Islam's Freedom Ride ~ Who's going to tell them they are going nowhere on that!
He said there appeared to be a negative perception of the religion and Malaysia was prepared to work with the United States to fend off such intolerance.
How does a 'negative perception' of a religion ~ any religion amount to 'intolerance'? It would have to be in a place where religion is not allowed to be criticized. Like Malaysia ~ soon to be truly Arabia!
Leaving Islam in Malaysia is a crime ~ punishable by several years in prison. Good people are imprisoned ~ for choosing to abandon Islam. And good people are whipped for having a drink. The dead are snatched and forcibly buried as a Muslim if there is the remotest chance they could have converted to Islam ~ leaving family member of other religions stunned.
Luckily for non-Muslims Malaysia has a duel legal system, so that they are judged under civilian law. But for Muslims they are not so lucky ~ you cannot choose whether or not to have your case heard in a Shari'a court. So there is a completely different and often subjugating law for non-Muslims and particularly the Muslim women. And occasionally or increasing the two divergent laws come into conflict with each other. For example if you marry a Muslim ~ then any family issue or settlement would have to be dealt with under the Shari'a courts. Where naturally women are at a disadvantage ~ in addition Shari'a law puts Muslims above non-Muslims ~ as it puts Muslim men above women.
Over recent years the country has been becoming more extreme. Restrictions on what word Christians can say for God. Which in the Malay language is Allah. Naturally it is the Christians who would be seen as the problem. As the use of the word [in the church] ~ might 'confuse' Muslims.
Other weird laws being talked about there is that non-Muslims should not be allowed to enter mosques.
Recently women were allowed to judge in Shari'a law cases. Hailed around the world as progress soon came to a crashing reality ~ they would be extremely restricted in what cases they would be allowed to hear. Equality nil!
What we understand from Malaysia is that tolerance and respect for individual freedoms and Islam do not coexist.
NEW YORK: Americans need to understand Islam better to stop the increasing Islamophobia in the United States, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
He said there appeared to be a negative perception of the religion and Malaysia was prepared to work with the United States to fend off such intolerance.
The concern, he said, was brought up during a discussion between Asean leaders and President Barack Obama here on Friday.
He commended the Obama Administration for its firm handling of the recent episode where a little-known Florida pastor, Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center, had threatened to burn copies of the Quran, sparking worldwide outrage from people of all faiths. His International Burn a Quran Day was eventually called off.
Najib said Americans needed to have better knowledge and understanding of Islam, pointing out that a recent poll by an international magazine had revealed that 26% of Americans thought that Obama was a Muslim.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life also reportedly detected a real and lingering tendency to see Islam and Muslims though the lens of extremism.
The study found that the American public’s views of Islam had worsened since 2005 - 30% had a favourable view and 38% did not.
Last year, a Gallup Poll found that 53% of Americans viewed Islam in an unfavourable light.
Speaking to Malaysian newsmen here on Friday evening Najib said that while there were American extremist groups that were loud, they did not represent the majority of Americans.
Malaysia’s concern was brought up by Najib during the discussion between Asean leaders and Obama on Friday.
This was the second annual meeting involving Asean leaders and an American president, with the first held in Singapore last year.
Najib also proposed that the US send English language teachers to Asean nations, similar to the Peace Corps programme of the 1960s initiated by President John F. Kennedy where youth volunteers travelled the globe to help in community projects.
Obama, in reply, said the Peace Corp programme was meaningful for him as his late mother had travelled under the programme to Indonesia where he spent a part of his childhood.
Najib also met several leaders, including Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.
Holbroke is the top ranking US envoy under the Obama Administration and had brokered the agreement between warring factions in Bosnia when he was the US Ambassador to Germany from 1993-1994.
No comments:
Post a Comment