RPK has the last word on FATWAHS!

Raja Petra Kamarudin is no mere journalist. His mental clarity and moral courage effectively make him the Conscience of the Nation. In his youth he may have been a bit of a hotheaded hellraiser but today, at the mature age of 58, he has come fully into his own as a Community Elder - somebody whose advice and opinion is well worth considering. With the added bonus of his royal pedigree, which adds a certain amount of clout to his proclamations, RPK's perspective on issues that concern the nation cannot be taken lightly, ignored, or suppressed (as the home minister and attorney-general are desperately trying to accomplish on behalf of their boss, Mr Pink Lips of "I never met the Mongolian woman" fame). Today on NO HOLDS BARRED, RPK presents his level-headed, no-nonsense view on the National Fatwa Council and their compulsion to fatuously fatwa the most trivial matters, blatantly ignoring what's truly important for the continued well-being and future health of the Ummah...

Raja Petra Kamarudin | FATWAHS GALORE

In time, these great Islamic empires became so corrupt that they eventually disappeared from the face of this earth. What we see in the Middle East today is the residual of the once great Islamic empire from the Golden Age of Islam.

Aiyah, so many people phoned me to ask why I have not written about the current fatwah controversy. People seem to have the impression that it is my duty to talk about everything under the sun. I think enough people, right up to the Sultans and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have touched on the matter. Do you really need me to also offer my two cents worth?

I suppose I can’t run away from my ‘duty’ of also whacking the issue seeing that I have been ‘officially’ labelled as an insulter of Islam. People just expect me to put my foot in my mouth on any issue involving Islam. Anyway, here goes.

I have no problems with the Fatwah Council or religious bodies coming out with fatwahs. It is not like anyone would follow them anyway. It is just an exercise in hot air as far as I am concerned. I mean, take the many ‘fatwahs’ already passed by God and cemented in the Quran for eternity. Do Muslims really take heed over what has been forbidden by God?

I remember a talk that Sheikh Imran Hosein once gave in Kuala Lumpur about ten years ago on the subject matter of riba' or usury. We published his lecture into a booklet and distributed it free to all and sundry.

Sheikh Imran said that, according to the Prophet Muhammad, there are 80 levels of usury, bribery being just one of them. And the sin of the lowest level of all, said Sheikh Imran, tantamount to the sin of sexual intercourse with your own parent.

Can you imagine yourself having sex with your father or mother? Well, the sin of the lowest level usury is the same as the sin of sex with your own father and mother. And bribery is not the lowest level yet. So the sin of bribery certainly ranks higher than the sin of sex with your own mother or father.

Is there a fatwah on bribery? Do you even need a fatwah from the Fatwah Council or any religious body when God has already issued His ‘fatwah’? A man-made fatwah would be unnecessary and redundant. A fatwah can never make bribery more haram than it already is. And that is probably why no one sees the need for coming out with another fatwah.

But this does not stop Muslims from taking bribes. Considering that more than 90% of Malaysia’s civil servants are Muslims, and bribery is most rampant amongst the civil service, this would mean the Muslims are the most corrupt lot, at least as far as Malaysia is concerned.

Look at Umno. Even Tun Dr Mahathir laments about corruption in Umno. They call it ‘money politics,’ of course, but this is just corruption by another name. And are not all Umno members Muslims (except for maybe some from Sabah)? Umno is actually very concerned about the matter and can’t quite figure out what to do. Even the most corrupted Umno leaders are concerned about it. When the crooks worry about the spiralling crime rate then rest assured the problem is very serious indeed.

Sure, ban yoga for all I care. After all I do not do yoga and it does not really affect me personally. Even ban lipstick and high heels as well if that makes us more Islamic. Have separate checkout counters for men and women and ‘his’ and ‘her’ swimming pools. These, to me, are small potatoes. But while we are at it can we also issue fatwahs and ban the more serious practices that ail the Muslim community? Can we ban corruption?

I don’t see how yoga, lipstick and high heels can weaken the ummah (community). I don’t think Muslims will convert to Hinduism or Christianity because of yoga, lipstick and high heels. But corruption can destroy the ummah. And most Islamic communities have collapsed because of corruption.

Muslims are fond of talking about the ‘Golden Age of Islam.’ Yes, at one time, Islam was a great empire. But it no longer is. And why is that? In time, these great Islamic empires became so corrupt that they eventually disappeared from the face of this earth. What we see in the Middle East today is the residual of the once great Islamic empire from the Golden Age of Islam.

And that is why the 'fatwah' from God, as related by the Prophet, says that bribery is one of the 80 levels of riba’ and the sin of the lowest level of riba’ tantamount to the sin of sex with your own parent. And this is more disastrous than yoga, lipstick or high heels.

Muslims have to get their priorities straight. Sure, come out with fatwahs if need be. But let these fatwahs be about what really ails us and not about some minor issue that was not really a danger to the ummah in the first place.

