What Malay Muslims are concerned with
by Raja Petra Kamarudin
My mother's name is Barbara Mabel Parnell. A couple of years after World War II she became a Moslem and adopted the 'Moslem'name Bariah Kamarudin. Kamarudinis of course my father's name while the 'maiden' name Bariah was suggested by Tengku Ampuan Bariah of Terengganuwho was in England then with the late Sultan of Terengganu (then the Raja Muda of Terengganu) and father to Malaysia 's currentAgong. You could say Tengku Ampuan Bariah Terengganu, who is my father's cousin, 'named' my mother (and they have the cheek tosay I would have the gall to insult the Agong who is sort of my second-cousin by marriage).
About25 years or so later, my wife too became a Moslem.. She was informed by the then-Grand Imam of the National Mosque(Masjid Negara) that she can retain her original name, Mable James Anthony Lee. The wife of Raja Adnan Raja Abdullah, the one-time Deputy Director of the Special Branch and my brother's father-in-law, suggested my wife take a 'Moslem' name and she proposedthe name Marina . So my wife became Marina Lee @ Mable James! Anthony Lee.
My sister, Norita, married an Englishman but he retained his English name when he converted to Islam in front of Pak Abas, my TokGuru from Terengganu who is also one of the PAS grassroots leaders and the 'strongman' of Kampong Kolam in Kuala Ibai, a PASstronghold on the outskirts of Kuala Terengganu which UMNO has never been able to conquer.
When my mother first stepped foot in Malaysia a year before Merdeka, my father's relatives were delighted that my father had marrieda 'Mem', a novelty in those days, and that she had 'masuk Melayu'. My mother would indignantly correct them by saying that she'masuk Islam', not 'masuk Melayu'. She had become a Moslem, not a Malay, and she was proud of her Welsh heritage.
Malays have this misconception that if you become a Moslem then you have become a Malay. And they would refer to converts asmualaf, in particular Chinese converts. It is peculiar they do not regard Indian converts as mualaf but Indian Moslems. Why areChinese mualaf while Indians are Indian Moslems and Caucasians 'masuk Melayu'? Did I not say that the Malay mind is a very weirdthing?
I made about nine or ten trips to China from the early- to mid-1990s and have toured the remotest parts of China where Malaysianshave never been before. Some parts of China that I visited the people there have never seen a Malaysian in their entire life or knowwhere Malaysia is (and they were surprised that Malaysians look like Mat Salleh). And there are many Moslem restaurants even inthese remotest parts of China so food, therefore, was no problem
There are probably around110 millionor so Moslems in China spread out all over the country with the majority in the fourautonomous regions. Beijing has a whole street of Moslem restaurants and the variety is so exciting because it is almost like agourmet's United Nations.
In the rural areas the choices are not that varied and it is very difficult to detect which are halal restaurants and which are not. But ifyou ask the locals they will be very happy to point to the right restaurant and only on entering the restaurant will you know that theyare Moslem-owned from the verses of the Quran adorning the wall.
The oldest mosque in China is in Canton which was built 100 years after the birth of Islam.
On the outside the mosque looks like a Chinese temple complete with moon-gate entrance and all; but once inside there is nomistaking that it is a mosque.
What awed me was that the Moslems I met speak Arabic and when I told them that I do not speak Arabic,theywere very surprised.They asked me whether I can read the Quran and when I replied that I most certainlycan,they were perplexed.
They wanted to know how I can read the Quran when I do not speak Arabic.
And when I replied that I am just l ike 99% other Malaysian Moslems who read the Quran without being able to speak Arabic, theyshook their heads in disbelief at this demonstration of Malaysia Boleh.
!
Yes, Chinese Moslems are mualaf as far as Malays are concerned. But the Chinese were already Moslems700 yearsor so before theMalays when the Malays were still Hindus, Buddhists or worshipped trees in the jungles. And the Chinese Moslems speak Arabicwhile most Malays, save a handful, do not. And Malays look down on Chinese Moslems as second-class Moslems. Much the Malaysdo not know outside theirvery small world.
In an article called 'Si Binatang Raja Petra Jantan Jalang Biadab' that was published in an UMNO website, they asked this question:Masihkah Raja Petra ke Gereja lagi menemani isteri? Nak tanya Raja Petra, apa agama isterinya sebenar? Nak tanya saja.
This is another peculiar trait of the Malays. They are very concerned about what religion you profess. They demand to know if you area Moslem or Kafir (infidel). They treat this as their right to demand you inform them of your religion. Moslems are good peoplebecause Islam is the true religion and is above all other religions which are considered false. So they must know if you are a Moslemor Kafir so that they can gauge whether you are a good or bad person. "Islam adalah agama suci yang kita pegang," said this samearticle in that UMNO website.
