While Facebook-ing yesterday, I was attracted to news uploaded by The Malay Mail Online, quoting The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) that non-Muslims should not accept translated copies of Quran.
This refers to a project organized by the Islamic Information Services (IIS) Foundation whereby one million copies of the Quran will be produced and translated into Tamil, Chinese, English and Malay, thereafter to be distributed to the public.
Apart from being an activist in ISMA which is a reputable Malay-Islamic NGO, I have also participated in several programmes and discussion activities run by IIS. ISMA may sound sterner to non-Muslims with regards to the sovereignty of Islam and Malay supremacy issues.
Meanwhile IIS encourages discourses with non-Muslims and is very tactful in answering any misconceptions and misunderstandings posed by the non-Muslims community in Malaysia. It took me by surprise that, out of the blue, such Islamic bodies as diplomatic as IIS are also targetted and under attack.
HYPOCRISY OF NON-MUSLIM INTERFAITH BODY
For the record, (MCCBCHST) is an interfaith NGO which is comprised from the main non-Muslim faith communities in Malaysia. The purpose of the body is to act as consultative and liaison body towards more open dialogue and co-operation. I would understand if MCCBCHST would go ISMA bashing, however it is obnoxious that a “harmonious” body such as IIS, which regularly conduct visits to churches and temples for dialogues is not spared from criticism and brickbats.
Is it now the trend that anything about Islam would cause panic and hyper-phobia among the non-Muslims in Malaysia?
The chameleon character of some non-Muslim bodies is too obvious. On one end, they claim to promote dialogue and discussions, but on the other end, they refuse to accept other dissenting views, especially from among the Muslim representatives and groups.
On the Quran distribution issue, IIS is just distributing the Quran in various language translations, but it has never imposed any compulsion to accept the contents of the translated Quran. When one reads Harry Porter, was he or she is coerced into practicing sorcery and witchcraft?
THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE FIASCO
When I browsed through all the alternative media yesterday, there were only The Malaysian Insider (TMI) and The Malay Mail Online (TMMO) that published the news and making issues with regards to the MCCBCHST complaints on IIS’s effort to distribute copies of the translated Quran. Why were these two the only media and news portal making a mountain out of a mole hill?
Are they simply two sides of the same coin?
As reported in Malaysia Today on 12th June 2013, siblings Leslie Lau and Joan Lau led team of 30 employees to migrate from TMI to Trinity Diligence Sdn Bhd which has been contracted to manage www.themalaymailonline.com. It is quite funny that The Malay Mail Online as well as The Malay Mail newspaper is actually not so Malay, unless if Datuk Siew Ka Wei is a Malay disguising under a Chinese name.
And since TMMO is hosted in Singapore, maybe Datuk Siew Ka Wei is a Singaporean Malay forced to use Chinese identity? Even a Chinese like Helen Ang was also “puzzled” on the Malay-ness of the persons behind TMMO.
And while Malay is so attached to Islam by definition, what does Trinity Diligence has to do with Islam?
Converting soon?
In the spirit of Al Quran, TMI and TMMO are the kind of falsehood spinner that every moderate Muslims and Malaysians should be extremely cautious with.
“O you who have believed, if there comes to you a fasiq party with certain information, (please) investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.” (Surah Al Hujurat, verse 6)
Fasiq (Arabic: فاسق) is an Arabic term referring to someone who violates Islamic law. As a fasiq is considered unreliable, his testimony is not accepted in Islamic courts (Wikipedia).
It is not uncommon to see TMI and TMMO have so much news to give negative views about Islam, the Malays and the Muslims in Malaysia.
So now, at least, part of the reason, I now know why.
Norhidayah Ismail
Disclaimer: This article was prepared or accomplished by author in her personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the official view of ISMA or ISMAWeb.
