarah - nafs kebinatangan, (b) nafsul-lawwamah, -- nasf yang mengiktiraf kebaikan orang lain, dan (yang paling tinggi) nasful-mutmainnah. Inilah nafs yang menghuni syurga. Syurga dan neraka bukan tempat, tetapi keadaan jiwa kita. Ia wujud sekarang dan terus-menerus hingga seluruh Alam Raya musnah berbilian tahun lagi.
7. Manusia akan menghuni angkasa lepas apabila kita mempunyai teknologi itu, mungkin 100 tahun lagi, atau lebih awal.
8. Teknologi moden juga boleh menyembuh penyakit dan mengatasi umur tua.Manusia boleh menjadi senantiasa muda.
9. Dunia atau Alam Raya bersifat material dan spiritual sekaligus. Spiritual itu Alam Ketuhanan; material itu alam nyata. Alam Raya itu manifestasi Tuhan, yakni bayangan Tuhan. Alam Raya tidak wujud secara mutlak; ia pinjam kewujudan daripada Tuhan. Hanya Tuhan wujud secara mutlak (Wujud Wajib: Necessary Being). Manusia itu wujud mungkin (Contingent Being).
10. Apa yang disebut "Akhirat" itu perubahan besar. Dunia sudah berubah banyak kali, dari zaman manusia primitif hidup bercawat dalam gua hingga bertamadun sekarang. Dunia dan manusia akan terus berubah meningkat tangga evolusi hingga ia kembali kepada Tuhan.
11. Kita tidak boleh melihat Tuhan, kerana dia Roh, sepertimana kita tidak boleh melihat roh dalam badan kita. Kita tahu roh ada dalam badan kita. Kalau dia tidak ada, kita tidak boleh berfikir dan mencipta. Tetapi Tuhan melihat kita.
12. "Akhirat" itu dunia yang datang kemudian. Sekarang ia terlindung daripada kita. Kita sebut "ghaib". Tiap-tiap manusia akan hidup selama-lamanya dalam generasi mendatang. Tetapi secara individu dia fana, tidak kekal, dan mati. Secara kolektif, dia hidup selama-lamanya.
13. Tiada suatu yang berlaku di dunia ini tanpa diketahui oleh Tuhan (dengan izin Tuhan). Hukuman Tuhan berlaku terus-menerus. Itu Sunnatullah atau Natural Law. Hanya kerahiman Tuhan boleh membatalkan undang-undang ini.
14. Manusia bebas menentukan nasibnya sendiri. Itulah makna "khalifah" -- Raja.
15. Inilah pemahaman Papa setelah mengkaji Quran serta pelbagai bidang ilmu (falsafah, sains, sejarah, dll) lebih daripada 50 tahun. Ini semua telah Papa ungkapkan dalam buku Papa ("Islam - the Religion of Divine Unity") yang, insya Allah, akan terbit sebelum akhir tahun ini. Sor bacalah dengan teliti. Kalau tak faham, buatlah soalan.
16. Papa sekarang sedang menyambung terjemaham Quran ke dalam bahasa Melayu yang telah Papa mulakan pada 1995. Papa sangat tidak berpuas hati dengan terjemahan-terjemahan Quran dalam bahasa Melayu, kerana (a) pengaruh nahu Aran, dan (b) kerana fikiran sabjektif penterjemah yang dimasukkkan ke dalam teks. Insya Allah, kerja ini akan siap sebelum akhir tahun ini.
Papa akan salin surat ini kepada kawan-kawan Papa yang berminat.
Sekian dulu. Jaga diri baik-baik.
Wassalam.
Papa.
------------------------------
Kassim Ahmad penulis bebas Malaysia. Laman web beliau www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com
Oleh: Kassim Ahmad
kassim311@yahoo.com
9 Mei, 2011.
1. Papa bangga dengan Sor kerana keinginan kuat Sor untuk memahami ajaran Quran. Teruskan, tetapi kerja harian kita juga (bekerja, buat kerja rumah dan mungkin belajar juga) mesti dilakukan.
