Wednesday, June 29, 2016

PAHANG MUFTI'S STATEMENT


KAFIR HARBI, DISBELIVER WHO CONSPIRED TO MAKE WAR ON ISLAM DESERVED TO BE KILLED IN MALAYSIA
By: Kassim Ahmad
30 Jun, 2016
            A Pahang State Mufti, prime minister Najib’s home state, made a statement two days ago that kafir harbi (a disbeliver making war on Islam) can be killed in Malaysia, has been denounced by Muslims and non-Muslim alike. We Malaysians of whatever ethnic or religious group have been living fairly peacefully since Malaysia was formed in 1963. None of us wants a repeat of the bloody Mei 13.
            That said, the Mufti has no right to make such statement. He should be fired. The Mufti of Perlis, Datuk Mohd. Asri has rightly refuted him. Yet our religious minister did not censor him. After keeping quiet for a while, the prime minister’s office then came out saying that it was his personal opinion!
            It is a very dangerous statement. It shows a bigotry beyond belief. It transpired that he did so because the party opposed the so-called hudud penal punishments.  I have used the term “so-called” because there is no such thing as hudud penal punishments in the Quran. The phrase tilka hudud’ul-Lah, occurring 14 times in the Quran, does not refer to punishments at all. It refers to a theoretical boundary in human actions that should not be overpassed. One must eat in order to live; but one should not over-eat! Thus for eating, so for all human actions. It is the old Golden Mean. “Do unto others as you would others do unto you”, of the Bible.
            There are two types of politicians: the principled, and the Machiavellian. Prophet Muhammad is one example of a principled politician. And principled politicians are a rare breed. The Machiavellian are many. So beware of them. They think they are smart, but as the Malay proverb has it, :”Sepandai-pandai tupai melopat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga.” So man, however famous and great he may be, should be learn to be humble. There is no one higher than the Highest Power we call God, Who alone deserved to be worshiped.
            It is true that man has been created to be God’s vicegerent on earth. That means he is a ruler. As much as he is a ruler, he is also a re-maker of the Universe, by God’s leave. Remember that when God informed the angels that he was going to creates a khalifah, the dutiful angels protested, saying that they would shed and blood and corrupt the earth.
            God simply answered He knew better.
            Shedder of blood and corruptor of the earth man surely has been. But that is only one side of him – with two World Wars, and a possible Third to show. Yet he has also been a builder of civilizations – 19 major ones to date, according to philosophical historian, Arnold Toynbee.  
            Today man is poised to colonize outer space. Soon he will be living there. He also discovering methods to do away with aging. Soon he will be forever young, as the Quran avers.  What else he can do with ever better technology, only God knows. No wonder, God commanded the angels to prostrate to man!

KASSIM AHMAD is a Malaysia author. His website is www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com

  

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