In the midst of Muslims busily carrying out acts of worship in the month of Ramadhan, the Islamic belief of the Muslim Ummah has once again been ridiculed and mocked. In Malaysia, a Muslim majority country, Tan Jye Yee, 25 and Lee Lee May Ling , 24 published a seditious post in the Facebook account of ‘Alvin and Vivian-Alvivi’ on their wall which contained a photograph and a comment entitled ‘Happy breaking fast’ which showed a pork dish that was attached with a Halal logo. Their action was a cheap joke aimed at mocking the deeply held beliefs of Muslims; something that has become all too common in secular societies where religion has become an easy target of ridicule. Although the couple apologized, nonetheless there are still comments from others that defended their act. Not content with this insult, they also displayed pornographic photos in their tumblr.com link and uploaded similar photographs and posted similar comments in Facebook, which caused feelings of enmity on the grounds of religion amongst believers of other faiths. Their rude act not only raised anger amongst Muslims but also incited public anger amongst non-Muslim communities in Malaysia.
Upon demands from various parties, the Attorney-General of Malaysia, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail finally announced to not grant any forms of bail towards this couple due to the fact that they have a tendency of uploading content that could arouse public outrage. Before this decision was made, numerous parties came forward to suggest that this duo be banished or receive appropriate punishments. The Mufti of Kelantan, Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad persuaded the government to not be lenient anymore in handling this case, while the Mufti of Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria affirmed that the failure of the government to act firmly will cause the people to assume that the dignity of the Muslims can be mocked or played around with and that the Federal Constitution is worthless. The fact that these individuals performed these actions with little fear of the consequences, as well as the fact that ordinary citizens have to beg the Malaysian government to deal firmly with such acts proves that the political and legal system in Malaysia is unable and not powerful enough to counter the influx, entrenchment, and harmful fallout of the liberal secular ideology within its society. Therefore, a comprehensive system is required to eliminate the harmful consequences of this liberal secular ideology. Enforcing punishments towards offenders of Islam with heavy charges is not sufficient. There needs to be an environment where believers of other religions and faiths tremble at the mere thought of insulting Islam due to the power and strength possessed by a state which represents and protects Islam. This environment or atmosphere will only be generated under the system of Khilafah.
Today, offenses against Islam happen frequently despite receiving condemnation and firm reactions from the Muslims. This reflects the lack of respect towards Islam within many secular societies and the loss of the Muslims’ glory (izzah). Apart from that, secularism and freedom of speech which was exported by the West to the Muslim lands, including to Malaysia has eroded the sense of respect towards religion generally within our societies. Secularism has created attitudes and mentalities that view religion only as a target of mockery that can be fooled around with. Even though Allah سبحانه وتعالى has clearly stated in Surah al-A’raf, verse 51:
الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَهْوًا وَلَعِبًا وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا ۚ فَالْيَوْمَ نَنْسَاهُمْ كَمَا نَسُوا لِقَاءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَٰذَا وَمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ
“Those who took their deen as a diversion and a game, and were deluded by the life of the dunya.’ Today We will forget them just as they forgot the encounter of this Day and denied Our Signs.”
(Surah al-A’raf, 7:51)
States that embrace the secular belief of freedom of expression provide the opportunity to people to insult and degrade Islam’s honourable status, and offend the firmly held religious beliefs of others, creating disharmony and friction between communities. These secular values and beliefs have actually shaped uncivilized environments based on the law of the jungle where anyone can insult each other openly, leading to the formation of ignorant societies that are full of disunity and conflicts, and where individuals can easily offend the faith of others.
This viewpoint is completely different from the teachings brought by Islam which encourages its believers to respect all religions. Islam requires its believers to respect and be humane towards other people and forbids them from insulting or mocking other religions. By doing so, this shapes a solid, strong and harmonious society. Surah al-An’am, verse 108 states:
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ مَرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
“Do not curse those they call upon besides Allah, in case that makes them curse Allah in animosity, without knowledge. In this way We make the actions of every nation seem attractive to them. Then they will return to their Lord, and He will inform them about what they did.”
(Surah al-An’am, 6:108)
In addition, Islam provides Dhimmis (non-Muslim citizens of the state) full protection of their faith similar to how the beliefs of Muslims are protected. This was demonstrated by Rasulillah صلى الله عليه وسلم when drafting the Medina Charter. The document stated that all who lived in the state of Medina be they Muslim or Non-Muslim, were required to not act cruelly, be treacherous or cause chaos. By fulfilling this requirement, all were guaranteed protection and granted peace under the rulings of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Furthermore there are many sayings of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that talk about the rights of Dhimmi. In one hadith the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
مَنْ آذَى ذِمِّيًّا فَقَدْ آذَانِي وَمَنْ آذَانِي فَقَدْ آذَى اللهَ
“Whoever offends a dhimmi (Non-Muslim who is under the protection of Islam), he has offended me, and whoever has offended me, has offended Allah.” (Narrated by Abu Daud). In another hadith narrated by Jabir Abdullah (ra), he stated:
مَرَّ بِنَا جَنَازَةُ فَقَامَ لَهَا النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَقُمْنَا بِهِ فَقُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ إنَّهَا جِنَازَةُ يَهُودِيٍّ قَالَ إِذَا رَأَيْتُمْ الجِنَازَةَ فَقُوْمُوْا
“A corpse passed by us (the Sahabahs), hence Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم stood up. Thus, we also stood up. We said to Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, “Oh Rasulullah that is the corpse of a Jew. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم answered, “When you see a corpse, you are required to stand up” (narrated by al-Bukhari) This proves that under the ruling of the Khilafah state, respect and protection will be guaranteed for every religion. Therefore, a harmonious, solid and healthy society can only be formed with the reestablishment of the Khilafah. The atmosphere of respecting other religions will emerge and people of all faiths will live together in harmony without any worries of the majority oppressing the rights of the minority.
Other than that, the Khilafah will also challenge the West’s arrogant attitude towards Islam and Muslims as well as others who worship the idea of secular freedom, striking fear amongst the Kuffar with regards to insulting Islam and Muslims. Historically, the solidarity of the strength of the Islamic ideology, politics, economy and military force possessed by the Khilafah successfully created the Khilafah’s prestigious political influence globally until it was visible that non-Muslim countries greatly respected Islam. This is what truly happened in 1890 where Khaleefah Sultan Abdul Hamid II sent a letter to the French government to cancel a theatre show which insulted Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم that was to be aired across the whole of France. The French government, fearful of the response of the Khilafah banned the play from being shown. This reflects the firmness and strength with which the Khilafah can deal with insults against Islam compared to the weak response of the secular, non-Islamic regimes and systems of the Muslim world today!
Sumayyah Amar
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir