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Malaysia - new frontier of Islamism

Reader comment on item: New Frontiers in Islamism

Submitted by Vijay (United Kingdom), Aug 21, 2009 at 03:07

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\08\21\story_21-8-2009_pg3_3

VIEW: Down a thorny path —Farish A Noor

Over the past few weeks, Malaysians have been waiting to see how the Islamic courts of the country will deal with the issue of a young Muslim woman, Kartika Sari Dewi, will be dealt with. The woman was found guilty of consuming alcohol in public in a bar at a hotel in the eastern state of Pahang, and subsequently arrested for breaking Islamic law in public. Though married to a Singaporean, Kartika nonetheless comes under Malaysian Islamic law. In the past, cases such as these have been handled with a fine and a caution, though for reasons that are not entirely clear, Kartika was given the higher sentence of being caned six times, so that she would regret her 'crime' and that this would serve as a deterrent for other Muslims.

Not surprisingly, the case of Kartika Sari Dewi has attracted the attention of the regional and international media, and once again Malaysia is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. But what has become clear above all is that the reaction of all the politicians and political parties in the country has been based more on political realities than on objective universal norms and standards of human rights.

While some 'moderate' Muslim politicians initially expressed their concern about the sentence and the nature of the punishment itself — which they regarded as being too severe in the case of the caning of a woman — they later retracted their comments after coming under political pressure from their own parties.

Malaysia, like Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other Muslim countries where Islam and political Islamism have come to the fore to dominate the political landscape, is now a country where the Islamisation process that began in the 1970s has come full circle. The policing of private morality, the banning of books, the laws on censorship, and other modes of social policing that have come to be equated with religious politics per se is now a normalised phenomenon in a country where at one point cars were seen brandishing Osama bin Laden stickers and banners.

What has happened to that model Muslim nation which was meant to be an example to the rest of the Muslim world?

Well, the answer to the question lies in the delusion that Malaysia was a moderate Muslim state in the first place. Though the spectre of religious militancy and terrorism were not so apparent in the country, those who have been following Malaysian politics closely over the past three decades will note that the brand of moderate Islamism that has been promoted by the ruling UMNO party as well as the Islamic opposition party PAS are hardly different in terms of the modalities of Muslim life they propose: both sides see the Islamic state as the final solution and the ultimate destination of Malaysia's twisted history, and on issues such as shariah law and the implementation of hudud punishments, both sides agree on the necessity but may disagree on the timing. In short, the eventual caning of Kartika Sari Dewi is just a sign of what is to come.

In the midst of this, the governments of the West do not really know what to do. Unlike the case of Iraq or Afghanistan, Malaysia is not a failed state with an economy teetering on collapse. Malaysia's main trading partners remain the same: the United States, Europe, Japan, and increasingly China and India. As an economy that is more or less intact, it remains a destination for foreign capital (that has dwindled lately thanks to the global crisis) and is seen and cast by the West as a model Muslim state for others to follow.

But the governments of the United States, Europe and Japan have said little about the rising tide of communitarian religious politics in the country, and despite the few muted objections that might be raised about the case of a young Muslim woman to be caned for drinking a beer, it is known to all that economic and diplomatic relations with Malaysia are not set to change anytime soon.

The moral of this story?

