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Most Islamic countries in the world are non-Muslim

Posted: 10 Jul 2013 01:21 PM PDT

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/images/uploads/2011/august/20/perkasa.jpg 

Radical Muslims should be careful that the Christians they imagine lurking under their beds may turn out to be better Muslims than themselves.

Yin Ee Kiong, Malaysiakini (Published in 2011)

What makes a good Islamic country? Is it one where the people dress conservatively (or even severely in the case of women), adhere strictly to the rituals of Islam, where shariah laws apply?

Or is a good Islamic country one that keeps to the substantive teachings of Islam, more concerned with the content rather than the form of the religion? Where fairness, justice, honesty are the cornerstones of government policies and of its citizens' daily dealings.

How is a good Muslim judged? By the number of times he prays a day, by how assiduously he keeps to the rules? Or by how he lives the true meaning of his faith?

A study by Scheherazade S Rehman and Hossein Askari from George Washington University, published in the Global Economy Journal Vol 10 drew surprising conclusions.

The study examined if policies of Muslim countries (or Muslim majority countries) were founded on Islamic principles in comparison to non-Muslim countries. 208 countries were studied.

The criteria: economic opportunity, economic freedom, corruption, financial systems and human rights were used to measure the level of 'Islamicity' (based on an information website about Islam and Muslims).

The study found that most Islamic countries did not conduct themselves according to Islamic principles concerning economic, financial, political, legal, social and governance issues.

This is reflected in the governments in those countries but also the practices of the citizens in their daily dealings. Even at a social level it was found that many non-Muslim countries did much better in keeping to Islamic values.

The most 'Islamic' country the study found was actually non-Muslim – New Zealand. Luxembourg came second. The top 37 countries in the study were all non-Muslim.

Imaddudin Abdulrahim, one of Indonesia's leading thinkers on Islamic monotheism claimed that Ames, a small city in Iowa, represents an exemplar of an Islamic state.

Yet Islam does not play a part in the day-to-day social, economic and political life of the city. The population does not observe Islamic rules on food or dress.

Imaddudin was not interested in form; he used parameters which reflect what he considered true Islam – trust, justice, fairness, freedom.

He found that people did not lock their doors when they went out and yet no one trespassed.

If you returned a broken egg to the grocer he accepted that it was broken when you bought it and replaced it without question.

People were honest in their dealings irrespective of the value of the transaction.

The government was fair and non-discriminatory. People were accepting of ethnic or religious differences.

He saw Islam beyond shariah and beyond its textual appearances. He was more concerned with the substantive elements of the religion.

Recently I enquired through a friend the possibility of getting a scholarship (from a certain university funded by a Muslim tycoon) for an Indian girl who had done very well in her exams but whose parents were poor and unable to send her to university. I was told in no uncertain terms that scholarships were only given to Muslims.

How does this reflect the true values of Islam?

When I was in Sudan I visited villages where artesian water was pumped out by equipment donated by Christian charities. I saw clinics and schools built and maintained by Christian foundations. Every village involved was however 100 percent Muslim!

Is there anywhere in any 'Christian' country where Muslims are forbidden to build mosques? As long as they comply with the local building codes they have every right to do so and the law will protects their rights.

Yet this is not the case in many Muslim countries. No wonder so many non-Muslim countries score higher than Muslim ones based on Islamic principles.

It's no use spouting chapter and verse of the Quran if our deeds do not match the words we mouth.

We can follow all the rituals – fast, do the haj, pray five times a day, abstain from non-halal food, and cover ourselves. They all count for little if our deeds do not reflect the values of the religion.

If we are corrupt, if we discriminate against others because of ethnicity or religion, if we deny freedom of worship to others or even to one's own, are we living by the true values of Islam?

Are our economic policies geared to help those at the bottom of the ladder or do they benefit the top disproportionately? Is our political system fair?

Do we respect human rights? Have we an untainted legal system? Is our governance transparent and accountable?  Are we tolerant of other religions and not impede their practice?

By any of the above criteria Malaysia has failed to live up to Islamic principles.

The authorities obstruct the building of non-Muslim places of worship – or even demolish them.

Christians are persecuted on dubious grounds. Our government discriminates on race and religion. Corruption is rife especially in high places.

The poor (the majority of whom are Malays) are left behind while the rich get richer. There is no respect for human rights and the political system is skewed.

On every count we fail to live up to Islamic values.

Lately radical Muslims have started to see 'Christians under the bed' – an Islamic form of the infamous McCarthyism of the fifties in the US.

