Malaysia is a country with more than 60% of the population being Muslims. Without the majority of the Muslims realising it, like other Islamic countries, Malaysian democracy and freedom is being threatened by a creeping irrationalism disguised under the name of religion.
Check out these facts taken from http://www.jang.com.pk/
~combined annual GDP of 57 Muslim countries are under $2trillion. Annual GDP of USA alone is more than $10trillion.
~Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar collectively produces goods and services worth $430billion. Netherlands and Thailand individually has more than that.
~planet’s poorest countries are Islamic countries.
~57 Muslim majority countries have 600 universities for 1.4 billion people. India alone has 8407 universities, USA has 5758.
~Muslims constitute 22% of world population with 1% share of Nobel Prize winners, Jews constitute 0.23% of world population with 22% of Nobel Prize.
SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
In my opinion, it is because we (Muslims) have refused to change with time. This is the problem in Malaysia as well. Being an Islamic country, the Malaysian government believes that religions are written in stone. That is why you can see the religious scholars coming up with strange ideas year after year. Among the fatwas from these ‘genius’ lots are the prohibition of smoking, surrogacy, yoga and the latest being the ‘poco-poco’ dance.
http://thestar.com.my/news
The reason they endorse these fatwas are mind blowing. Poco-poco dance was said to have elements of Christian rituals. I have taken part in this dance before and I can tell you that it doesn’t differ much than line dance. I have no clue what-so-ever how poco-poco seemed like a cult. And the prohibition of yoga is very much like ‘Chipsmore’ to me (kejap ada kejap tak ada). At first, yoga was haram. Then Pak Lah said ‘Tak haram’, and jiffy! Yoga was permissible as long as there’s no mantra involved (guess Jeanne must have been practicing yoga at that time. How I wish Rosmah is kaki poco-poco..hmm but looking at her, I doubt so..LOL)
Smoking was declared as haram because it is dangerous to one’s health. Helloooo... so is McD and KFC! Surrogacy is haram because the child is classified as illegitimate as is not from the wife’s womb. I have to quote my China-mali friend here “Haiyya...die-lah like this!”. Perhaps we should find a time machine and send these bozos back to their years so they can ride on camels and stop making our lives miserable!
Like Malaysia, over the years, there are many absurd fatwas from other Islamic countries as well. A few worth to mention here would be the prohibition of vaccines (yes, vaccines!), football (bodoh kan?), emoticons (kononnya emo=devils!), Mickey Mouse (oh dear!) and Facebook (yes, FB was declared haram in Indon). http://listverse.com/2010/
I believe God gave us mind to think. Our ability to think is what differentiates us from other living species. Sadly, we prefer to accept whatever that is spoon fed to us without even challenging our mind to think and rationalize the fatwas. I have witnessed many Muslims who accepts whatever told by these religious scholars or ustazs and ustazahs. Then why do we have the Holy Koran?
Take a look at a few examples of misconceptions among Muslims. Though these are NOT YET fatwas, but they are common beliefs among Muslims, thanks to our ‘pakar agama’:
~Alcohol is haram because it makes you lose your ability to think and make wise judgement. But why is perfume categorised haram as well? You are not going to drink it! (ISLAM ENCOURAGES US TO BE PRESENTABLE, CLEAN AND SMELL GOOD)
~Consuming food while standing is haram. That’s why you can see bunch of people squatting down on a dirty sidewalk to consume food n water. (ISLAM STRESSES ON GOOD HYGIENE PRACTICES)
~You MUST read your prayers before entering toilet and when you leave the toilet. Yet, many forget to wash their hands cleanly after finishing their business (ISLAM EMPHASISES ON CLEANLINESS)
~You mustn’t eat with chopsticks because God gave us hand. Hellooo...can you have your porridge or soup with your hands meh? (ISLAM ENCOURAGES US TO LEARN AND ACQUIRE NEW KNOWLEDGE, TO INVENT THINGS TO MAKE OUR LIVES BETTER)
Sometimes the stupidity in the fatwas are very evident. For example, it is stated clearly in the Koran that ‘riba’ (interest) is haram. But investments in Malaysian banks or KLSE haven’t been declared haram. ‘Gharar’ (uncertainty) is haram but we invest in bank without knowing what our money is going to be used for. That is haram. Few years ago, investments in ASB and ASN was declared not haram. WTH?
Funny thing is, a Muslim working in a bar or pub is declared haram although he doesn’t consume alcohol. Get ready for this- wearing a t-shirt with the word Carlsberg printed on it pun a total no-no. What a joke!!!
So you see, it all boils down to our mentality. If you are so bodoh, you will be in the YES SIR category. But for a true Muslim, you will follow the true path of Islam as stated in the Holy Quran instead of nodding your head to every dumb rulings by those who claim to be the experts.
Remember, a developed nation and a developed society are the one that adapts quickly to the changing environment to continuously make life easier for its people. We don’t have to ride on camels or horses, live in the desert and cover ourselves with a cloak to be true Muslims. God’s religion is very simple, it is us who complicates it.
I had my say. Now I am going to dance poco-poco.....
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