SHAH ALAM – The Malay Muslim community must have the courage and not shy away from calling out Islamic religious scholars who “cherry-pick” from the Holy Quran and Hadith to legitimise wrongdoings, especially corruption, said a local Islamic academic today.
Speaking at a forum titled “Corruption and Hypocrisy in Malay Muslim Politics – The Urgency of Moral-Ethical Transformation”, International Islamic University’s assistant professor Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin said that Allah condemns those who support wrongdoings even though they are an “ulama” (religious scholar).
“Let’s look at the 1MDB case. All courts found the convict guilty, but these religious individuals are defending him.
“We are not asking them to cheer the imprisonment but his crime is not a small one – it caused losses for the country,” said Abu Hafiz, referring to convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s incarceration.
“We must have some common sense and rebuke these religious individuals. Yes, we should honour them but not to the extent that we remain silent when it comes to wrongdoings – especially by those who have been found guilty.”
Speaking to The Vibes’ sister portal Getaran at the sidelines of the forum, the academic recalled a tale during the early days of Islam involving Prophet Muhammad, his close comrade Usamah ibn Zaid, and a woman from the wealthy and influential Makhzum Clan who was guilty of theft.
The woman’s family members had sent Usamah to see the prophet to plead leniency for her case – as under Islamic Shariah law, she was bound to have her hand chopped off for theft.
Upset by Usamah’s request, Muhammad then questioned his follower: “Do you try to intercede for somebody in a case connected with Allah’s Prescribed Punishments?”
The prophet then stood up and delivered a short sermon saying: “What destroyed the nations preceding you, was that if a noble amongst them stole, they would forgive him, and if a poor person amongst them stole, they would inflict Allah’s Legal punishment on him.
“By Allah, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut off her hand.”
Abu Hafiz stressed that even though Islam calls for its faithful to do good unto others, they must never forget that it teaches its congregation to do justice and stop wrongdoings.
Therefore, Islamic religious scholars who cherry-pick Quranic verses and Hadith for their own political benefit without balancing them with the rest of the divine texts will lead to the wrong perception of Islam in the eyes of the greater community.
“This is why we need a check and balance from the public. Yes, they may not be scholars, but it is so easy now.
“After listening to a lecture, they can fact-check online – if you (the scholar) claim that this hadith promotes good deeds, where’s the rest of it?
“This can put fear into these religious individuals because their lectures are now recorded.
“This person could be busted for giving an imbalanced perspective and after that, no one will call the scholar anymore, causing problems for the individual,” said Abu Hafiz. – The Vibes, September 22, 2022
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