Does Madani state condone preacher's act? By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy

Malaysiakini : “Religion is at its best when it makes us ask hard questions of ourselves. It is at its worst when it deludes us into thinking we have all the answers for everybody else.”

- Archibald MacLeish

COMMENT | We must ask ourselves why Islamic preacher Firdaus Wong uploaded that video of how to enable minors to lie to their families, subvert religious rituals (prayers in toilets), empower teachers to transmit religious dogma to minors under their tutelage and make it very clear that religious morality trumps legal requirements.

Let us not kid ourselves. In the uploaded video, Firdaus makes it very clear that all this is not theoretical. He admits that he has done this before and the methods he imparts are borne out of practical usage and not something that he thought out in the spur of the moment.

This means that there are minors who are deceiving their families, engaging in modified religious ritualism and enabled by teachers who think that religious morality trumps their obligations to look after the well-being of the minors under the charge.

Not to mention, if Firdaus (above) is to be believed, practising Muslims who he has shepherded as minors, into the religion of the state by deceiving their families.

Ordinarily, minors dabbling in religious experimentation is something normal, however religious experimentation in the Malaysian context when it comes to the religion of the state is something radically different.

This experimentation has far-reaching consequences in Malaysia because race and religion have legal obligations along with the so-called special privileges that place a Muslim in the harsh glare of federal and state Islamic authorities.

If an adult wishes to place themselves under such obligations, then it is their right.

However, enabling minors to deceive their families and encouraging teachers to impart dogma which has real consequences to minors who may not understand the gravity of their undertaking is the definition of religious and racial provocation, not to mention it should have grave legal consequences.

Does any of this bother someone like Firdaus? No, it does not. The reason for this is simple.

The way how the state deals with religious kidnapping or unilateral conversion demonstrates that when it comes to the religion of the state successive governments have given a free hand to religious provocateurs.

(And kidnapping is not my word, it is former law minister Nazri Aziz’s as he said in the S Deepa case - “The High Court judge’s ruling was correct. The police shouldn’t allow him to get away with kidnapping the child.”).

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Luke Skywalker : As the norm nowadays, not a word from DAP or the non Muslims politicians in PKR! I of course don't expect any statement from UMNO regarding this matter.

I am neither surprised nor disappointed as PH tends to be very quiet on issues involving religion as compared to when they were in the opposition previously.

Vijay47 : Pardon me, good Commander, but under the circumstances, “religious morality” is an absolute misnomer; there is nothing religious nor moral when children and minors are surreptitiously converted into Islam.

On the contrary, it is an act that must be resolutely condemned by every parent and person in authority, with those practicing such illegality being apprehended, charged, and appropriately punished. Not that in the face of established reality, Madani is any source of hope and relief.

It must be noted that there was only one response to the abhorrent guide put forward by Firdaus Wong – shockingly, the mufti of Penang had the gall to suggest that the best approach was to adopt the two-stage process towards conversion.

The first, that the secretive conversion be known to at least a few so that should the convert die, his funeral could be done in accordance with Islamic rituals. The second is to openly register the change when it is safe to come out of the closet.

This, folks, is the advice being preached by a state Muslim leader. And non-Muslims are the ones regularly accused of showing disrespect to Islam. It must also be noted that for subterfuge of such devastating proportions, Mr. Madani himself has chosen to remain silent, proving once again that his alacrity to response emerges only when Hamas is involved, which would prompt him to frenzied foaming and frothing at the mouth.

No doubt he is also currently plotting and planning how to get out of this shameful situation his fellow Muslims have placed him. We should not be surprised if finally he steps out to claim that all these protests and opposition from non-Muslims is in direct contravention of the Constitution which holds that respect be given to all religions, especially Islam. And that this controversy is another shining example of Islamophobia.

Rakyat Tertindas : Anak Melayu anak saya. Anak Cina dan India nanti saya convert secara rahsia.

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