The Cruel Joke of Merdeka and Maal Hijrah
Two important historical markers are being celebrated back to back in Malaysia. Both celebrate freedom, but our actions in practice are contrary to the spirit of liberation that we seem to observe.
A Contradiction?
a Contradictory Message?
However, our actions in practice seem to contradict this spirit of liberation. Let us consider our actions leading up to these two days.
Deportation Amidst Celebrations
For Arif Komis, a school teacher (cum-terrorist-on-the-run, to take Erdogan’s media at face value), deportation must have seemed to be a cruel independence day joke by a country where he had hoped to find protection.
Restrictive Rules
Meanwhile, in the name of Maal Hijrah, Malaysians were introduced to a ridiculous rule which denied minorities among us their right to be entertained because our self-appointed guardians of Islam considered it a desecration of a holy day. A veteran south Indian singer was forced to reschedule his concert because some half-baked salaried Muslim scholars at Jakim considered any form of entertainment during Maal Hijrah to be tantamount to disregarding Muslim sensitivities.
A Lesson Lost?
Their actions might seem to be a cruel joke upon the memory of the nascent Muslim community who endured sufferings as a persecuted minority in Mecca. For 1,500 years since then, Muslims have paid tribute to this minority group who traversed the hard desert sands of Arabia to flee persecution. That act of migration in search of freedom and equality was so important in Islamic history that it has become the basis of the Islamic calendar. Has that lesson been lost upon our salaried Muslim scholars, who have produced such strange rules in the name of Muslim sensitivities?
A Call for Harmony
Maal Hijrah is a call of brotherhood with minorities, a reminder to Muslims that they, too, were once a minority. To deny a minority group an innocent evening of entertainment because it conflicts with a day of brotherhood with minorities is more than ironic, it is tragic. Our government, our defenders of Islam, backed by our salaried Muslim scholars, also appear to have forgotten that Islam is a religion built on the sacrifices of refugees.
A Salutary Lesson
Our salaried Muslim scholars might find a salutary lesson from Islam’s infancy when a group of Muslims persecuted by the elites of Mecca fled to Abyssinia and sought refuge with Negus, the Christian king. Surely our scholars can understand the generosity of spirit which allowed a Christian king to give protection to people who propagated a religion that does not believe in his version of Christ.
A Glaring Inconsistency?
Yet that liberating spirit has been obliterated by the wasteful ceremonies by which we celebrate Maal Hijrah every year, and more so, by the way we have turned against a minority and a group of refugees on an occasion when we should honor and lift up the downtrodden.
Conclusion
Maal Hijrah is about celebrating the sacrifices of pioneers who sought freedom and asylum. It is about reaching out to those who may be in similar situations of persecution and offering them compassion and understanding. It seems that we have lost this message in our zeal for pomp and ceremony. This cruel joke of Merdeka and Maal Hijrah must be corrected soon, lest we forget our own history and the humanity that lies at the very core of our faith and our nation.
FAQs
* Q: What is Merdeka?
A: Merdeka is Malaysia’s Independence Day, celebrated on August 31st.
* Q: What is Maal Hijrah?
A: Maal Hijrah, also known as Awal Muharram, marks the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar and honors the epic migration of early Muslims from Mecca.