2. Quran itu kitab suci Tuhan yang akhir kepada manusia. Ia mengandungi 90% lebih daripada kitab-kitab dulu. Ia juga dipelihara oleh Tuhan Sendiri dari korapsi manusia melalui apa yang dipanggil Kod 19.
3. Orang yang beriman dengan Tuhan itu terdiri daripada (a) Muslim, yakni tunduk kepada Tuhan, walaupun tanpa mengetahui, (b) Mukmin, yakni dia beriman secara sukarela.
4. Kita beriman kepada ajaran-ajaran Quran sepenuhnya, walaupun banyak ajaran itu kita tidak faham sekarang. Kefahaman kita akan bertambah dengan pertambahan pendidikan dan penglaman kita, sedikit demi sedikit.
5. Manusia terdiri dari dua unsur: (a) nafs/diri/hayat/ego, dan (b) roh (dari roh Tuhan). Semua manusia berasal dari satu nafs saja, walaupun individu banyak. Nafs mati bila sampai masanya (ajal). Roh tidak mati. Dia kembali kepada Tuhan, seperti lampu letrik yang kita tutup suisnya kembali ke matahari.
6. Manusia melalui tiga peringkat kejiwaan: (a) nafsul-amarah - nafs kebinatangan, (b) nafsul-lawwamah, -- nasf yang mengiktiraf kebaikan orang lain, dan (yang paling tinggi) nasful-mutmainnah. Inilah nafs yang menghuni syurga. Syurga dan neraka bukan tempat, tetapi keadaan jiwa kita. Ia wujud sekarang dan terus-menerus hingga seluruh Alam Raya musnah berbilian tahun lagi.
7. Manusia akan menghuni angkasa lepas apabila kita mempunyai teknologi itu, mungkin 100 tahun lagi, atau lebih awal.
8. Teknologi moden juga boleh menyembuh penyakit dan mengatasi umur tua.Manusia boleh menjadi senantiasa muda.
9. Dunia atau Alam Raya bersifat material dan spiritual sekaligus. Spiritual itu Alam Ketuhanan; material itu alam nyata. Alam Raya itu manifestasi Tuhan, yakni bayangan Tuhan. Alam Raya tidak wujud secara mutlak; ia pinjam kewujudan daripada Tuhan. Hanya Tuhan wujud secara mutlak (Wujud Wajib: Necessary Being). Manusia itu wujud mungkin (Contingent Being).
10. Apa yang disebut "Akhirat" itu perubahan besar. Dunia sudah berubah banyak kali, dari zaman manusia primitif hidup bercawat dalam gua hingga bertamadun sekarang. Dunia dan manusia akan terus berubah meningkat tangga evolusi hingga ia kembali kepada Tuhan.
11. Kita tidak boleh melihat Tuhan, kerana dia Roh, sepertimana kita tidak boleh melihat roh dalam badan kita. Kita tahu roh ada dalam badan kita. Kalau dia tidak ada, kita tidak boleh berfikir dan mencipta. Tetapi Tuhan melihat kita.
12. "Akhirat" itu dunia yang datang kemudian. Sekarang ia terlindung daripada kita. Kita sebut "ghaib". Tiap-tiap manusia akan hidup selama-lamanya dalam generasi mendatang. Tetapi secara individu dia fana, tidak kekal, dan mati. Secara kolektif, dia hidup selama-lamanya.
13. Tiada suatu yang berlaku di dunia ini tanpa diketahui oleh Tuhan (dengan izin Tuhan). Hukuman Tuhan berlaku terus-menerus. Itu Sunnatullah atau Natural Law. Hanya kerahiman Tuhan boleh membatalkan undang-undang ini.
