By Moaz Nair
I refer to Amer Aqel Amer Nordin’s response to my piece dated July 22, “Why Muslims are failing in society”.
I stand by my opinion that dogmatism, orthodoxy and fundamentalism among some Muslim scholars, leaders and preachers have attributed to Muslims’ failing in society. Muslims are failing because they have rejected the reasoning and inquiry that was the bearing used by Muslim scholars of the past.
There are statistics to this effect if one were to glance through research papers and articles on the achievements of the Muslim world as compared to the non-Muslim world. One can also look into the observable facts – phenomenological observation, they say in social science – that many Muslim countries are failing themselves with unending wars, illiteracy and poverty. And yet they claim to be following the right teachings of Islam based on the Quran and hadith.
We must be adamant, or are we just reluctant to accept the fact that we need to reform in order to be seen as a successful people in society?
There has to be a paradigm shift in the way Muslims approach knowledge. As Muslims, we should not have the opinion that everything about ourselves and our practices is hunky-dory. If truth be told, failed Muslim countries are putting up a false front to the real unpleasant concerns affecting them. This denial syndrome is not going to make Muslims any the wiser.
Muslim philosophers
It’s a fact that Sufis such as Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Sina, etc, were great Muslim philosophers and many were free thinkers. One only has to do a quick Google search on this subject and read up the narratives, biographies and writings on these philosophers to prove my point.
They were lovers of knowledge and they rejected dogmatism. They were generally influenced by the thoughts of Greek philosophers. Persians (not Arabs) then were seekers of worldly knowledge who travelled far beyond their state.
Most Muslims fear accepting this fact. They fear that their thoughts of these people as Arabs and not Persians and the fact that they were philosophers will make their pre-conceived understanding of these figures crumble. This is not the way we approach knowledge in the 21st century.
By the way, free thinkers may not necessarily have no faith in God. They are just against dogmatic thinking. They adopt reasoning, inquiry and thinking in their approach to seeking knowledge.
I am not a proponent of Sufism. In truth, though, in some Muslim countries, persecution of Sufis and Sufism has included the destruction of Sufi shrines and mosques, suppression of orders, murder, and discrimination against adherents. Turkey, for instance, banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in the early 20th century after Sufis opposed their new secular order.
Post-revolution Iran has harassed Shia Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine that the supreme Shia jurist should be the nation’s political leader.
In most other Muslim countries such as Pakistan, attacks on Sufis and other sects, especially their shrines, mosques and burial grounds, have come from adherents of puritanical schools of thought.
Schools of thought
There is no denying that the majority of Muslims in this country belong to the Sunni school of thought. One should also be aware that there are Muslims in this country who belong to other schools of thought. Even the Salafi/Wahhabi school of thought is creeping into the Muslim community here with the help of some preachers and sectarian scholars.
And of course, there are other Muslim groups too. This happens in almost all Muslim countries. We have to accept this manifestation, though some of their teachings can be detrimental to society.
I agree that “Islam looks forward, not backwards”. Islam practised in the 21st century should of course be forward looking in life, and Muslims should not just be contented in delving into thoughts of the hereafter. There’s nothing wrong with glorifying God’s scriptures and the past, but this is not enough.
Muslims must prove to themselves that they can move forward in life just like the many successful non-Muslim nations. For this reason, Muslims have to make reforms to the ways they approach religion and knowledge so that their practice is relevant in the 21st century. Otherwise, they will be left behind.
I don’t deny the fact that there are many verses in the Quran that advocate exploring, learning and thinking. The problem with many Muslims these days is that they are more obsessed with rituals than looking into the virtuous teachings of the Quran – that is in part, to seek knowledge and become thinking Muslims. As a consequence, they are left behind when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge and this phenomenon can be seen in almost all Muslim countries.
There are verses in the Quran that give high respect to women and also state that slaves of those days should be freed by Muslims in various circumstances. Muslims have and should abide by this.
Muslim preachers today should not preach the “unpleasant” norms that were accepted in the 7th century. Slavery, for instance, is against human rights. Prisoners of war must be given due respect, be they women or men.