Armain Carlier, my one-time business contact from Schlumberger, related a story about how he went to Iran many years after the Iranian Revolution. He was there to visit their partner and to see how their joint-venture factory was getting along. It had been years since anyone from Schlumberger had visited Iran and they did not know even if the business was still in operation.

He was surprised when their Iranian partner handed him a cheque for the profits they had made over all those years. He thought the factory no longer existed, let alone was still making a profit. And he never expected Schlumberger’s Iranian partner to be so honest as to hand Schlumberger’s share of the profits over to him.

Carlier was so impressed and said that Islam must be a great religion if its people can be so honest. Yes, that is the example of an un-corrupt Muslim, which impressed even a non-Muslim like Carlier. And this should be the target of the Fatwah Council and religious bodies, to indoctrinate Muslims into becoming honest and un-corrupt.

So carry on fatwahing. I have no problems with that. It is just that maybe we should put yoga, lipstick and high heels way at the bottom of the list of items to be banned. Corruption should be the first target. That hurts us more than yoga, lipstick and high heels. That was what saw the end of the Islamic empire. That was what caused the extinction of the Golden Age of Islam.

And this fatwah fiasco has raised another problem. It has set the Rulers and religious authorities on a collision course. Will we now see a turf war between the Rulers and the religious authorities?

The outcome of all this is going to see one party embarrassed, either the Rulers or the religious authorities. And would this not be embarrassing for the Malays as well? And, in the meantime, corruption prevails. It is getting from bad to worse. And no one wants to come out with a fatwah on this.

Another Juicy Scoop From RPK!

RPK, what would Malaysia do without you? This latest juicy scoop from Malaysia Today deserves the widest possible dissemination. That's why I'm reproducing it in full on the Magick River blog. Thanks again, Pete! :-)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

THE MALAY UNITY SODOMY CONSPIRACY

Actually, there is a lot more sodomising going on in Malaysia than most people realise. The question is: who is sodomising whom? Or are they taking turns to sodomise each other?

The sad thing is, all those involved are Malays who profess the religion of Islam. And some are even from an Islamic political party. They talk about Islam until they foam at the mouth. They say that all Muslims are going to heaven, even bad Muslims who will of course have to serve a short term in hell to pay for their sins before they get transferred to heaven after their ‘sentence’ has been fully served. Good non-Muslims like Mother Teresa, never mind how good they may have been, will all end up in hell because they do not profess the religion of Islam.

Yes, this is the Malay mindset. Do good and you go to heaven. Do bad and you still go to heaven. And if you do bad all your life and repent a day before you die then you will go to heaven. Just make sure you repent at least a day before you die. Then you can escape hell.

Everything about the Malay mind revolves around heaven and hell. They will have this ‘little book’ like a weight-watcher’s book of calories and they measure their deeds with debits and credits. Sure, you can do bad. But just make sure you ‘balance’ your bad deeds with some good deeds. You do a bad deed and you get one debit. But if you know how to work your way around the system, then your good deeds can earn 27 credits. So one good deed can wipe out 27 bad deeds, depending on the degree and ranking of these good-bad deeds.

Yes, it’s all about balancing. And it’s all about punishment and rewards. Malays will avoid bad and do good only if there is a reward system. And the good is done only so far as it can help balance or wipe out the bad deeds. Conscience does not come into play here. In fact, there is no proper or precise word in the Malay vocabulary that is equivalent to the word ‘conscience’. The closest ‘description’ to conscience would probably be hati kecil or suara hati. Even then this is more a description rather than a translation because hati kecil or suara hati can describe other things as well and may not necessarily refer to conscience.

And that is why, of late, we have seen many acts perpetuated by people without any conscience and who feel that one bad deed is not a big deal when one can always go to Mekah to pray in front of the Kabah after the deed is done and this will wipe out all traces of the bad deed. An atheist is good because he or she is good by nature. A ‘religious’ person is good not necessarily because he or she is good by nature but because he or she is a coward and is too scared of hell or he or she wishes to be ‘bribed’ with heaven.

The Malay unity talks between PAS and Umno are not something that just sort of happened. They were carefully planned way ahead with the objective of restoring Malay political power and to ensure that the non-Malay ‘immigrants’ would not become the dominant political force in Malaysia. Part of this plan involved ensuring that PAS would lose confidence in Anwar Ibrahim to the point they would see that their future lies with Barisan Nasional rather than with Anwar.

Anwar is, after all, a traitor to the Malay race (he espouses Ketuanan Rakyat instead of Ketuanan Melayu and he is opposed to the New Economic Policy and wishes it to be replaced with a new, more-equitable, policy) and an American agent (reinforced with the US’ recent statements condemning Malaysia on this latest sodomy allegation against Anwar). So Anwar, the traitor that he is, needs to be destroyed for the good of the Malays.

