Islam Hadhari vs. Islam Hak Babi

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It is interesting that, of all people, the Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak, should be giving Malaysians a lecture on Islam. Well, I remember my Tok Guru (religious teacher), maybe 30 or more years ago, telling me that once upon a time Abu Bakar was patrolling the streets of Mekkah at night when he saw this young, wet-behind-the-ears boy preaching to a group of people. Abu Bakar called the boy over and asked him to recite a verse from the Koran, which the boy was able to. Abu Bakar then told the boy to go and teach whatever he knows, however little it may be.


In other words, you do not have to be a graduate of Cairo or Medina University, or of the UIA in Gombak, to teach or talk about Islam. Even if you only know the very basics you can still teach or talk about the religion as long as you teach only to the extent of your knowledge. The Malaysian government, though, makes it appear like you must be ‘qualified’ or possess a certificate before you can stand before a congregation and talk about or preach Islam.

This is a fallacy. EVERY Muslim is a preacher (pendakwah) and it is the duty of EVERY Muslim to spread the word of Islam. Islam is not the monopoly of a selected few approved and certified by the religious department. After all, better those with a little knowledge but with maximum sincerity preach Islam rather than those with mountains of knowledge but corrupted to the core and taker of bribes and kickbacks.

And you are told to choose your Imam very carefully for if your Imam is destined for hell then you too would follow him to hell and only if he is destined for heaven would you follow him to heaven. In other words, DO NOT accept everything that a religious teacher might tell you. He could be lying, and in many cases if he is a paid or salaried preacher he could be lying.

Take the Imam of the Sungai Buloh Mosque, around 1.30pm last Friday, 10 December 2004. He actually had the gall to tell the congregation that we must respect, honour and obey our leaders for this is what God (Allah) wants us to do. Excuse me… hello… did not the Koran also tell us that Moses (Musa) went against the Pharaoh (Firaun)? Pharaoh was the leader of Egypt then. How come Moses did not respect, honour and obey him? Why did Moses oppose him? Did not ALL the Prophets, even Muhammad, go against their leaders? Why not ask the Iraqis to respect, honour and obey Saddam or the Germans, Hitler. And who wrote that sermon (kutbah)? The religious department?

Yes! That’s right! Do not swallow everything the Imam says hook, line and sinker, especially if he is reading from a piece of paper prepared by the religious department.

Anyway, back to the Najib story. Today’s Bernama carried a news item headlined “Islam Hadhari Not A New Teaching, Says Najib”.

It seems Najib said in Pekan that Islam Hadhari is not a new religion but a new approach that can place Muslims in the country on the pinnacle of success. He said that just like Islamic teachings were a complete and comprehensive way of life, Islam Hadhari was a way to bring about a sovereign and resilient Islamic civilisation.

“When people say Islam Hadhari is a new teaching; that is wrong. It is also not a new concept. It is an approach to develop Muslims and an effort to place them on the pinnacle of success.”


“When we do not have resilience, we will not only lose self-esteem but our religion can go missing from us,”

he said when opening a Pahang-level seminar to generate thought on Islam Hadhari, here.

Also present was Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob and the Advisor on Religion to the prime minister, Tan Sri Dr Abdul Hamid Othman.

Najib said there were Muslims in the world who succumbed to political crises, social issues such as poverty and lack of education, violence and cruelty because they did not have resilience and sovereignty. Muslims in the country should use these situations as a guide to further strengthen the race and religion, he said.

He said they could use the Islam Hadhari approach to enhance their mastery of knowledge to build on Islamic civilisation and sovereignty.

“Islam is a religion of vastness, and its basis is knowledge; without knowledge it is not possible for us to enrich Islam,” he said.

Najib has given a whole new meaning to the concept of ‘talk a lot but say nothing’. What, exactly, has he said anyway? This is just another song and dance from a politician. I am sure everyone went home more confused than before they came.

Okay, I get it. Islam Hadhari is not a new religion or new concept but a new approach. Hmmm… was that not what Prophet Muhammad said when he first introduced Islam to the world? Islam is a not a new religion, said Prophet Muhammad, but a perfection of the old religions, Judaism and Christianity. So Islam Hadhari is a further perfection of Prophet Muhammad’s religion is it?

Now which part in particular is Prophet Muhammad’s Islam in need of further perfection, or a new approach? You mean the old approach was wrong? What was wrong with the old approach, Prophet Muhammad’s approach?

Islam is about aqidah (fundamentals). If the aqidah or fundamentals are wrong, then your Islam is defective. What is Islam Hadhari’s stand on fundamentalism? Does Islam Hadhari admit that EVERY Muslim is a fundamentalist (if not then you are not really a Muslim) or does Islam Hadhari share the Western view that a fundamentalist Muslim is an extremist Muslim?

