News & Comment
Islam is Endemic in Malaysia as a Disease Thwarting the Efforts of Secularization

News

“Islam is endemic in this country and it affects almost all aspects of administration, law and executive body of the country”. These were the words uttered in a seminar entitled ‘The New Malaysia: 61 Years After Independence - Is Ethnicity and Religion Still Relevant?’ by the Program Manager of ‘Sisters in Islam’ (SIS), Shareena Sheriff. SIS is a group which has nothing to do with Islam but claims that it is a group promoting an ‘understanding of Islam’ that recognises the principles of justice, equality, freedom, and dignity within a democratic nation state. In the seminar, by characterizing Islam as endemic, SIS believed that any effort to distance Islam from the aspirations of the new Malaysian government in the near future is very hard to achieve.

Comment

For those who heard the word ‘endemic’ for the first time will wonder what the true meaning of this word is. A simple Google search gives two connotations to the word ‘endemic’. As an adjective, endemic either means a disease or condition regularly found among a particular people or in a certain area, or, denotes a plant or animal native or restricted to a certain place. It is very certain that Shareena did not mean to address Islam as a plant or an animal... What she must have meant is that Islam is a condition which is likened to a disease due to its ‘interference’ in the running of the state of Malaysia. This is clearly understood when the context of her describing Islam as endemic is related to the religion being seen as a huge obstacle in the secularization process of the ‘new Malaysia’. It is quite obvious that the word endemic used by SIS to describe Islam carries a very negative connotation.

Since the new ‘Pakatan Harapan’ government took over the ruling of Malaysia, liberal voices have occupied various mainstream media platforms to the extent that whenever issues related to Islam are discussed, these wretched voices can be heard loudly from every direction. Some would ask why do proponents of liberalism have the audacity to criticize and undermine Islam when they are themselves Muslims? The reality is that there are Muslims who are drunk with Western thoughts. They carry secularism (separation of religion from life) and liberalism, where the right to create laws are placed in the hands of man, and work very hard so that these ideas are adopted by Malaysians, in particular the Muslims. Worse, the new Pakatan government turns a blind eye to the description of Islam as a disease in the community (which functions to prevent secularization efforts) based on their various policies and judicial viewpoints. A nuance has also been created that any decision or policy 'smelling' of Islam are severely criticized and undermined.

To overcome this growing problem, Muslims have to be cognizant that secularism has always been a struggle perpetrated by the West and it is the real reason behind man’s decadence today. It is most unfortunate that Muslims continue to be fascinated with the idea of separating Allah’s Deen from life even though it is secularism that forms the very core of today’s prolonged economic crisis, damage on social and political structure and collapse of morality. We must also be aware that the effort put up by various liberal groups in Malaysia, including those working with the new government does not come free. Western countries, especially the USA have been strongly supporting these wretched group of people.

These efforts are not just pockets of scattered endeavours but a concerted effort orchestrated by the Kuffar West to undermine and stop the re-establishment of Islam as an ideology under a single political entity. And Muslims must have the realization that without the implementation of Islam in its totality, the concept of Islam as a blessing for the worlds (rahmatan lil ‘alamin) will remain only a concept – a concept now being actively hawkered by the Pakatan Harapan government to mask the real objectives of establishing a strongly secular and liberal Malaysia.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Dr. Mohammad - Malaysia