Separating the Malay from Islam

According to Islam, God has given man this right of equality as a birthright. Therefore no man should be discriminated against on the ground of the colour of his skin, his place of birth, the race or the nation in which he was born.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There is an ongoing debate about Malays having lost their political power in the 8 March 2008 general election, about Malay states falling into the hands of non-Malays, and about if this continues then Malays will lose their preferential status and special rights and privileges -- which will probably also see the end of the New Economic Policy. Some (Umno-types) have accused those of us (Malays) in Pakatan Rakyat of being traitors to our Malay race and of not loving the Malays enough.

Malays are automatically Muslims, according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, and Muslims are prohibited from leaving Islam and converting to other religions. By law, Malays become Muslims, whether they like it or not, and once a Muslim always a Muslim.

But that is not the issue here. Let us not argue about whether it is fair to ‘constitutionalise’ Malays and ‘trap’ them in Islam for the rest of their lives. This is for the Malays to sort out if they are not happy about it. And just as Malays do not ‘teach’ Christians what it means to be a Christian, neither should others do the same to the Malays. What we want to discuss here is, since Malays are Muslims, can we separate being a Malay from being a Muslim? Certainly not! Since Malays are automatically Muslims, then Malays should be more Muslim than Malay because Islam overrides race. In short, you are Muslim first and Malay second. That is the Islamic way. Therefore Malays should not talk about ‘Malay interest’ but about what is required to become a Muslim, as required by Islam.

Umno is Malay. Therefore, according to the Constitution, Umno is Muslim. And since Umno is Muslim then it is forbidden to talk about the Malay race or uphold the ‘struggle’ of racism. Islam is clear about this and there is no ambiguity in the matter. To do otherwise is haram, as haram as all the other forbidden things in Islam -- be it pork, liquor, gambling, usury, extra-marital sex or whatever.

This is what http://www.islamicity.com/ has to say about Islam:

What is Islam?

Islam is not a new religion but the same truth that God revealed through all His prophets to every people. For a fifth of the world's population, Islam is both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the majority have nothing to do with the extremely grave events that have come to be associated with their faith.

How does Islam guarantee human rights?

Freedom of conscience is laid down by the Quran itself: 'There is no compulsion in religion'. (Quran; 2:256)

The life and property of all citizens are considered sacred whether a person is Muslim or not.

Racism is incomprehensible to Muslims, for the Quran speaks of human equality in the following terms:

O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly, the most honoured of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All Aware (Quran; 49:13)

(from: http://www.islamicity.com/ )

Equality of Human Beings

Islam not only recognises absolute equality between men, irrespective of any distinction of colour, race or nationality, but also makes it an important and significant principle, a reality. The Almighty God has laid down in the Holy Quran: "O mankind, we have created you from a male and female." In other words all human beings are brothers to one another. They all are the descendants from one father and one mother. "And we set you up as nations and tribes so that you may be able to recognise each other" (Quran; 49:13).

This means that the division of human beings into nations, races, groups and tribes is for the sake of distinction, so that people of one race or tribe may meet and be acquainted with the people belonging to another race or tribe and cooperate with one another. This division of the human race is neither meant for one nation to take pride in its superiority over others nor is it meant for one nation to treat another with contempt or disgrace, or regard them as a mean and degraded race and usurp their rights. "Indeed, the noblest among you before God are the most heedful of you" (Quran; 49:13).

In other words, the superiority of one man over another is only on the basis of God-consciousness, purity of character and high morals, and not on the basis of colour, race, language or nationality, and even this superiority based on piety and pure conduct does not justify that such people should play lord or assume airs of superiority over other human beings. Assuming airs of superiority is in itself a reprehensible vice which no God-fearing and pious man can ever dream of perpetrating. Nor does the righteous have more privileged rights over others, because this runs counter to human equality, which has been laid down in the beginning of this verse as a general principle. From the moral point of view, goodness and virtue is in all cases better than vice and evil.

This has been exemplified by the Prophet in one of his sayings thus: "No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab. Nor does a white man have any superiority over a black man, or the black man any superiority over the white man. You are all the children of Adam, and Adam was created from clay" (al-Bayhaqi and al-Bazzaz).

In this manner, Islam established equality for the entire human race and struck at the very root of all distinctions based on colour, race, language or nationality. According to Islam, God has given man this right of equality as a birthright. Therefore no man should be discriminated against on the ground of the colour of his skin, his place of birth, the race or the nation in which he was born.

(from: http://www.witness-pioneer.org/ )