Social engineering is not an easy thing. It is all too easy for
one to take the puritanical stand when criticising the do's and don't's of a Muslim
community or state. Yet the fact remains that Muslims will falter when striving for their
goal of achieving an ideal society.
If this were not so, the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad s.a.w., would not
have said that there were three stages of affirmative action when promoting good and
eschewing evil: "If any of you see evil, he should set it right by his hand;
if he is unable to do so, then by his tongue, and if he is unable to do even that, then
(let him denounce it) in his heart; but this is the weakest form of iman."
Thus despite the fact that no Muslim society in this modern world is
able to proclaim itself as being "the" model, so long as the abovementioned
hadith is observed, a Muslim society can still consider itself as being on a safe path of
social re-engineering.
Of course, like any other society, there will always be factions that
oppose one another as to what should be the Islamic way of life in the midst of those who
are utterly ignorant or indifferent about the sacred goal of creating a just society.
Hence mixed messages would ensue. No matter what the reform or the
policies implemented, on one hand ultra-conservatives would be all too ready to pounce on
the government for its supposed laxity in the implementation of Islamic values whilst, on
the other, the modern or Westernised intellectuals would scream foul because of the
government's seemingly unpragmatic approach in dealing with social issues.
As a result we find that in hotel rooms, for example, there are copies
of the Quran in the bedside table and a mini-bar stocked with small bottles of hard
liquor; we find Muslim women donning the scarf wearing baju kurung tailored to show off,
rather than obscure, how sexy a female form can be; despite religious laws that prohibit
the prancing of Muslim women on catwalks wearing skimpy dresses, we find artistes (male or
female) on TV doing similar or worse things; and despite the ban on skimpy dresses by
Muslim actresses, the similar ban does not apply to actors and actresses that act in
movies produced mostly in Hollywood or Bollywood.
So, how does anyone, especially a non-Muslim or non-Malaysian, view
Islam in Malaysia? The answer lies in the assessment of general indicators of religious
progress. It is not enough for one to just look at one or two examples of virtuous or
deviant acts. Although a narrow focus may be necessary when dealing with specific issues
such as drug addiction, corruption and teenage prostitution, indicators of religious
progress are more subtle, general and at times goes almost unnoticed.
Consider the fact that not so long ago, it was difficult for civil
servants not to indulge in drinking liquor at official functions; or that it was difficult
to fill mosques for Friday prayers; or that the head scarf for Muslim women was considered
alien and anti-social. However, today, drinking intoxicants at government functions is
considered taboo, most mosques overflow with Muslims on Fridays and that every other
Muslim woman wears a "tudung" or head scarf.
So despite all the contradictions, it would seem that societal
consciousness of religious values is on the uprise. As one foreign journalist reports,
"in spite of the explosion of wealth, the apparent spread of materialism, and some
signs of decadence, the practice of Islam has intensified. The designer-dressed faithful
routinely bring their mobile phone to the mosque. And more seriously, Malaysia's leaders
are arguing that their style of rapid industrialisation is part of a broader Asian
renaissance." (Financial Times, April 27, 1997)
Indeed, there is a lot to be said for the Asian renaissance. Simply
put, the renaissance for Asians means, among other things, to be awaken from a state of
dormancy, of realising something universal that has unfortunately been denied to us, taken
from us or simply forgotten; or in the main, it is about rebelling against or standing up
to those who would subjugate us.
For Islam, in particular, the renaissance means the realisation of an
islam (with a small "i") which comes from iman or piety. As the late Isma`il
Ragi al-Faruqi had once said "scripture itself, as well as the example of the
Prophet, are not authoritative unless the subject has himself found them so on their own
intrinsic merits. Any Muslim doing otherwise would have achieved islam, but not iman
(piety and wisdom), whereas Islamic excellence consists of an islam resulting from and
following upon iman. In the former case, islam is intellectually passive; in the latter,
it is an active search for ways and means of actualizing the truths grasped in iman."