Anyway, what Najib or the Prime Minister is saying is actually not that new as what they claim. Anwar Ibrahim actually introduced this concept years ago and he called it Masyarakat Madani. For all intents and purpose they just hijacked the concept from Anwar and gave it a new name. Below is the text of this concept reproduced in its original form in Bahasa Malaysia (not translated into English so that reader can grasp the full spirit of the concept):

Ke arah mewujudkan masyarakat madani

Kelahiran masyarakat madani bertitik tolak dari kesedaran masyarakat mengenai kemurniaan nilai-nilai tersebut. Justeru itu ia berkait rapat dengan tradisi ilmu dan pemekaran budaya. Sheikh Muhammad Abduh umpamanya, tatkala mengutarakan konsep al-mujtamaat al-madaniyah menetapkan faktor kebebasan termasuk kesegaran ilmu dan kecerdasan berfikir dan sistem perundangan yang adil.

Justeru itu, ia tidak terbatas kepada permasalahan politik dan sama sekali tidak berpaut kepada kekuasaan. Bahkan ia harus terpancar dari keyakinan, tercerna dari dhamir dengan kefahaman yang mendalam. Kerana sesungguhnya nilai kebenaran dan keadilan adalah luhur dan tidak boleh tercemar lantaran faham politik atau kaum. Tuntunan perlaksanaan prinsip al-adl wal-ihsan adalah universal; mengatasi pertimbangan kabilah dan agama. Maka Rasullullah s.a.w, menegaskan tanggungjawab pemimpin dalam mengegakkan keadilan kerana “imam adil” merupakan manusia yang paling dicintai Allah s.w.t; walhal “imam jair”, yakni yang zalim dan penindas adalah yang paling dibenci Allah s.w.t.

Begitu juga dengan prinsip kebenaran yang sukar dicapai dalam iklam politik yang membelenggu fikiran dan wacana bebas dilarang. Peningkatan kefahaman dan kesedaran diletakkan dalam urutan keutamaan dalam rangka kedudukan pembaharuan. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qardhawi dalam Min Fiqh al-Daulah (Fiqh Kenegaraan), merumuskan bahawa keresahan yang melanda masyarakat kita berada ditahap “parah”. Maka tidak memadai di ungkit kemungkaran kecil seperti majlis nyanyian dan tarian gila, pendedahan aurat wanita atau penjualan video lucah. Yang perlu ditekankan ialah “perubahan yang lebih menyeluruh yang melibatkan pemikiran, pemahaman, akhlak, amalan, adab, tradisi serta sistem perundangan.” Beliau merujuk kepada firman Allah s.w.t ar Ra’ad 13:11 mengenai keperluan kaum merubah diri mereka sendiri.

Seringkali pelbagai alasan dikemukakan sebagai dalih mengelak dari melaksanakan tanggungjawab sedemikian. Atau sekadar menjadikan isu al-adl wal ihsan sebagai wacana ilmu secara terpisah dari kenyataan hidup. Dalam hal yang pertama, ia didorong oleh kalangan yang berkepentingan berkaitan kedudukan atau habuan. Begitu pula kalangan yang sekadar membicara isu keadilan secara umum dan samar tetapi tidak punyai keberanian atau kekuatan moral untuk mendedahkan kepincangan, rasuah dan kezaliman di negara sendiri.

Filasuf Aristotle dalam mengupas konsep virtus (ihsan), menekankan kemungkinan mencapai tahap kecemerlangan melalui sistem pendidikan yang tepat serta kurikulum yang melibatkan pengajian mantiq (retorik) dan falsafah silam. Tetapi agak menarik manakala Petrach dalam On His Own Ignorance (1367) yang memuji Aristotle kerana pengamatannya yang mendalam mengenai virtus; tetapi tidak mendorong kearah kecintaan terhadap virtus atau kebaikan dan kebencian terhadap kemungkaran. Menurut Petrach teori-teori tersebut tidak dapat dikaitkan dengan kehidupan harian, maka mereka berakhir dengan “menguasai ilmu mengenai ihsan tetapi tidak mengamalkannya.” Dan berkaitan dengan aspek kedua, Sheikh al Qardawi, menyampaikan cerita popular rakyat tentang bagaimana Fir’aun menjadi seorang taghut. Fir’aun menjawab, “….taghut dan penindas ialah kerana saya tidak pernah menemukan seorang pun yang berani membantah pendapat saya.”

Lantaran itu, paksi utama perlembagaan rakyat negara merdeka ialah jaminan kebebasan bersuara dan berpersatuan; serta penetapan sistem kehakiman yang adil dan bebas dari kuasa eksekutif. Disebaliknya, dalam sistem kuku besi atau di mana sistem demokraasi yang tercemar, sendi utama negara seperti badan penguatkuasa dan perundangan bertindak di bawah telunjuk penguasa.

Kelahiran masyarakat madani mengandaikan wujudnya kebebasan bersuara yang mampu melahirkan wacana terbuka. Soal tanggungjawab, pencernaan hasrat rakyat mampu diungkapkan. Isu penyelewengan, rasuah dan kezaliman dapat didedahkan. Tetapi yang lebih utama dalam rangka kelahiran masyarakat madani adalah kefahaman, kesedaran dan usaha memperkasa rakyat yang memahami hak dan tanggungjawab mereka.