Well, it would suggest that for aspiring Muslim states that wish to walk down the thorny path of Islamism and conservative Islamisation, it would be good to keep your economic and diplomatic options open. Unlike many other failed Muslim states elsewhere, the relative economic success and political stability of a country like Malaysia means that it remains low on the priority list as far as human rights abuses are concerned. This then is the ideal place to be for authoritarian regimes worldwide: for as long as the cash keeps flowing and the contracts are signed on a regular basis, the whipping and caning of a few citizens here and there will not alter the landscape of international relations an iota. And that, sadly, is what realpolitik is all about.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (50) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Strict Punishment [55 words]melvin polatnickJun 25, 2010 11:40174823
och the game of those naughty naughty infidel!! [65 words]seraphimeJun 21, 2010 03:58174612
If pulling other people tooths considered sharia, that's bs.... [52 words]FajriAug 24, 2009 23:44160609
freedom in Islam? [154 words]the Grand Infidel of KafiristanAug 26, 2009 17:18160609
Blind following of any doctrine is a path to disaster. [233 words]GeorgePSep 4, 2009 04:28160609
Sharia Law is a set of laws [169 words]FajriSep 5, 2009 00:16160609
freedom in following Islam [95 words]FajriSep 5, 2009 00:31160609
sharia IS for losers [353 words]the Grand Infidel of KafiristanSep 8, 2009 05:49160609
get over it [248 words]the Grand Infidel of KafiristanSep 8, 2009 06:04160609
Sharia is an excuse for theft [125 words]EdwinJun 18, 2010 09:27160609
Malaysia - new frontier of Islamism [820 words]VijayAug 21, 2009 03:07160482
Dentistry, a new profession under Shari'a! [39 words]M.D.Aug 19, 2009 16:45160432
Islam running rampant [99 words]Rebecca MouldsAug 17, 2009 09:42160312
See a connection? [15 words]anonymousAug 16, 2009 12:00160261
Islam at its best ? Islam at its worse ? , no, ..Islam at its average ! [134 words]Phil GreendAug 14, 2009 10:23160198
false of daniel pipes [49 words]imySep 8, 2009 19:11160198
imy's claim... [29 words]KlewSep 9, 2009 00:18160198
Very Well said, Phil- about this islam. [39 words]SvetSep 9, 2009 03:10160198
Another victim of Arabian imperialism and ignorance [373 words]dhimmi no moreSep 9, 2009 07:13160198
Well, this is not surprising. [163 words]LynnAug 13, 2009 08:23160144
Am I surprised ? Not at all ! [98 words]Anne-Marie DelcambreAug 13, 2009 04:51160138
Delcambre [98 words]VijayAug 14, 2009 06:15160138
to follow the Sunna of Mohammed [58 words]Anne-Marie DelcambreAug 14, 2009 22:09160138
the way forward? [340 words]the Grand Infidel of KafiristanAug 15, 2009 00:38160138
Ideal Muslim [48 words]VijayAug 16, 2009 13:50160138
doing as Muhammad said, not as he did [249 words]the Grand Infidel of KafiristanAug 16, 2009 17:24160138
doing as Muhammad said AND as he did ! [46 words]Anne-Marie DelcambreAug 16, 2009 21:09160138
The sunna of Muhammad [446 words]dhimmi no moreAug 20, 2009 07:20160138
the sunna of muhammad [758 words]muhammadFeb 26, 2010 09:35160138
There is nothing spiritual about Islam [413 words]dhimmi no moreFeb 27, 2010 07:48160138
There is nothing spiritual about Islam [1115 words]muhammadFeb 28, 2010 12:38160138
Our dear Muhammad says that there is nothing spritual about Islam and cherry picking time [279 words]dhimmi no moreMar 1, 2010 18:44160138
More cherry picking and this time our dear Muhammad al-tablighee says that he ain't no Arab in-spite of the fact that the Qur'an says that Islam is the religion of the Hijazi Arabs only [277 words]dhimmi no moreMar 1, 2010 19:31160138
More from our dear Muhammad [98 words]dhimmi no moreMar 1, 2010 19:35160138
Our dear Muhammad and his God says that al-tabligh wa al-da3wa al-islamiyya are against his doctrine of al-qada' wa al-qadr [501 words]dhimmi no moreMar 2, 2010 07:14160138
Gem time and our dear Muhammad and two for the price of one [384 words]dhimmi no moreMar 2, 2010 16:36160138
Our dear Muhammad and two for the price of one and it seems that Islamic da3wa is against Allah's will astaghfirullah part deux [217 words]dhimmi no moreMar 6, 2010 07:48160138
Respect [451 words]muhammadMar 10, 2010 08:29160138
Respect is earned now do you get it? [658 words]dhimmi no moreMar 13, 2010 17:58160138
no no no. respect is an attribute that YOU need to have [584 words]muhammadMar 13, 2010 21:02160138
A tablighee is a tablighee [34 words]dhimmi no moreMar 15, 2010 07:26160138
Our dear Muhammad has nothing to say right our dear Muhammad? [250 words]dhimmi no moreMar 15, 2010 18:40160138
Our dear Muhammad and the "Allah made me do it" and more cherry picking [235 words]dhimmi no moreMar 16, 2010 07:23160138
there is nothing to say about islam, but lots to say about you [508 words]muhammadMar 19, 2010 08:45160138
I thank Allah for making me a kafir big time [393 words]dhimmi no moreMar 20, 2010 18:35160138
More cherry picking time that islam is the religion of the Hijazi Arabs only and other sordid matters [791 words]dhimmi no moreMar 21, 2010 08:31160138
Cherry picking time and "Allah made me do it" [194 words]dhimmi no moreMar 21, 2010 08:51160138
i will spell it out for you [135 words]muhammadMar 22, 2010 08:49160138
Our dear Muhammad has nothing to say [153 words]dhimmi no moreMar 23, 2010 06:37160138
So what did we learn from you our dear Muhammad al-tablighee? [7 words]DaveJul 12, 2010 16:02160138

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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