That is why we must be weary of quacks or charlatans who are intent on
offering quick and easy solutions for bringing about an ideal Muslim society. Contrary to
advocates of the Taliban approach to social re-engineering, iman or piety cannot be rushed
or enforced through overly strict regimentation. Honesty behind the seemingly pious deeds
committed out of coercion or through oppression would be seriously lacking. Worse still,
such a method would surely implant in the human heart the desire to rebel regardless of
whatever good intentions.
As one Afghan citizen who fled Taliban-led Kabul lamented,
"nowhere in our history has there been such a humiliation of the Afghan people. It is
as if this [Taliban] group was created and deployed to kill the soul of the nation."
(Asiaweek, May 16, 1997)
At the same time, we must be weary of a different kind of charlatan,
one who is unable to relate to the jurisprudence of Islam whether out of sheer ignorance
or as a result of being over-awed by Western civilisation. Of course not everything which
comes from the West is bad, but when these Westernised elites start echoing Western
perceptions in disregard of the fiqh or jurisprudence of Islam, in the name of Islam,
alarm bells would surely have to ring.
Take for example the issue of polygamy. It is viewed by many
Westernised elites as altogether evil. Hence, in Turkey and Tunisia where the word of such
elites hold sway, polygamy has been abolished under the guise of employing the Islamic
principle of ijtihad or independent reasoning in order to abrogate the Quranic provision
on polygamy. Their typical argument would be that like slavery, polygamy is no longer
relevant in the today's world.
As Schact, a famous Orientalist, had observed, such elites are bold
innovators who want to be modern at all costs. Their ideals and arguments come not from
the Quran and Hadith but from the West. Although they try to avoid the semblance of
interference with the essential contents of the sacred law, the "independent
reasoning" of these "modernists" goes far beyond any that had been
practiced in the formative period of Islamic laws, whereby any opinion held at some time
in the past is likely to be taken out of its context and used as an argument.
Of course, in Malaysia there is room for improvement in the regulation
of polygamy. However, to regulate it out of existence is surely against the spirit of the
Holy Quran. No argument on family values or family cohesion can justify such a result.
This is because Allah had legislated the particular Quranic provision based on the
principle of akhafu dararaini or the lesser of evils.
That is why Allah had permitted polygamy even though, in the same
chapter on women, Allah states in the Holy Quran to the effect that "it will
not be within your power to treat your wives with equal fairness, however much you may
desire it," whereby the verse continues, "and so, do not allow
yourselves to incline towards one to the exclusion of the other, leaving her in a state of
having and not having a husband..." (al-Nisa, 4: 129)
Also, as a recent survey done by a sociologist of the Institute of
Islamic Understanding, Malaysia, Siti Fatimah, has shown, not everyone who applies to have
a polygamous marriage succeeds and that the percentage of those who do is very small. And
even if the official statistics do not reflect the actual rate of polygamy, it cannot be
denied that the norm for marriages in Malaysia is overwhelmingly monogamous. Hence there
is no reason to belief that polygamy by itself would put Malaysian society on a
self-destruct course so much so that it has to be abolished altogether.
All in all, the point which has to be remembered in creating an ideal
Islamic society is that the freedom an individual is given for the purpose of fulfilling
the ultimate task of mankind, that is discovering the bounds set by Allah, recognizing
their perfection and choosing to remain within those bounds out of freewill. Forcing a
person to recognise those bounds unreasonably or attempting to deny the existence of such
bounds can only be considered as outright rebellion against the Islamic way of life.
Of course, no amount of government initiative can produce positive and lasting effects
unless it is supported by a significant portion of the people or public. At times it would
give the appearance of the government taking two steps forward, only to take one step back
soon after. Nevertheless, the important thing is that Malaysian society continues to
progress for the better.
(These views are my own and do not reflect those with whom I may be affiliated whether directly or otherwise)
Ahmad Faiz bin Abdul Rahman
30 August 1997.
-----------------------------
[Currently, he is a Researcher with the Institute of Islamic Understanding, Malaysia
(IKIM) and a Pro-temp Committee Member of the International Movement for a Just World
(JUST).]
