Apostasy

Mr P Marimuthu and his 7 children were recently separated from his wife by the Islamic Department of Selangor. The rationale behind this move was that the life she was living was a lie – she’s officially registered as a Muslim, but has been a practising Hindu for as long as she remembers. This is a big no-no for the religious authorities, as any move to leave (or be seen to leave) Islam is tantamount to insulting the religion and is illegal in Malaysia. Thus, she has been removed for ‘rehab’, and in a move made by herself to ensure that her husband and children do not get tangled up in a legal web, she has agreed to cut all contacts with them while she ‘re-embraces’ Islam.

My heart goes out for the poor lady and her family.

One of the basic fundamentals of human rights is the ability to choose the God that you worship (or to choose not to believe in anything if that is your leaning), and I stand firm in the believe that no coercion should ever be put in place with regards to this matter. After all, if you force someone to practice a particular religion, how is that any different from being a communist (the one enemy that all religions seem to agree upon, when they are not targeting each other), albeit a right-wing communist (yes, I know that statement almost doesn’t make sense)?

In primary school, I was taught that apostasy is punishable by death in Islam. As with most other topics of the day, we just nodded our heads and didn’t think too much about it. After all, life was a heck of a lot simpler then. Fast forward a few years, and I come across situations that just don’t sit right with my conscience, and of course, I find out that there are modern-day ulamaks who question the validity of capital punishment for apostasy, as nothing is mentioned about it in the Quran and the belief is based mostly on the Hadith.

Many staunch Muslims (and Christians for that matter) that I speak to are concerned about 2 things – getting to heaven and ensuring that their religion survives the ‘onslaught’ of other religions (occasionally they also try their darnest to be decent human beings). Therefore, berdakwah or missionary work is taken seriously, along with close monitoring of any moves to leave the religion – better to nip things in the bud before the exodus begins en masse. It’s interesting to watch the way the 2 big religions respond to the crisis that is modernity – the Christians are reforming themselves and becoming too liberal, and the Muslims are taking the other road and becoming more fundamentalistic (speaking in general terms, of course).

Being in Malaysia, you always hear stories about how this group or another is out to convert Muslims. And there is always that fear that the Malays will lose out in the end so everything must be done to protect the status quo. And that pretty much sums up the 2 main problems of Islam in Malaysia (in my humble opinion).

Firstly, that they’re reactionary as opposed to being proactive – would it not be more prudent to investigate the reason behind someone wanting to convert for example and seek to implement counselling sessions or provide psychosocial support at that stage? Why wasn't his/her faith strong in the first place? Nobody converts for fun, especially in a Muslim-dominated society.

And secondly, Islam is politicised and frequently mixed up with Malay ethnic supremacy. Case in point – the recent controversy over the government not allowing a Chinese mosque to be built when you have mosques of Malay and Indian heritage. And if everyone is truly so keen on implementing Islamic changes, then shouldn’t we be looking at the bigger picture? For example, corruption or breaking the trust placed upon you are big-time-punishable-by-the-fires-of-hell kinda sins; perhaps life would be better if more time and effort was spent on placing corrupted politicians behind bars instead of that 18-year-old kid who just happened to have been holding his gf’s hand at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

But when the religious department comes across someone like Mrs Marimuthu, they probably wet themselves. An elderly lady of the lowest socio-economic status who barely makes enough to keep her family hungry. Do they offer to help the family and ease their burden? Do they provide an education for the children or at least ensure that their healthcare is seen to thoroughly? After all, acts of kindness might help convince them about the greatness of Islam (as the Christian missionaries are doing so successfully in Africa). Of course not. In a move that says a big ‘fuck you’ to all previous incidences of Muslim kindness and generosity, they move and break the family up without so much as a salam.

And this lady is supposed to repent and embrace Islam and live the life of a pious, reformed lady? What’s the point of making her face the Kaabah five times a day if her heart and soul is not into it and for all intents and purposes, she’ll be having thoughts of her family during every single waking hour? Why on earth would anyone want to be a Muslim if this is the way they treat their fellow human beings? This is the exact opposite of dakwah.

The Islam that I know and gradually fell in love with has nothing to do with such instances. It does not advocate suicide bombing. It does not teach you to break a family up at the expanse of all else . It does not judge you by colour or creed. It preaches tolerance. It encourages the pursuit of knowledge, the development of logical thought. It provides freedom of choice and above all it celebrates the love of/for humanity.

Is this what we’re seeing in this day and age?

For a good read on apostasy in Islam, read this entry.