Interesting Article

Someone forwarded me this article written by our former deputy prime minister today through e-mail which I find interesting. Honestly, the views presented in the article cannot exactly be considered as original or new. But still, in a time where people's memories are short, it serves as a good reminder or an occassional nudge on our shoulders of the reality of the state of the Islamic society today. And even more importantly, suggestions of what needs to be done in the face of that reality.

Happy reading.

We Muslims Must Reform Our Own Politics
By Anwar Ibrahim

(From THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL)

(Editor's Note: Mr. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, has been in jail since 1999. He is currently appealing his conviction by a Malaysian court on charges of corruption and sodomy.)


Affirmations of brotherhood and lamentations over the elusiveness of a long-sought fraternity are two perennial themes of modern Muslim rhetoric. It seems that no summit or conference would be worthy of the name unless displays of such sentiments were somehow woven into the agenda. The 10th summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to be held outside Kuala
Lumpur from Oct. 16-18, will probably be no different.

Few will be surprised if the opulence of the conference venue is matched by an appalling poverty of ideas on how to cure the Muslim malady - poor governance,
the economic deprivation of millions, political restiveness among citizens, and, of course, the bad press the community has been receiving. Sure, the delegates will be vociferous in condemning terrorism. They will also
express disgust with the U.S. for its imperialistic designs. And they will launch diatribes against the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for their failure to address the concerns
of developing countries.

No doubt, these groups are all culpable in some way, but ranting about insidious neocolonialism and issuing pious platitudes about the superiority of the Islamic approach are no substitute for a workable plan to address
the depressing state of the Muslim community. And their Muslim audiences are not likely to miss the irony of living under virtual one-party systems.

The Palestinian question will continue to be the dominant issue at the conference. Israeli state terrorism must be condemned before there can be any effective check against the desperate and retaliatory acts of terror
that the dispossessed Palestinians resort to. Many Muslims see the U.S. stance in this conflict as diabolical, and the outrage has been aggravated by the occupation
of Afghanistan and Iraq.

But concerned Muslims are asking where this Muslim outrage was when the Taliban insulted the Islamic tradition of respect for other religions in their destruction of the two statues of Buddha at Bamiyan? And why was there damning silence for decades in the face of Saddam Hussein's atrocities against the Kurds, Marsh Arabs and Shiites; and what about his war against Iran and
conquest of Kuwait? Indeed, when the body count is tallied, Muslims will find that more of their brothers and sisters have been butchered by their own leaders than by non-Muslims. Even now, Muslim governments have expended little or no effort in the quest for a just and peaceful resolution to the conflicts in Chechnya, Kashmir and Aceh.

Thus one can appreciate the widespread cynicism among ordinary Muslims about the OIC. They see it as a body too frail to champion Muslim causes and a loose ensemble operating on ideas out of tune with the tenor of the times. One testimony to their ineffectuality is the Islamic News Agency. Formed in the early days of the conference, it was, on the face of it, a noble idea. Its role was to correct an imbalance in international news coverage due to the perceived biases of Western news agencies.

But it was doomed at its very inception because it was not to be an agency selling uncensored news and featuring vigorous reporting and critical commentary. Its creators meant, instead, for it to be a recorder of
official views and a peddler of reports on national development and successes. In short, it was to be an internationalized propaganda agent. It is not
surprising, then, that al Jazeera, hailed as a new voice of independent journalism in the Middle East, is viewed with apprehension by many Arab governments, even as it irks the U.S.

Paradoxically, though, the controlled national media have been parroting the most naive utterances, perpetuating stereotypes of Islam and Muslims. Thus the ruthless and secular Saddam Hussein has been styled an "Islamic
dictator,"the perverse policies of the Taliban equated with the Shariah, terrorism ascribed to Wahhabi teachings and the Shia community characterized as people with a propensity to violence. And then, it is a simple matter of sticking the label Taliban, Wahhabi or Shia on dissenters and political opponents before
eventually arresting them under draconian laws allowing detention without trial.

Many developing countries welcome the wind of democratic change sweeping across the globe, embracing reform to ensure the enlargement of democratic space, the entrenchment of fundamental liberties and the promotion of economic growth. But a large section of the Muslim belt remains stuck in political systems that are anathema to freedom. And, as a cultural group, Muslims
appear to be the most resistant to democracy. Their economies, straining under dirigiste systems, are slumping the fastest. Western academics observe
that the few Muslim majority countries that can claim some measure of economic success have done so because of secularism and democracy, as in Turkey,
or the presence of industrious Chinese, as in Malaysia and to some extent Indonesia. To them, the dynamics of Islam have no relevance.

Yet after half a century of independence, we hear the standard sermon of the self-serving Muslim autocrats that their subjects are incapable of participating in a democracy. Who in his or her right mind does not
want to be free to exercise choice? Could there be morality without freedom? These are questions that should be hurled at the enemies of democracy. They have
to be reminded that the notion of choice is deeply embedded in Islamic theology.

It is a moral imperative for Muslims to make the leap to responsible government, departing from oppressive and corrupt policies. Having been embittered by the Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad, as they claim, Muslim leaders should know better than to use intelligence apparatus such as Saddam's Mukhabarat or the Special Branch in Malaysia to harass or terrorize citizens.

Instead of denigrating the Shariah and demonizing Ulama, the Islamic council of wise men, Muslim leaders should ponder the reasons why an increasing number
of Muslims, including young professionals, see the Shariah as a viable alternative to the current systems in their countries, where the rule of man has supplanted the rule of law and the institutions of justice have been
all but physically destroyed. A legitimate and presentative government, with adequate constitutional safeguards is the best insurance of peace and harmony, and economic
progress. And while it would have clearly defined parameters against threats to stability, it would have the flexibility and latitude to engage those leaning toward extremism.

To be relevant to our times, those claiming to represent Muslims cannot afford to gloss over these burning issues. Most of all, they must accept the inevitability of a predominantly democratic and pluralistic world. The
Muslim world must navigate its way toward freedom and justice, which, after all, were integral components of the Prophet Muhammad's mission. What path it should
take is secondary, but the commitment is indispensable.