There is nothing Islamic about a society infested with corruption, dehumanized by poverty, and riddled with injustices. It would be the height of hypocrisy, and mock our great faith to boot, for Khairy and Khir Toyo to claim the mantle of Islamic leadership if they are a part of the state apparatus that allows these evils to continue.
M. Bakri Musa
With Ramadan soon upon us, Muslims everywhere are caught up in a heightened sense of spirituality. That is the good news.
Take last Thursday evening, for example. The San Jose, California, masjid was inundated with believers staying late into the night. It was the 15th of Shaaban, an especially blessed time in the Muslim calendar. Shaaban is the month before Ramadan, and serves as a ‘warm-up’ to it. As my Imam Ilyas noted wryly in his Friday khutba, what struck him was that many that evening had never before set foot on the premises. That is the bad news.
Malays too are struck by this wave of religious fervor with the impending arrival of Ramadan. Thus the recent local governmental agency raid on a 7-Eleven store in Selangor, stripping the store of its beer inventory. Never mind that the store had been selling that beverage for decades without any harassment from the authorities.
Then there was UMNO Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin calling on his PAS counterpart to ‘unite’ against DAP (and thus Pakatan) for allegedly ‘insulting’ Islam. Not to be outdone, Khir Toyo, a fellow ‘fighter’ in UMNO Youth, chided PAS for not standing up to the Pakatan state government’s ‘insulting’ Islam by ordering the beer loot be returned to the store.
It turned out that the local agency had no authority to conduct such a raid. Alas, observing the niceties of the law has never been a strong point with these Malaysian jihadist wannabes.
Our Malaysian jihadists may consider themselves ‘modern’ and of a different breed. After all Khairy has been to Oxford while Khir is a trained dentist. Alas they are ‘modern’ only in their outward appearances, what with their fancy suits and palatial bungalows. In mindset and attitude however, they are no different from those madrasah-educated, disheveled bearded Talibans dwelling high in the caves of Afghanistan.
More to the point, I am not all assured that these overzealous ‘defenders’ of Islam are doing our faith any favor. On the contrary, these fraudulent defenders of our faith are smearing the image of Islam.
As my Imam Ilyas rightly pointed out on noting the large crowd at the masjid on the evening of 15th Shaaban, while he was pleased with the turnout he gently reminded us that it is far more important to do the many little “good” gestures required of us by our faith all the time than be focused on doing the spectacular ultra religious deeds during Ramadan.
For example, it is much more important to be generous throughout the year rather than making a highly publicized generous donation during Ramadan. On another level, there is no point for us to live a life of vice and corruption and then once a year undertake a Hajj or umrah in an attempt to ‘cleanse’ ourselves.
If the average citizen could see through the hollowness of such ‘pious’ gestures, rest assured that Almighty Allah would have minimal difficulty figuring out the hoax.
The late Zakaria Mat Deros, a former railway guard turned fabulously wealthy politician with the obscenely ostentatious bungalow squatting amidst the squalor of the Malay kampong in Port Kelang, was a prime example. He was accompanied on one of his frequent umrahs by no less than the head of Islam Hadhari, then Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.
I wish that characters like Mat Deros were the exception; unfortunately they are the norm. Consider that self-admitted adulterer Razak Baginda. Not only did he try to cleanse himself religiously by visiting (yes, ‘visiting’ is the appropriate term) Mecca, he went on to ‘purify’ himself by going to Oxford. Presumably he thinks that a doctorate from that august institution would purify him in the eyes of the secular crowd.
I wonder how Razak Baginda felt when he undertook his umrah knowing that a young girl his daughter’s age was blown up to smithereens as a consequence of his philandering. Did he offer any prayers for the soul of his former lover and for her still grieving family? Charity and generosity after all are one of the pillars of our faith.
These Malays should heed the advice of my young but wise Imam. They should instead focus on being ‘good’ in their every day existence instead of trying to display their piety in dramatic ways during special occasions.
The central injunction of our Quran – Amal makruf, Nahi mungkar (Command good, forbid evil) – should be our daily creed. Frequent trips to Mecca, glamorous iftar parties during Ramadan, and having a surau as part of your palatial mansion will not make up for your ignoring this elemental and recurring Quranic refrain.
I wish that Khairy Jamaluddin and Khir Toyo, being young and the future leaders of UMNO, as well as others would address the gross injustices perpetrated on our citizens, the corruption that is infesting our society, and the poverty that blights far too many Malaysians, instead of being unnecessarily obsessed with 7-Eleven stores selling beer. In the same vein I do not see Khairy, Khir and others of their ilk being outraged at UMNO stalwarts serving on the boards of Carlsberg and the Genting casino company.
The pair’s selective outrage baffles me. Or stated differently, I, like others, readily see through their hoax.
There is nothing Islamic about a society infested with corruption, dehumanized by poverty, and riddled with injustices. It would be the height of hypocrisy, and mock our great faith to boot, for Khairy and Khir Toyo to claim the mantle of Islamic leadership if they are a part of the state apparatus that allows these evils to continue.
a beautiful article—allow me to digress please, i drink alone everyday under my block.
communicate to people i know (no matter what race, religion, gender or age). there was once a time an elderly malay (pious muslim—– see him either going or returning for prayers), as usual as he was on the way home he noticed me and wished me.
cut a long story short ( as i dont want to bore you to death) asked me when was i going to get my next ration (my drink) said in a while. he told me to keep sitting and wait for him.
lol when he returned he brought 3 cans of my drink—–i asked him why did he do it and he replied that the day he was sick and his chidren were not home i just gave him some money to get to a hospital. heck i sit on a bench with back rest in front of my bench is a table with 4 seats (no back rests) when i see someone feeling sick or weak i stand and invite the person to rest for a while.