Did it not make you wonder why it was Saiful’s uncle (or was it his auntie?) and not his father who called the press conference asking Anwar to swear on the Quran that he never sodomised the young man? Why the uncle/auntie? Why not the father? Anyway, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak too swore in front of 900 Umno national and grassroots leaders that he never met and does not know Altantuya. Are the people convinced that since Najib has sworn an oath then he is telling the truth? Or has his oath not changed the people’s minds one bit?

Actually, Saiful hardly knows his father. His father abandoned his mother soon after he was born and the mother remarried. When his mother died, his stepfather also disappeared and Saiful was subsequently brought up by his uncle (or was it his auntie?). And one important aspect in this whole episode is that Saiful’s ‘God Mother’ is Mumtaz Jaafar - who is Rosmah Mansor’s nominee and ‘bag lady’ in all their clandestine business deals.

[Even more intriguing, I've read in one blog that Mumtaz Jaafar's daughter is Janna Syariza,who happens to be engaged to Saiful Bukhari (although Saiful has flatly denied that Janna and Mumtaz are related. Will somebody who knows the facts enlighten us on this score? It's an important detail, because if this were true, it further reinforces the link between Najib Razak's wife and Saiful Bukhari.]

Now does that explain why Najib agreed to meet Saiful? Many just could not understand why a busy and important Deputy Prime Minister would want to waste time meeting a university dropout. It is because Saiful is Mumtaz’s ‘God Son’. That was why Najib met him.

Looking at Saiful’s uncle, who looks and acts like his auntie, you can now begin to understand what makes that young man tick. Did the doctor find Saiful’s uncle’s semen specimen in the young man’s sorry butt and that is why the police are not able to charge Anwar? That may explain why the police released Anwar on police bail after the dramatic Hollywood-style arrest just a day earlier.

Saiful’s father is a member of the Malay unity ad hoc committee that was set up to engineer the PAS-Umno talks. Another committee member is the Sapura Managing Director, Rameli Musa, an Anwar ‘crony’. Yes, little did Anwar realise that his ‘best friend’ was setting him up for a fall. Heading this committee is someone from Military Intelligence who I shall not name at this stage.

Yeap, Military Intelligence again. Now can you see why Military Intelligence leaked the information about the official report on Rosmah Mansor’s involvement in the Altantuya murder? It was meant to bring Najib down. And these same people are involved in the PAS-Umno unity talks, which has, amongst its ranks, committee members like Saiful’s father and Anwar’s so-called best friend, Rameli Musa (right).

Okay, recently, Saiful’s father, who had abandoned the young man way back when he was born, came back into his life. Why, after riding off into the sunset 20 years or so ago, does this father suddenly appear on his son’s doorstep? Simple. He wanted to send his son to meet Najib. Yes, that’s right. Najib thought he was sending Saiful to Anwar as a Trojan Horse. What Naijb did not know is that, in the first place, this young man was sent to him as a plant. Najib thought the young man was God sent and the weapon he could use to destroy Anwar. Actually, he was not God sent. He was sent by the committee to engineer the PAS-Umno Malay unity talks. Najib swallowed the bait - hook, line and sinker.

And that is why Saiful’s father did not want to appear in public, especially on camera. If his face were to appear on TV then many would probably remember seeing him all over the place. He is not employed of course. His job is ‘brokering’. He is what we would call a Mister Fixit. If you want something fixed, if you want to win a government contract, if you want to set someone up, if you want to meet a Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister, then call Mister Fixit and he will fix it up for you.

The deal is simple. Conjure new sodomy allegations against Anwar. This will get PAS worried and they will start having second thoughts about Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat. Get PAS and Umno to sit down and talk about Malay unity. Let PAS see that their political future lies with Umno and not with PKR, which is going to be brought down by the latest sodomy allegation against Anwar. Tell PAS that Umno agrees to the implementation of Islamic laws in the states they control and that Umno agrees PAS shall be the Menteri Besar (whereas PKR is opposed to Islamic laws just like their other partner in Pakatan Rakyat, DAP).

The architects and engineers of the PAS-Umno Malay unity talks realise that offering PAS the Menteri Besar post and agreeing to the implementation of Islamic laws alone is not enough. They need to also destroy Anwar’s credibility to prove to PAS that its future lies with Umno and not with PKR. Is it any surprise then that the ad hoc committee for the PAS-Umno talks is also the ‘committee to get Anwar’ and that Saiful’s father together with the Military Intelligence are crucial players in this whole thing?

As I said, Malays don’t have a conscience. There is no precise word in Malay that means conscience. Anything goes as far as Malays are concerned. Okay, so they commit the sin of fixing Anwar up on sodomy charges and they sell out the voters who voted for them. But these sins can be washed clean by just going to Mekah to pray in front of the Kabah. And if you repeat these sins after your return to Malaysia you can always make another trip to Mekah and repeat the repentance scam in front of the Kabah.

Sigh... I just wonder why those Indian Muslims are insisting that the government recognises them as Malays.