They imagine that Christians are out to proselytise their fellow believers. They don't believe that other Muslims can be more sophisticated than they and can make up their own minds what to believe in.

More than that, they demand Christians desist in doing whatever may remotely be a threat to them.

If these people were in charge in Sudan there would have been a lot of thirsty people and a lot of people without medicine and children without schooling.

I suppose they will now pass a fatwa that no Muslims must go to Christian hospitals. The Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Penang has been servicing the people for a long time and a lot of Muslims use the hospital.

There are symbols of Christianity everywhere and there are Bible tracts for those who want to read them.

Going by recent events the hospital could be charged with proselytising. If so I think they would have failed miserably - I doubt a single Muslim patient has converted.

You go to a hospital because you are sick and because you think it gives good service. You send your children to a school because you think it gives your children the best education, you drink because you are thirsty, you don't care who paid for the pump that brought the water out.

Religion does not come into the reckoning for most people in this way.

Conversely you provide care irrespective of that person's religion or give scholarships because the person is poor and deserving, irrespective of her skin colour or her religion.

If Malaysia lives up to the real values of Islam and not its superficiality, the country would be much better off.

Radical Muslims should be careful that the Christians they imagine lurking under their beds may turn out to be better Muslims than themselves.

But then maybe that's the crux of the problem, they are being exposed for what they are, faux Muslims. 

 

Why no action on treasonous offences, asks BOPIM

Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:39 PM PDT

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KOTA KINABALU: We all know by now that this admittance by a senior government servant is only the tip of an iceberg submerged in a sea of corruption and injustice. What we have heard from the RCI hearing are a lot of shocking revelation of outright treasonous acts by officials in the National Registration Department (NRD), the Immigration Department, among the nation's top leaders, and even the police.

The government must act and enforce the laws on acts of treasons going in the country, says the Borneo Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BOPIM). 

The President of the UK-based BOPIM, Daniel John Jambun, said in a statement here that acts of treason which have been exposed to the local and international public have brought shame on the government of Malaysia which is now seen as compromising on its own laws. 

"The latest to surface on this is the revelation by former Sabah Immigration Department deputy director Ismail Ahmad who told the on-going RCI hearing that politicians had attempted to interfere in the agency's enforcement work against illegal immigrants," Jambun said. "But what is most shocking is that there is no hue and cry from the Sabahan leaders in the Barisan Nasional. 

"We all know by now that this admittance by a senior government servant is only the tip of an iceberg submerged in a sea of corruption and injustice. What we have heard from the RCI hearing are a lot of shocking revelation of outright treasonous acts by officials in the National Registration Department (NRD), the Immigration Department, among the nation's top leaders, and even the police," he added. 

He said the revelation by Ismail Ahmad is a clear indication that our country is ruled by corrupted politicians who don't give a hoot about the laws which they themselves passed in parliament. Political leaders don't have the slightest qualms about committing treason against the Yang DiPertuan Agong for their self-interests. In his testimony before the RCI panel last week, Ismail said that state assemblypersons had asked the Immigration Department not to act against people deemed to be aligned to them by saying, "These are our people don't disturb them."

Due to such incidences, Ismail, who led a lab in 2010 on how to resolve the flood of foreigners in Sabah, had proposed that a letter be issued to all state assemblypersons warning them against interfering in the enforcement activities of the relevant authorities. Furthermore, a proposal was also made to order all local authorities to assist and cooperate with the Immigration Department in enforcement operations against illegal immigrants.

"What is important now is to launch comprehensive nationwide investigations on acts of treason beginning with the infamous Project IC and down the ranks to the officials in the NRD and Immigration Department," Jambun said. "Unfortunately the sense of accountability and responsibility among government servants have deteriorated so much that they too have no sense of guilt in bending the laws themselves, because they know their own leaders are corrupted. 

"A perfect example of this bending of the law happened last week when an Indonesian was found to be holding a fake IC. Instead of being bound to jail, this Indonesian was given the luxury of being escorted by the authorities to the Indonesian Consulate to get an Indonesian passport! This is ridiculous. Why wasn't the woman held for holding a fake IC instead? This simply went to show how our government officials have been indoctrinated by our corrupt leaders to simply sidestep the laws with impunity," Jambun said. 

"It is again regrettable that our leaders keep being quiet about all these. Upko, PBRS and PBS leaders should have immediately denied they had anything to do with the interference with the Immigration Department's action on illegals, and demanded that the names of the YBs concerned be revealed for action based on national security laws," he added. "Instead we had another case of playing dumb and dumber. 