Slave women should not be turned into “sex objects”, as practised by some extremist groups such as the IS in the name of religion, who justify their acts by referring to the Quran or hadith. We are now living in the 21st century and no longer in the 7th century.
Controversial preachers
As mentioned in my article, it has been quoted – the interpretation by a controversial Indian preacher from overseas now residing in the country – “… that Muslims have the right to sex with their female slaves where he referred to slaves as ‘prisoners of war’.”
The main reference he cited is verse 23:1-6 in the Quran. It reads: “And successful are the believers who guard their chastity… except from their wives or those that their right hands possess.”
A controversial high-level Saudi jurist, also a Salafi, Shaykh Saleh Al-Fawzan, was quoted to have said in a lecture, “Slavery is a part of Islam. Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam.” He dismissed Muslims who believed otherwise as ignorant and blind followers.
Another prominent Saudi Salafi cleric, Saad Al-Buraik, was quoted to have urged Palestinians “to enslave women of the Jews”.
Unfortunately, these are people who read and understand the Quran and hadith and yet come up with weird decrees of this nature for present-day consumption. This really baffles the minds of intellectuals and thinkers of the 21st century.
Thinking Muslims would not be misguided by elements of terrorism and sex slavery. No sane mind in the 21st century would accept terrorism or sex slavery. Preachers of these distorted precepts based on their literal understanding of the scriptures must be reined in before people out there are influenced by them.
Surprisingly, there are still Muslim preachers in this century who believe that Muslims have the right to have sex with their slave prisoners and also terrorise others not of their own faith, when this is against 21st century norms.
Let me again emphasise here that no doubt, slavery was a mainstay of life in Islamic Arabia and the surrounding lands in the 7th century – before and after. It was in this social milieu that Islam emerged. And it was in these circumstances that sex slaves were permitted.
Freedom to practise
There is no dispute that Malaysian Muslims and most Muslims of the world follow the Sunni practice, with the Quran as the main source of guidance and hadith as a supplementary source of review.
However, Muslims should be given the latitude to follow other schools of thought peacefully if they wish. The Quran is the main source of guidance for all Muslims despite their adherence to their respective sects.
Muslims should be allowed the freedom to practise Islam the way they choose as long as they are tolerant of one another’s opinions and are able to critically dissect issues with an inquisitive mind using reason and understanding.
As for the hadith, I have said that this has always been a contentious point among many Muslims. Nevertheless, I have not suggested that the authentic hadith be rejected.
There’s no doubt that Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country despite claims of us being a secular state. However, the people are allowed to practise their own faiths peacefully. Being the Muslim majority does not mean that our ideas and opinions must be trapped in 7th century culture and we should keep on living in denial. Muslims cannot be static in their thinking if they want to move forward in life.
Muslims should not stop other Muslims from giving their ideas or opinions, either. And Muslims should learn to accept differences of thoughts and opinions in others. Only this way can Muslims thrive in today’s world. Having a conformist mind without accepting new ideas and venturing into the realm of the 21st century will not make Muslims any the wiser.
There’s no intention of misguiding Muslims in this context. Muslims should have an open mind and be able to accept criticism. Muslims cannot live in a cocoon, thinking that all is already well. They have to accept the fact that they are failing in many fields of life and cannot make headway in some countries because of our stagnancy in thinking and refusal to acknowledge our weaknesses.
This is the problem with our society. We fear the truth and would want to remain outmoded in our outlook. We just cannot accept new ideas and new approaches to knowledge.
I doubt that this article is misguided or misguiding the thinking Muslims. Thinking and educated Muslims will appreciate new ideas put forward by others, and they are given all the wisdom to accept or reject opinions of others without going to war.
I am not denying the fact that there are many Muslims who have made it in life, who are kind and compassionate and have contributed a lot to mankind. They belong to the farsighted, rational and thinking cohort of people. These are those who use their intelligence to trek forward. And we need more people of this kind among Muslims.
Muslims must be exposed to more straightforward opinions, no matter how painful they can be. This is the only way to pique their mindset, deflate their ego, reject outdated ways of thinking, and make them change for the better.
Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.