KUALA LUMPUR – Everyone, given the chance, can become humane.
Although humanity itself is not a religion, everyone has the ability and mindset to get in touch with their humane side.
This is the assertion of senior lawyer Datuk Seri Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, the founder of Rakyat Penyelamat Negara (RaPeRa), a citizens’ movement that aims to drive reforms in Malaysia’s governance and society.
He was speaking to The Vibes for the opening edition of its five-part special series titled “Humanity beyond religion” to be published every Sunday, starting today. The project features views on this topic by eminent thinkers from four different religions in Malaysia.
Jaharberdeen told The Vibes that he believes, as human beings, we cannot divorce ourselves from humanity.
It is a known fact that there must be collective happiness in society to enable us to live well – spiritually, physically and emotionally. In a nutshell, we must be considerate and compassionate with each other.
However, humanity and religion are not interchangeable.
“Humanity and religion are actually two different things – even though you may find humanity in religion,” he said.
“Humanity is something that we can find in ourselves, even without religion, and I think it is a big mistake... to think that only those with religion can be humane,” he said.
Regrettably, in recent years, pursuing humanity has become a challenge in Malaysia, he said, with the quest to achieve it becoming somehow diluted.
He said racism and religion have become obstacles that have, unfortunately, contributed significantly to Malaysians becoming divided. The biggest incident in relation to this was the riots of May 13, 1969 half a century ago.
Jahaberdeen said the crux of the rising tension in the country is in fact that many politicians do not want religion to be depoliticised.
“The majority of voters in Malaysia are Malay-Muslims. Therefore, politicians will always use these two aspects (Malay and Muslim identities) to gain votes,” he said.
“It is an easy sentiment to play on. The Malays are (being) used to get votes.”
Jahaberdeen further explained that, with the current ignominy among politicians, the people need honest leaders with clearer vision as current ones are manipulators.
“Malaysia needs changes, and the people are ready for changes. Contrary to the present politicians, who make sure that they are not ready… and, as such, the people will think that they are not ready. This is the problem,” he said.
Is Islam the enemy?
Jahaberdeen also emphasised that Islam is being centrestaged as a politicised religion solely because it is mentioned in the federal constitution as the religion of the federation.
“Islam becomes organised, controlled and monitored by the state. When we have a religion that is controlled and organised by the state, it will bring up legal issues,” he remarked.
Not only will it cause a rift among Muslims and Non-Muslims, but it also causes problems within Muslim communities themselves, he added.
He stressed that one of the frustrations faced by the Muslim community is the fact that there is not much freedom to talk about Islam. There is a fear that different Muslims might have different interpretations of Islam.
Apart from that, diverse understandings on Islam are not actually allowed in this country. So, what is allowed?
What is allowed is the mainstream, state-defined understanding of Islam, he said.
But Malaysia must instead, he said, allow Article 11 of the federal constitution to be exercised.
The interpretation of Article 11 of the federal constitution states that there is freedom of religion; this means that people can be free to embrace whatever religion they want.
“In other words, if we allow religion to be an individual matter, it will solve a lot of problems,” he said.
“We need to bring back religion, especially Islam, to the spiritual level and take it away from the political level.”
In the interview, Jaharberdeen was asked about Malaysia’s status today in the context of multiculturalism.
“What is the Malaysian dream?” he replied.
“The Malaysian dream is to be able to achieve a nation where every single Malaysian citizen can attain their own dream based on their abilities and talents – without being obstructed by racial and religious obstacles.” – The Vibes, December 20, 2020
Watch out for the next edition of The Vibes’ special series on "Humanity beyond religion" next Sunday. The five-part series, featuring eminent thinkers of major religions in Malaysia, runs every Sunday until January 17, 2021