This high and mighty attitude make Malays very arrogant and they carry this holier than thou chip on their shoulder. Non-Moslemsshould not take offence though because they are not the only target of these people. Moslems like me who they view as not 'true'Moslems also suffer persecution
Malays want to dictate what kind of Moslem you should be and if they discover through an anonymous SMS that you are in theprocess of leaving Islam they will rise in anger and demonstrate their displeasure, even if it is not true. Heaven forbid you leak thatyou are really leaving Islam. You will face the full wrath of the Malays. And if for one second they suspect that you are not their typeof Moslem but of a different 'sect' they will come down hard on you. You must not only be a Moslem but you must be their type ofMoslem as well. That is the Malay mind.
It is quite pathetic really and I sometimes do pity Malays who spend their whole life preoccupied with finding out what type ofMoslem you are and whether you have secretly left Islam rather than worry whether they could instead be deviant Moslems.
They of course assume and insist that they are following the correct Islam and if they differ from you then you, and not them, are thedeviants. They will not accept the possibility that you are right and they are wrong. They are most definitely right and you are mostcertainly wrong.
Let us look at a hypothetical situation. Say you walk into a mosque on a Friday and shout, "The Bible is the true Holy Book and theQuran is false" or "Jesus is the Son of God and Muhammad is a fake". This will be just like walking into a Manchester pub wearing aLiverpool jersey. Rest assured you will not walk out of that mosque in one piece.
Okay, now say you protest when Malays declare the Bible false and that Jesus is not the Son of God.
!
The Malays will argue that they are allowed to say this because Malaysia is a Moslem country.
See this email which was published in The People's Parliament<http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/> to demonstrate what I mean:
Most of my friends are Malays and through them I learnt the language. I feel that I've a certain bond with them, until the topics ofMalay privileges and Islam are discussed. I usually just listen and do not put my two cents because I'm usually the only non-Malay.From their discussion, I've come to understand how they view the non-Malays.
Generally, we should never question their privileges as we should be grateful that we still get to retain our Chinese names, surnames,Chinese schoolsetc.
We should never complain. And they have no qualms criticising Christianity to my face, e.g., the Bible is corrupted through manytranslations, comparing against the Koran being "suci" as directly from God.
I've always wondered what made them feel so special that they can criticise but we do not dare in their face.
NowI understand that no matter how they wronged other races, they are somehow protected
e.g., the May 13 incident. I think the govt owes the families of the victimsanapology.
Because of that tragedy, the Chinese generally think that Malays have the tendency to be violent; and the Malaysthinktha t they have the upper hand as theycan threaten the Chinese into silence.
I'd be grateful if you would share your thoughts and view on what I've said.
Okay, here's another hypothetical situation. Say you repeat this same thing in England , which is not a Moslem country but a Christian country. Will it then beconsidered allowed? No, of course not! The Moslems will still protest and hold demonstrations. The bottom line is, Moslems are allowed to whack others butothers are not supposed to whack Moslems. And this is the Malay mind as well.
So Malays, like these UMNO types, resent anyone whacking them, their party, Ketuanan Melayu, the New Economic Policy, and anything at all considered'sacred cows'. But they can scream, even in 'sacred' places like Parliament, that Islam is the religion of this country, the Malays own Malaysia , and if the non-Malays or non-Moslems do not like this they can leave the country and migrate to another country.
Malays can give Qurans to non-Moslems but non-Moslems who give Bibles to Moslems must be sent to prison.
Non-Moslems can convert to Islam in droves but even if just one Moslem leaves Islam there will be blood on the streets.
Malays can label DAP as racist but if the Chinese label UMNO as racist they will make a police report and charge you under the Sedition Act and try to take away your citizenship aswell.
Malays can question as to whether you have left Islam and have become a Christian and now go tochurchbut you must never question the Malays! as towhether racial discrimination goes against Islamic teachings andwhether both the Quran as well as the Prophet's last sermon lie testimony to this.
Malays are very concerned about whether you pray, how you pray, whether you believe in God, whether you really think that Prophet Muhammad is the trueProphet, and so on.
Once you pass all these 'tests' of the articles of faith with flying colours this will make them very happy.
Their happiness rests with you being a Moslem and the type of Moslem that they approve of on top of that.
Okay, so you drink, gamble, have sex with another man's wife, visit the brothel once a week, and, to top it all, take bribes from Chinese contactors, pigfarmers, brothels, illegal gambling outlets, drug haunts, etc.
That is okay.
TheMalays will not demonstrate on the streets because of all this. But if you go to church, notwithstanding that you lead the life of Mother Theresa, then Godhave mercy on your soul. What bad you do is not important.Whether you share their same belief is.
And this is why that particular UMNO website is very concerned whether I still follow my wife tochurch.That is the most important thing in the world tothem and the entire future of this country and the fate of future generationsdepend on them knowing this most crucial piece of information.
Oh,by the way, more th! an 90% o f those in our police lockups are Malays.
And 90% of those Malays in the lockups are there because of drug-related offences.
And 70% of those who are afflicted with AIDS are Malays.
And 90% got AIDS because of their drug habit.
And this has been going on since the 1970s. And states or areas that have the highest incidences arethe predominantly Malay states or areas. But none ofthese people go to church.
They don't even go to the mosque, temple or synagogue.
So of course the UMNO website does not worry about them.
It is when they go to church that the UMNO website will start getting very concerned.
That and only that is what matters.
Comments