Malaysia Today’s Quranic interpretations.

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In this article, I will try to answer the rhetorical question of RPK though it was not meant to elicit an answer.

RPK:

Verse 13, chapter Al-Hujurat of the Quran, can be translated to read: "O Mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you in the sight of Allah is he who has most righteous (taqwa) among of you. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware."

The Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) addressed the people signifying that concept during his last pilgrimage, saying: "O People! Your God is one; your father is one; no preference of an Arab neither over non-Arab nor of a non-Arab over an Arab or red over black or black over red except for the most righteous. Verily the most honoured of you is the most righteous."

‘Yes, I know, many Malaysia Today readers hate Tun Dr Mahathir. Nevertheless, as much as you may hate the Tun, we should not overlook the good things he has done or said even though you may hold the opinion that he did more bad than good. After all, the British were colonialists and there can be nothing good about colonialism. However, when the British left, they left behind a good education, administrative and legal system.’

E.F.E.L.:

No. Do you agree with me that in this present world of ever-increasing cognitive complexity, it is unfair to class humans into categories, based on their actions (because this instant it can be bad and the next instant it can be good). If you agree to that, you might as well agree to not categorize human’s actions (resulting from individual or crowd psychology) based on the outcomes (have you seen a kaleidoscope of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin smiling to each other and then putting up a straight face – that’s what they call politics), and let alone criticize someone on the base of Argumentum ad Hominem.

I read Malaysia Today because I always go for two sides of the story but that does not make me a Tun’s hater, and the British did not leave behind a stable or even sound education, administrative and legal system. Let not your Welsh root cloud your mind on this.

I dare say that what they left behind for us are sly, western political and social traps and decoys into which aggressive, delusive and western-like people like you would fall for, that later they can intervene. Take the judiciary system for instant. Did the British pay any respect to Syariah Laws? How could you quote Quranic and Hadith verses at the start of your article just to later,indirectly belittle the Syariah Laws at the middle? Don’t get me wrong. I love your articles for they mostly make sense.

RPK:

‘ABIM says we should not whack the Muslims. And since, by law, Malays are Muslims then we should not whack the Malays as well. But is it okay for Malays to whack the non-Malays and non-Muslims?’

E.F.E.L.:

Here’s a taste of your own medicine:

In the name of Allah, most merciful, most compassionate.

“Summon to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good admonition…” (16:125)
And there is no limitation to that which means; if you whack ABIM with abrasive statements and using coarse words, you are NOT a good Muslim and if ABIM do so to the non-Muslims then the same applies to them.

All in all, it’s 2 to 1 because you also supposed that Malays consider it OK to whack the non-Malays and non-Muslims, and that, my friend, is being 'Zalim'.

RPK:

‘What if the non-Muslims were to say they do not recognize Islam or the Quran because Islam and the Quran have been distorted over the last 1,400 years? What if the non-Muslims were to say that Islam and the Quran have been changed and are no longer the original Islam and Quran that Prophet Muhammad introduced 1,400 years ago? If the non-Muslims say this then they would be committing a crime under the Sedition Act. The non-Muslims would face punishment because they are not sensitive to the feelings of the Muslims.’

E.F.E.L.:

In that case, Sedition Act might put people behind bars but the truth that Islam is itself, in its own nature; great, remains.

Here’s another remedy of yours:

In the name of Allah, most merciful, most compassionate.

“As for the Disbelievers, whether thou warn them or thou warn them not it is all one for them; they believe not.” (2:6)

So they can fire the critics all they want as long as they do not impose their freedom of speech and their freedom to disgrace onto everything regarding our religion from our beloved Prophet to the ‘enlightened ones’. You get the idea. Denmark, Holland and which country’s next? But through economic sanctions, we sent them, and will never tire in sending them a clear message;

Try to find anything wrong in these Gedankenexperiment of 2 premises and 1 conclusion:

1- I make fun of my grandmother all the time and draw illicit cartoons of her.

2- Michael has a grandmother just like me.

Conclusion: I can and will make fun of Michael’s grandmother and draw illicit cartoons of her and it is wrong for Michael to get mad.

RPK:

‘Justice, to the Muslims, is only what is good for the Muslims.’

E.F.E.L.:

Mind your words if you still consider yourself a Muslim. During the Crusades, the Crusaders of seven nations wiped out any Muslim land they passed through killing innocent children, women and the disabled and burning houses of worship and did the Muslim liberation armies do such thing? No. In fact they constrained themselves from doing so and their high moral values were, and remains the subject of fascination of western scholars, and that reflects the healthy qualities of Islam they once nourished.

This diabolic act were inherited by the British during their colonial days but we now know it with a term; ‘Dasar Bumi Terbakar’. Pond my word, hope those people are not Welsh.

I still hope we, Malays can progress and level with our Chinese friends.

Just my two 'pennies'.