Secularism has no place in Malay-Muslim politics, says MP:
When it comes to politics in the Malay-Muslim community, one cannot separate religion from it, says a Bersatu leader.
Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said this is because religion is part and parcel of the Malay-Muslim community’s political philosophy.
“In the Quran and Prophetic sayings, there are many references to that. So one cannot be secular in our approach when campaigning,” he said in an interview with BFM.
He was asked if Perikatan Nasional (PN) would be reducing its racial and religious rhetoric when campaigning for the coming state election.
These PAS and now PN fellows like to play politics but with the added weapon of their self-proclaimed label of being ‘holier than thou’.
Don’t expect them to lead more modest lives; spend money on the poor (or indeed on balancing the books) before purchasing Mercedes cars or to stint on high paying positions and cash handouts for themselves on the public purse.
Do, on the other hand, expect sanctimonious expressions of religiosity and accusations against opponents for being less religious. Also, expect them to inform gullible and isolated faithful followers of Islam that not to vote for them would be a sin.
This Bersatu youth appointee makes his remarks implying that religion should intrude on secular affairs at a time when the largest clergy-run regime, Iran, is shocking the world with the most unholy of atrocities, embarking on mass imprisonments and hangings after the entire population rose up (rightly) against the disgusting abuse of women by violent, sexually abusive “Morality Police” (state legitimised thugs with a ‘religious’ blessing).
Any perusal of international history will confirm that some of the worst, most perverted sins and crimes have been committed by those who have taken refuge behind the protective cloak of religion and that the abuse becomes far worse when religion takes control of the state and ceases to be a private matter between an individual, their religious community and their God.
In such circumstances, religion becomes used as a justification for totalitarian oppression on the part of those who have assumed the top jobs in the theocratic establishment, claiming as they do that they are the sole, privileged and direct conduits of the word of God and that the slightest disobedience must be punished.
It is for this reason (as Mr Wan Amad’s schoolbooks surely taught him) that after much death and misery most civilisations came to the conclusion several hundreds of years ago that church/mosque and state ought to be kept separate, in the same way that other powers – namely the legislative, judicial and executive – are also kept separate to check and balance the seats of power over people’s lives.
Malaysia is fortunate to have this principle enshrined its Constitution and thanks to the following of these principles, the country has developed largely peacefully and progressively with prosperity over the years – unlike Iran and unlike Afghanistan or any other state dominated by a religion or an ideology.
His remarks are therefore dangerous and a direct challenge to the country’s consitution which seeks to accommodate all those who joined the Federation of Malaysia (and vastly enriched the Malays in so doing) very many of whom are not Muslim and have no wish to submit to Sharia law.