"Malaysiakini.com" 22 November 2007
‘The compromise for all is a secular state’ by Second Choicer
I write in response to Arbibi Ashoy's letter Islamic State - both sides must compromise. Both he and a number of people, presumably of Muslim faith, who have written to Malaysiakini in the past seem to be under the misconception that Islam is unique in that it is the only religion that does not separate religion from state.
As a matter of fact, none of the major religions such as Hinduism, Christianity and even Judaism, separated religion from the state. None of these religions attempted to separate the practice of faith from the state.
The Byzantine and the Christian-Roman empires are examples of Christian states ruled by Christian law. The pre-Roman Jewish state was also a theocratic state erected under the Torah (Jewish religious law) under which the religious elites were at the socio-economic apex of their society. More recently, over the last decade, the disastrous attempts by the Bharatiya Janata Party party to instill Hindutva, or the Hindu state, in secular India is also another example.
By definition, all these major religions are political religions for whom the establishment of a state ruled by God's law is seen as a source of salvation and the coming of God's kingdom. Do not mistake the current secular nature of the states where Christians, Hindus and Jews form the majority as ascribed by their religions. The secular state is man-made and is not ordained by God's law as defined in these religions.
If each religion is political and wants to set up its own set of religious state laws, how can these accommodate a plural, multi-religious society like Malaysia? We are not talking about Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Iraq where over 90 percent of the population is Muslim. About half of Malaysia's population is not Muslim. The proportion is higher than the proportion of non-bumiputeras, as there is a significant minority of natives in Sabah and Sarawak who are non-Muslims.
Just as minority Muslims cannot expect to be treated fairly in any Christian or Jewish theocracy, how can non-Muslims expect to be treated fairly in any Islamic theocracy? Do not quote me any examples from the Caliphate times where the minority Christian and Jews were given limited dispensations to maintain their faiths - these are simply not acceptable.
So in light of this, where is the starting point for discussing theocracies in Malaysia? Ask anyone, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, if they would prefer their religious laws to be implemented by the state. If they are honest they would declare preference for their own religious laws to take precedence.
The secular state is second choice to all of us. But we all know, rationally, that we cannot accede to everyone's wishes or there would be chaos and strife. So no one gets their first choice but all can live with their second choice.
(End)
