Today I would like to introduce you two pieces of interesting news reports from Bernama.com, the Malaysian National News Agency.(Lily)
1. Stop Using The Phrase "The West", Says Islamic Expert
August 09, 2007 22:51 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- Stop using the phrase "the West" and instead apply more specific identifiers that have a less ambiguous and less ideological implication, said an expert on Islam in West Asia and South Asia.
Prof Dr Carl W. Ernst said "the West" to a certain extent was fictive as it implied a unitary and homogeneous cultural identity that vaguely ascribed to a number of countries in America and Europe and their would-be associates. "Likewise, the notion of the "Islamic world" can also be seriously misleading as it practically suggests that there is separate planet that is somehow unconnected with Europe and America. "It also glosses over as unimportant the many differences in history, ethnicity, language and culture that characterised Muslim majority countries as well as the Muslim minorities elsewhere," he said.
The Director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations at the University of North Carolina in the United States said this in his lecture entitled "The West and Islam? Rethinking Orientalism and Occidentalism" at the Seventh Tun Razak Lecture at Universiti Malaya today. The lecture is hosted by UM in collaboration with Ohio University.
Ernst said: "I think it is important to abandon the phrase "Muslim world" despite the idealistic concept of the Muslim ummah. "The conflictual implications of a unitary Muslim world in opposition to "the West" are simply too strong to avoid. "To avoid seductive paradigm of "Islam versus the West", we will first deal with Muslim Westernophobes and then with Western Islamophobes," he said. He said the language of "the West" and Islam shackles people to a past that is defined by colonial expansion and its contrary, anti-colonial resistance. "If we are to forge a world where we can see beyond limited identities and seriously think about our shared humanity, it is time to move beyond these limited conceptions," he added.
Present were Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, UM Vice-Chancellor Datuk Rafiah Salim, Ohio University President Dr Roderick McDavis and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's brother, Datuk Nizam.
2. Dec 3 Decision By Syariah Court On Muslim Convert To Renounce Islam
August 10, 2007 15:22 PM
PENANG, Aug 10 (Bernama) -- The Penang Syariah High Court Friday postponed to December 3 to decide on an application by a Muslim convert to renounce Islam.
Judge Othman Ibrahim made the order to allow Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah to be referred to the Penang Islamic Religious Department (Jaip) for guidance and counselling. "The decision is shelved pending further instruction to refer the plaintiff to Jaip's Ukhuwah Unit for counselling and a report to be submitted within three months," he said.
Siti Fatimah, previously known as Tan Ean Huang, 38, from Nibong Tebal, filed her application to renounce Islam on July 10 last year. In her affidavit, she stated that she had never practised Islamic teachings since embracing the religion on July 25, 1998. She claimed that she did not believe in Islam and that she converted to the religion to enable her to marry an Iranian by the name of Ferdoun Ashanian. The couple married on Sept 16, 2004. Siti Fatimah filed the application to renounce Islam after her husband left her. In her application, she claimed that she continued to eat pork and practised her Buddhist faith even after embracing Islam.
Counsel Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani represented Siti Fatimah while the Penang Islamic Religious Council was represented by counsel Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz.
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