DAMMMMMMMM why do the clowns in malaysia claim that islam or malay is this or that????????
i challange any of those clowns if their blood is not red than they are superior.
i read your articles mr. bakri musa and find them agreeable
keep up the good work mate
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You want to rely on Khairy and Khir Toyo as savour of Islam, “Minta Maaf’. Their track record as 4th floor boy and as Chef Minister (respectively) would tell everyone otherwise. When come to defending Islamic principles, better for them to shut up – Memalukan Islam. They have all the times and opportunities, but instead busy enriching themselves and the family members.
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Sir,
I Love to read your articles –Sir you a fairminded person and wish malaysia have many more like you.Please continue writing and hope malaysians start thinking rationallly .
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Salam sejahtera DSAI
Kadang-kadang kita merasa marah bila orang umno kata pas atau pkr jadi balaci DAP ,di perak yg berkuasa ialah DAP bukan pas atau pkr. kita tepis ,kita tentang , walaupun kebanyakan pemimpin DAP bukan kenal kita pun. tapi jamil cuba selidik sendiri. ada beberapa pemimpin DAP kalau orang melayu buat komplain terhadap orang cina mereka akan buat tak endah atau berlakun buat ambil tahu. tapi kalau orang cina komplain terhadap orang melayu cepat sungguh ambil tindakan. cepat sungguh menekan polis supaya ambil tindakan. jamil paham itu semua untuk mengumpul markah piliharayaa atau undi.
Pemimpin DAP MP bukit bintang.cuba tengok blogspot dia. http://fongkuilun.blogspot.com sepatutnya dia menaip dalam bahasa inggeris atau b.malaysia.bukan bahasa cina. ini negara malaysia bukan negara cina. semua bangsa ada undi dia tetapi kenapa dalam blognya terdapat tulisan bahasa cina. http://fongkuilun.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html. cuba tengok kes di link yg di berikan.kes 2 budak cina kena belasan dengan budak-budak melayu.jamil tahu sebab waktu budak cina ini buat report jamil ada di balai buat covering report. cepat dia ambil tahu.mesti dia tekan polis suruh kerjakan budak-budak melayu di kawasan bukit bintang. begitu juga kes beruk tergigit kaki seorang wanita cina. adik perempuan cina tu cakap MP bukit bintang yg dia call suruh buat report polis. sedangkan MP bukit bintang langsung tidak tahu apa cerita.tapi pasal yg komplain tu orang cina cepat buat kerja. tapi jamil nak tanya kalau yg buat report tu melayu adakah beliau cepat-cepat ambil tahu.
Pada jamil sekarang bukan hanya tentang blog http://fongkuilun.blogspot.com . tetapi berita-berita,kejadian-kejadian, komplain-pomplain . jamil rasa mulai sekarang walaupun jamil orang keadilan orang pakatan kalau ada pilihanraya yang mana jamil kena undi antara DAP dgn UMNO jamil cakap terus terang dua-dua jamil tak akan undi. for UMNO no way for DAP SORRY DUDE.
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Dato’ Seri,
You are doing the right thing by exposing this two hypocrites (Toyo & Khairy).
M Bakri Musa is a great muslim, many Malaysian Muslim does not read his arcticle, as it was label unislamic article/writing by many who find his writing as threatening their faith.
We have learned many basic good values of Islam from M Bakri Musa, RPK, Kickdefella, Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim and many more, which we feel they are the right Muslim Leaders and very comfortable having them as our future leaders.
I doubt Najib will have Selangor back, if more Malays Muslim from the rural areas reads or learn to read M Bakri Musa blogs.
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The two are the mother of hypocrites out to fulfill their own agenda.
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I feel sorry for the way commenter Encik Jamil bin Ismail (Jamilkucing) look at the issue of his dissatisfaction with Bkt Bintang MP from a racial point of view.
But I can understand where he is coming from, after all, don’t we all at some point in time have felt that every injustice handed to us by bureaucrats, civil servants, teachers was an act of racism?
Wouldn’t it be better for all of us if we could deal with each injustice by confronting the perpetrator on the basis that it was that individual’s act which had so offended us?
Each and every one of us ought to be held responsible for our actions as an individual instead of taking the easy way to label the organisation which he represents as wholly agreeable to and supporting his viewpoint(s). That would be grossly unfair.
Do not vote for Mr Fong if you feel that he is a racist, and you might also consider asking everyone to do the same in the next GE by continuously highlighting his misdeeds, with proof of course. There is no need to label all DAP leaders/members as endorsing the same dubious standards.
We can choose to stop promoting racism in this country. If we want to.
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Malaysia is full of these people from UMNO who claim that they are the righteous men to represent Islam or the Malays.
They really DO?
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If the masses believe that these people represent them, then the masses have not seen the truth and enlightened yet. They are slow learners.
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A great article indeed. If only the Malays could perceive Islam in a positive manner they will become more mature in thoughts and actions. Khir and Khairy’s hypocrisy will fail them. Corruption in UMNO and BN will fail them. The people now want a change. PAS, please negotiate with your brother parties before going to the press. Going to the press is not going to make you popular. Yiu will be despised by your enemy. The coomon stand of PR now is to seek justice for all and free the nation from corruption. GO FOR THIS. Anyway, the skirmishes within PR is not going to dent the Alliance. GOD BLESS PR GOD CONDEMN THOSE WHO ARE CORRUPTED.
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