14. Manusia bebas menentukan nasibnya sendiri. Itulah makna "khalifah" -- Raja.
15. Inilah pemahaman Papa setelah mengkaji Quran serta pelbagai bidang ilmu (falsafah, sains, sejarah, dll) lebih daripada 50 tahun. Ini semua telah Papa ungkapkan dalam buku Papa ("Islam - the Religion of Divine Unity") yang, insya Allah, akan terbit sebelum akhir tahun ini. Sor bacalah dengan teliti. Kalau tak faham, buatlah soalan.
16. Papa sekarang sedang menyambung terjemaham Quran ke dalam bahasa Melayu yang telah Papa mulakan pada 1995. Papa sangat tidak berpuas hati dengan terjemahan-terjemahan Quran dalam bahasa Melayu, kerana (a) pengaruh nahu Aran, dan (b) kerana fikiran sabjektif penterjemah yang dimasukkkan ke dalam teks. Insya Allah, kerja ini akan siap sebelum akhir tahun ini.
Papa akan salin surat ini kepada kawan-kawan Papa yang berminat.
Sekian dulu. Jaga diri baik-baik.
Wassalam.
Papa.
------------------------------
Kassim Ahmad penulis bebas Malaysia. Laman web beliau www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
UMNO MESTI SETIA KEPADA PRINSIP-PRINSIPNYA:
PARTI BANGSA MELAYU DI SAMPING PARTI SEMUA SUKU-BANGSA
DI MALAYSIA
Oleh: Kassim Ahmad
kassim311@yahoo.com
5 Mei, 2011
Seperti kata seorang sarjana, masalah kita kerapkali bukan pemilihan antara kebenaran dan kepalsuan, tetapi antara fikiran rasional dan tidak rasional. Sejak pilihanraya umum 12 pada 2008, suatu prasangka telah masuk ke dalam pemikiran para pengundi bahawa sesebuah parti yang berdarsarkan jalur kaum itu perkauman, atau rasis, mengikut istilah polular. Maka itu parti-parti UMNO, MCA dan MIC itu gabung parti-parti rasis. Sebaliknya, DAP dan PKR, dan juga PAS barangkali (kerana mengikut Musyidul-Am mereka, tidak ada konsep bangsa dalam falsafah politik PAS!).
Kekadang fikiran kita berdasarkan prasangka, bukan akal rasional. Ini kerana berfikiran rasional itu lebih payah daripada mengikut orang ramai. Mengikut orng ramai tidak memerlukan kita berfikir. Ikut saja, seperti binatang, di darat atau di laut, mengikut kawan-kawannya - ke sana ke mari - di daratan dan di lautan.
Manusia tidak boleh bertindak begitu. Manusia mesti bertindak mengikut akal rasional.
Oleh yang demikian, UMNO, sebagai teras kekuatan bangsa Melayu, dan juga bangsa Malaysia yang sedang dibentuk, mestilah setia kepada prinsip-prinsipnya. Prinsip-prinsip itu nasionalisme Melayu dan nasionalisme Malaysia. Dengan kata-kata lain, UMNO mesti mepertahankan kebangsaan Melayu, di samping mempertahankan hak-hak sah suku-bangsa lain yang menjadi rakyat Malaysia. Inilah konsep kenegaraaan yang telah dicapai dan dimeterai oleh pengasas-pengasas Bangsa Malaya Merdeka pada 31 Ogos, 1957dan Bangsa Malaysa pada 16 September, 1963.
Saya berasa gembira melihat pimpinan tinggi UMNO-BN, di bawah pimpinan Datu Seri Najib, mengikrarkan prinsip-prinsip ini. Inilah jalan selamat bagi masa depan bangsa dan negara kita. Tidak syak lagi, dalam masyarakat kita, seperti dalam masyarakat-masyarakat lain, terdapat anasir-anasir perosak bangsa. Mereka berselindung di sebalik gagasan sistem dwi-parti, Pemerintah/Pembangkang (yang mereka tiru dari Barat) untuk menghasut rakyat membenci UMNO-BN dan menumbangkannya.
