Umno’s new spokesman Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki recently rallied Muslims to wage jihad against those insulting Prophet Muhammad and Islam.

He was referring to the case of an elderly Chinese man accused of posting something that can be construed as insulting Islam.

I would like to deal with two main issues of “insult to religion” in Malaysia.

Calling for a jihad against non-Muslims because of the irrational act of one person is more serious than the purported insult itself. Firstly, the insult remains to be proven in court.

A similar thing happened recently in the Seafield temple fracas, when the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim took a racial narrative. As the inquest into his death continues, we still do not know whether he was assaulted or was run over by a vehicle.

So why did Asyraf jump to this conclusion?

Secondly, why did he suggest that one man’s act represents millions of peace loving people in this country?

If there ever was a person who insulted a community, it would be none other than Asyraf himself for using the word “jihad” which could escalate emotions into bloodshed.

We know Asyraf is fighting for his political career. We know that the louder one shouts in Umno, the sooner he becomes the president. Ask Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who once told people to get out of Malaysia. Eventually he became the president, who stands accused of managing an account in a non-existing religious foundation.

Perhaps Asyraf’s call to jihad should be targetted at corrupt leaders instead of focusing on an old man who probably did not know what he was doing.

Remember when Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin insulted the Hindus on his Facebook a few years ago. Minister P Waytha Moorthy and DAP’s P Ramasamy criticised him severely.

But did they blame all Malays or all Muslims? Did both of them organise rallies calling to attack non-Hindus who insult their religion?

Asyraf’s call to jihad is a pathetic attempt at diverting attention from issues of corruption.

Remember also Umno’s Jamal Yunos and the Red Shirts rally, where participants brought banners insulting the Chinese community.

Here too, MCA, in criticising the rally, did not generalise the insulting words and phrases to all peace loving Malays and Muslims.

Here is a pattern in these two cases. While Waytha, Ramasamy and MCA were unhappy with the actions of Asri and Jamal, they were careful not to undermine the country’s peace. They could have scored political points with their communities but they did not.

I am afraid I cannot say the same about Asyraf, my fellow Malay and Muslim.

Let us now look at what constitutes an insult.

In 2014, when a young man organised an event to encourage Malays to not fear dogs, he had to go into hiding because he was accused of insulting Islam.

It was his kindness to animals, including dogs, which made him organise the event.

What about cartoons? When I googled for cartoons on Prophet Muhammad, more than a hundred popped up. A search for cartoons of Jesus came up with even more results.

Cartoon is a form of communication, like words or gestures. It is a most ancient form of communication, used thousands of years ago in cave paintings and Egyptian temples.

I studied three semesters on the arts of the Egyptians, Greeks, Minoans, Romans as well as Islamic Persian arts depicting figures and cartoons of Gods, personalities and prophets.

Our religious scholars are not schooled in Western art history. The figures of prophets, such as David in naked form, would shock them.

It was a culture shock to me the first time I saw the slides as a student in the US. But we were there to learn about art and architecture and not to judge the Americans.

When cartoonist Lat began drawing caricatures of political personalities in distorted images, people appreciated them as a form of art, not as an insult.

In the 1970s, Muslims were more advanced in learning and wisdom then the likes of Asyraf and his band of supporters.

If we love our nation, we should try to contain incidents like insults to an isolated activity and not try to use it to further a political agenda or career.

Asyraf’s call for “jihad” is thoughtless. Those who claim to be in charge of religion should reprimand him for attempting a cheap stunt at the cost of our peace and harmony.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.