"I would challenge the BN and the Prime Minister to do the right thing and stop this rot in the country's governance regarding national security, and not let the corruption drag us further down the international transparency index. Treason is a heinous crime and those who commit it should be dealt with the severest measures provided by law." 

Vandalisme tiada tempat dalam politik baru Malaysia

Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:55 AM PDT

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/uploads/articlesbillboard-najib-110713_484_363_100.jpghttp://www.themalaymailonline.com/uploads/articlesbillboard-razak-110713_484_363_100.jpg 

Meskipun saya dan Dato' Sri Najib berbeza dari segi pandangan politik, namun saya tetap yakin bahawa tumpuan harus diberikan kepada perdebatan idea, dasar dan ideologi – bukan serangan peribadi atau fizikal.  

Zairil Khir Johari, Ahli Parlimen Bukit Bendera  

Politik yang saya percaya adalah usaha berterusan untuk meningkatkan taraf kehidupan masyarakat. Politik yang saya yakini juga adalah politik yang berteraskan idea dan perdebatan fikiran. 

Oleh kerana itu, saya berasa kesal dengan tindakan tidak bertanggungjawab mereka yang melakukan vandalisme pada papan iklan milik Urban Development Authority (UDA) di kawasan Tanjong Tokong yang tertera gambar Perdana Menteri Dato' Sri Najib Razak dan ayahandanya yang juga Perdana Menteri Malaysia kedua, Tun Abdul Razak. 

Saya menghormati jasa Tun Razak sebagai tokoh yang banyak menyumbang dalam pembangunan negara bangsa, khususnya dalam usaha mereformasikan demografi bandar dan menaikkan taraf hidup masyarakat migran di bandar melalui penubuhan UDA. Malah, Allahyarham ayahanda saya sendiri pernah menjadi rakan seperjuangan dengan beliau. 

Tindakan mengaibkan Tun Razak dan Dato' Sri Najib dengan merosakkan gambar mereka adalah perbuatan kebudak-budakan dan tidak mencerminkan budaya politik baru yang sedang saya perjuangkan. Meskipun saya dan Dato' Sri Najib berbeza dari segi pandangan politik, namun saya tetap yakin bahawa tumpuan harus diberikan kepada perdebatan idea, dasar dan ideologi – bukan serangan peribadi atau fizikal. 

Saya mengecam sekeras-kerasnya perbuatan vandalisme ini dan berharap agar semua pihak dapat bersama-sama mencegah perbuatan khianat dan dangkal seperti ini. Semoga dengan sokongan segenap lapisan masyarakat, usaha untuk membawa agenda politik baru akan dipermudahkan.

Beautiful beach is now a large rubbish tip

Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:50 AM PDT

http://www.mysabah.com/images/2006/20061028.jpg 

Since you're not respecting your own country, what respect do you expect those of us visiting your country to have of you? 

Eddie Barnes, UK 

I'M writing about the state of the beaches in Kota Kinabalu.

I'm a regular visitor to Sabah as my wife is from there and we come from Britain as often as we can to stay with her parents.

The beach at Tanjung Aru (pic), next to the airport, is always the place where our children want to come to first.

Arriving from the cold in Britain, we've had many happy days in the sun down there.

Unfortunately, we were very disappointed when we got there this week.

There has always been litter on the beach but this time it was utterly disgusting.

We had to pick our way over empty bottles, used razors, plastic bags and soiled nappies.

We seem to have travelled around the world to let our children play on a large rubbish tip; one with a nice view, but a rubbish tip all the same.

I've heard people blaming the settlements on the nearby Pulau Gaya for the mess, but I'd like to know why the local government isn't dealing with it.

Why isn't it employing a couple of people to pick up litter on the full length of the public beach so that all locals and foreign visitors who use it can enjoy themselves without having to make sure their children don't stand on a used nappy?

I'd like to know how Sabah Tourism can seriously tell visitors that it is pioneering "eco-tourism" and then allow its beaches to be filled with old plastic razors?

Do you think we're stupid? Or just that we'll look the other way?

Why is there is a basic lack of care and attention to such a fantastic public amenity?

Malaysia is home to some of the most beautiful places on the planet. Tanjung Aru beach in KK is one of them.

There are millions of people in Britain who dream of being able to walk along a beach like it. And yet it's allowed to become a rubbish tip.

It gives the impression of a country where the people in charge know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.

At least, that's what I'll be telling people when I get back to Britain.

Aren't government ministers here a bit embarrassed about that?

I would like all politicians in KK to walk along Tanjung Aru beach this week and see the mess for themselves. And I'd like to ask them, since you're not respecting your own country, what respect do you expect those of us visiting your country to have of you?

 

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

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