Sesiapa pun di antara kita boleh menganggotai mana-mana parti politik, tetapi seelok-eloknya pendirian politiknya mestilah berdasarkan kebenaran dan keadilan, bukan berdasaran konsep “partiku, betul atau salah”. Dengan perkataan lain, kita harus mampu mengiktiraf kebaikan pihak lain, dan pada masa yang sama, mengiktiraf kemungkinan kesilapan pihak kita. Inilah yang kita sebut kejiwaan lawamah, satu tingkat lebih tinggi daripada kejiwaan amarah.
Sekarang masyarakat kita cukup sedar akan hak asasi manusia dan menolak undang-undang ISA. Namun demikian, tiap Kerjaaan bertanggunjawab memelihara keselamatan negara dan rakyat. Apa juga tindakan yang boleh menggugat keselamtan negara dan rakyat harus dicegah dengan tegas. Perbuatan-perbuatan terang-terang dan berterusan menabur fitnah dan menghasut kebencian kaum mesti didakwa dan dihukum dengan hukuman-hukuman yang setimpal.
UMNO-Perikatan/BN sendiri pernah lupa daratan, sekali dalam peristiwa Mei 13, dan sekali lagi menjelang pilihanraya umum ke-12. Sesetengah mereka menjadi elit dan terpisah daripada rakyat, dan dengan itu, menjemput kemarahan dan kebencian rakyat . Maka itu, UMNO-BN mesti membuat perubahan besar dalam parti - istilah sekarang “transformasi”. Mereka mesti menjadi pejuang rakyat dengan sukarela. Masuk parti bukan untuk mendapat habuan, tetapi untuk membela dan berkhidmat kepada bangsa. Ganjaran yang sah mesti ada, tetapi masuk parti bukan untuk berniaga. Masuk parti untuk berkdimat kepada bangsa dan negara.
Oleh itu, semua ahli parti mesti diberi pengajaran tentang perjuangan bangsa. Mesti melalui kursus-kursus politik yang berperingkat-perinkat: ahli muda, ahli penuh, kader, dan pemimpin. Kursus-kursus ini mestilah bersifat saintifik, bukan nostalgia. Bilangan ahli tidak perlu ramai. Yang penting itu mutu ahli. Lihat saja apa yang terjadi dalam pilihanraya umum ke-12. Sesetengah ahli UMNO, kerana marah, menolak calon-calon parti sendiri!
Sebuah parti besar seperti UMNO mempunyai cawangan di semua kampung dan bandar. Cawangan-cawangan ini mempunyai hubungan yang lagsung dengan rakyat. Segala masalah rakyat boleh dilaporkan ke atas, dibincang dan diselesaikan. Demikianlah sepatutnya. Dengan demikian, UMNO tidak akan terpisah daripada rakyat.
Seperti kerpa saya katakan, UMNO itu seperti kepala keretapi. Kepala keretapilah yang menarik gerabak-gerabak keretapi yang panjang. Tanpa kepala, keretapi tidak boleh bergerak dan berjalan. Demikianlah tanpa UMNO-BN, dengan prinsip-prinsip yang telah saya sebutkan, bangsa dan negara Malaysia tidak boleh maju.
Parti-parti pembangkang itu ciptaan sejarah politik Barat. Sistem ini primitif dan membazir. Kita harus mampu mencipta sebuah sistem politik yang jauh lebih. Semua parti duduk dalam satu wadah patriotisme Malaysia dan bekerja untuk kebaikan Malaysia.
Kita semua ada sejarah masing-masig. Orang Melayu berasal dari Funan, melalui Srivijaya (dengan agama Hindu) lalu menubuhkan Kerjaan Melayu Melaka (memeluk agama Islam) pada awal adab ke-15 sebelum kedatangan penjajah-penjajah Barat. Kebanyakan orang Cina dan India datang melalui penjajah Inggeris untuk membangunkan ekonomi kolonial Inggeris sebelum merdeka. Masyarakat India asal pula mempunyai pelbagai kasta, termasuk kasta pariah. Ini sejarah kita, dirakamkan dalam banyak buku sejarah. Bolehkah kita nafikan sejarah kita?
Setelah kemerdekaan, kita menjadi rakyat Malaysia, dengan hak-hak yang sama, untuk membangunkan tamadun baru Malaysia. Sejarah kita menjadi pelajaran: yang baik kita teruskan; yang buruk kita buang.
Kassim Ahamd penulis bebas Malaysia. Laman web beliau www.kassimahmah.blogspot.com
PARTI BANGSA MELAYU DI SAMPING PARTI SEMUA SUKU-BANGSA
DI MALAYSIA
Oleh: Kassim Ahmad
kassim311@yahoo.com
5 Mei, 2011
Seperti kata seorang sarjana, masalah kita kerapkali bukan pemilihan antara kebenaran dan kepalsuan, tetapi antara fikiran rasional dan tidak rasional. Sejak pilihanraya umum 12 pada 2008, suatu prasangka telah masuk ke dalam pemikiran para pengundi bahawa sesebuah parti yang berdarsarkan jalur kaum itu perkauman, atau rasis, mengikut istilah polular. Maka itu parti-parti UMNO, MCA dan MIC itu gabung parti-parti rasis. Sebaliknya, DAP dan PKR, dan juga PAS barangkali (kerana mengikut Musyidul-Am mereka, tidak ada konsep bangsa dalam falsafah politik PAS!).
Kekadang fikiran kita berdasarkan prasangka, bukan akal rasional. Ini kerana berfikiran rasional itu lebih payah daripada mengikut orang ramai. Mengikut orng ramai tidak memerlukan kita berfikir. Ikut saja, seperti binatang, di darat atau di laut, mengikut kawan-kawannya - ke sana ke mari - di daratan dan di lautan.
Manusia tidak boleh bertindak begitu. Manusia mesti bertindak mengikut akal rasional.
Oleh yang demikian, UMNO, sebagai teras kekuatan bangsa Melayu, dan juga bangsa Malaysia yang sedang dibentuk, mestilah setia kepada prinsip-prinsipnya. Prinsip-prinsip itu nasionalisme Melayu dan nasionalisme Malaysia. Dengan kata-kata lain, UMNO mesti mepertahankan kebangsaan Melayu, di samping mempertahankan hak-hak sah suku-bangsa lain yang menjadi rakyat Malaysia. Inilah konsep kenegaraaan yang telah dicapai dan dimeterai oleh pengasas-pengasas Bangsa Malaya Merdeka pada 31 Ogos, 1957dan Bangsa Malaysa pada 16 September, 1963.
Saya berasa gembira melihat pimpinan tinggi UMNO-BN, di bawah pimpinan Datu Seri Najib, mengikrarkan prinsip-prinsip ini. Inilah jalan selamat bagi masa depan bangsa dan negara kita. Tidak syak lagi, dalam masyarakat kita, seperti dalam masyarakat-masyarakat lain, terdapat anasir-anasir perosak bangsa. Mereka berselindung di sebalik gagasan sistem dwi-parti, Pemerintah/Pembangkang (yang mereka tiru dari Barat) untuk menghasut rakyat membenci UMNO-BN dan menumbangkannya.
Sesiapa pun di antara kita boleh menganggotai mana-mana parti politik, tetapi seelok-eloknya pendirian politiknya mestilah berdasarkan kebenaran dan keadilan, bukan berdasaran konsep “partiku, betul atau salah”. Dengan perkataan lain, kita harus mampu mengiktiraf kebaikan pihak lain, dan pada masa yang sama, mengiktiraf kemungkinan kesilapan pihak kita. Inilah yang kita sebut kejiwaan lawamah, satu tingkat lebih tinggi daripada kejiwaan amarah.
Sekarang masyarakat kita cukup sedar akan hak asasi manusia dan menolak undang-undang ISA. Namun demikian, tiap Kerjaaan bertanggunjawab memelihara keselamatan negara dan rakyat. Apa juga tindakan yang boleh menggugat keselamtan negara dan rakyat harus dicegah dengan tegas. Perbuatan-perbuatan terang-terang dan berterusan menabur fitnah dan menghasut kebencian kaum mesti didakwa dan dihukum dengan hukuman-hukuman yang setimpal.
UMNO-Perikatan/BN sendiri pernah lupa daratan, sekali dalam peristiwa Mei 13, dan sekali lagi menjelang pilihanraya umum ke-12. Sesetengah mereka menjadi elit dan terpisah daripada rakyat, dan dengan itu, menjemput kemarahan dan kebencian rakyat . Maka itu, UMNO-BN mesti membuat perubahan besar dalam parti - istilah sekarang “transformasi”. Mereka mesti menjadi pejuang rakyat dengan sukarela. Masuk parti bukan untuk mendapat habuan, tetapi untuk membela dan berkhidmat kepada bangsa. Ganjaran yang sah mesti ada, tetapi masuk parti bukan untuk berniaga. Masuk parti untuk berkdimat kepada bangsa dan negara.
Oleh itu, semua ahli parti mesti diberi pengajaran tentang perjuangan bangsa. Mesti melalui kursus-kursus politik yang berperingkat-perinkat: ahli muda, ahli penuh, kader, dan pemimpin. Kursus-kursus ini mestilah bersifat saintifik, bukan nostalgia. Bilangan ahli tidak perlu ramai. Yang penting itu mutu ahli. Lihat saja apa yang terjadi dalam pilihanraya umum ke-12. Sesetengah ahli UMNO, kerana marah, menolak calon-calon parti sendiri!
Sebuah parti besar seperti UMNO mempunyai cawangan di semua kampung dan bandar. Cawangan-cawangan ini mempunyai hubungan yang lagsung dengan rakyat. Segala masalah rakyat boleh dilaporkan ke atas, dibincang dan diselesaikan. Demikianlah sepatutnya. Dengan demikian, UMNO tidak akan terpisah daripada rakyat.
Seperti kerpa saya katakan, UMNO itu seperti kepala keretapi. Kepala keretapilah yang menarik gerabak-gerabak keretapi yang panjang. Tanpa kepala, keretapi tidak boleh bergerak dan berjalan. Demikianlah tanpa UMNO-BN, dengan prinsip-prinsip yang telah saya sebutkan, bangsa dan negara Malaysia tidak boleh maju.
Parti-parti pembangkang itu ciptaan sejarah politik Barat. Sistem ini primitif dan membazir. Kita harus mampu mencipta sebuah sistem politik yang jauh lebih. Semua parti duduk dalam satu wadah patriotisme Malaysia dan bekerja untuk kebaikan Malaysia.
Kita semua ada sejarah masing-masig. Orang Melayu berasal dari Funan, melalui Srivijaya (dengan agama Hindu) lalu menubuhkan Kerjaan Melayu Melaka (memeluk agama Islam) pada awal adab ke-15 sebelum kedatangan penjajah-penjajah Barat. Kebanyakan orang Cina dan India datang melalui penjajah Inggeris untuk membangunkan ekonomi kolonial Inggeris sebelum merdeka. Masyarakat India asal pula mempunyai pelbagai kasta, termasuk kasta pariah. Ini sejarah kita, dirakamkan dalam banyak buku sejarah. Bolehkah kita nafikan sejarah kita?
Setelah kemerdekaan, kita menjadi rakyat Malaysia, dengan hak-hak yang sama, untuk membangunkan tamadun baru Malaysia. Sejarah kita menjadi pelajaran: yang baik kita teruskan; yang buruk kita buang.
Kassim Ahamd penulis bebas Malaysia. Laman web beliau www.kassimahmah.blogspot.com
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