tee.rex

-Today there are hundreds of Islams.
-Muslims must return to the Prophet's religion
-"Even in modernisation, they look for the form."

LONDON: Muslims must re-examine the Islam they practise as
contradictory interpretations of the religion have divided its
followers and led to various drawbacks, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr
Mahathir Mohamad said.

"The Prophet brought us only one religion of Islam. Today there are
hundreds of Islams. We have to go back to the one Islam brought by the
Prophet," he said.

He described Islam as still the perfect religion, saying that "it is
the Muslims who are not perfect, who have allowed themselves to
misinterpret Islam, to deviate from the teachings of Islam," adding
that the fundamentals of Islam were good.

"We must certainly re-examine the Islam that we practise. We have no
need to reinvent it when facing the new challenges of today.

"But we must certainly correct the wrong interpretations of Islam if
we are to overcome successfully the threats and humiliation that we
face," he said.

Dr Mahathir said this in his speech on Islam and the Ummah:
Re-examining and Reinventing Ourselves in the Face of New Challenges
at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of
London yesterday.

He said there would be no conflict and war among Muslims if the
fundamentals of Islam were adhered to.

"But we are hardly brothers to each other. We are ready to accuse each
other of being apostates and we are ready to kill each other.

"Islam means peace. We wish peace upon each other. That is also
fundamental to Islam. We only fight those who attack us, be they
Muslims or non-Muslims.

"When the enemy sues for peace, Muslims must respond positively, but
we are doing none of these fundamental things," he added.

The Prime Minister said Muslims were labelled as terrorists, which "we
don't think is justified," but "the fact is that we are killing people
because of our anger, regardless of who we kill, regardless of the
consequences.

"Admittedly, we are desperate and out-gunned and there is very little
else we can do to defend ourselves against the injustice perpetrated
against us, but should we just lash out indiscriminately, killing
innocent people, including those who sympathise with us?

"Shouldn't we stop to think, to plan and to strategise with ultimate
victory as our goals?" he asked, saying the anger of Muslims had not
assuaged but had increased.

Dr Mahathir also asked whether the life of a Muslim was Islamic,
saying that "many of us believe that by Islamic way of life, we must
wear certain dresses, keep a beard and cover our body."

"But this is not everything as a way of life. We perform prayers,
fast, pay the tithes and perform the haj.

"These are enjoined upon us together with our declaration of faith in
Allah and his Prophet."

He said that clothing "which is meant to cover the body is translated
as the wearing of the Arab dress," adding that other forms of dress,
including the now universal coat and trousers which also covered the
body, "are being regarded as being of no merit, unIslamic."

"Reading to acquire knowledge is interpreted as reading to acquire
Islamic religious knowledge only. Defence of the ummah is interpreted
as veneration of the ancient weapons of war."

On Muslim theologians, he said Muslims needed religious guidance so
that there would be no straying from the prescribed path.

"For this, there must be Muslim scholars and teachers, but obviously
not everyone has to be a Muslim scholaror teacher. If all are, then
there would be no one to provide food, shelter and clothing.

"If that happens, then the community, including the ulamas, would be
sinning because there is no one to provide for the non-spiritual needs
of the community to enable the Islamic way of life to be lived."

On the implementation of Islamic laws, Dr Mahathir said that "despite
the Quranic injunction that when we judge, we must judge with justice,
we still emphasise the importance of procedures and process, ignoring
the injustice that it may cause.

"Thus, if a woman is ****d and she lodges a complaint against the
rapist, if she cannot produce four witnesses then she is guilty of
false accusation and should be whipped.

"If later, she bears a child, then that is evidence of zina and should
be punished by stoning to death.

"Obviously, this particular application of Islamic law ignores the
injunction to judge with justice.

"But the orthodox remain adamant that the procedures must be adhered
to even if they result in injustice. If anyone disagrees, then he is
considered to be against Islamic law and condemned as an unbeliever in
Islam.

"Clearly, the teaching of Islam is being wrongly interpreted. As a
result, the good that is promised the believers has not manifested
itself."

Tracing the early civilisation of Islam, Dr Mahathir said its
followers were ahead of the Europeans in many fields, such as
agriculture, architecture, navigation and construction.

"Because of the extensive knowledge in all fields of learning and
their consequent skills in the acquisition of wealth, in
administration and in military defence, the Muslim civilisation
thrived and grew, enabling the Muslims to live a way of life as
prescribed by the Quran," he said.

But later, varied interpretations of the Quran split the community and
different sects emerged, resulting in fights with each other and "the
situation now is not unlike the feuding of the Arab tribes in the
pre-Islamic period."

Muslims became more inward looking and neglected the development of
their countries and they missed the Industrial Revolution.

"The number of great mathematicians, scientists, physicians,
navigators, astronomers in the Muslim world began to diminish when the
ulamas and the Muslim jurists gained power and influence in Muslim
Spain.

"Soon the Muslims lost their lead in those fields of learning which
had contributed to the greatness of the Islamic civilisation."

Dr Mahathir urged Muslims to return to the fundamentals of Islam,
saying the "the problem is that Muslims tend to emphasise and venerate
the form rather than the substance in the practice of everything."

"Even in modernisation, they look for the form."

He urged Muslims to correct the wrong interpretations of Islam "if we
are to overcome successfully the threats and humilation that we face."
---------
The STAR

zalzon

he's wrong. the prophet was a man who killed his way to the top of
the political ladder. he literally became a powerful statesman of
sorts within his life

even so, islam in its early years was not overtly violent until the
arrival of the crusades which muslims successfully fought against.

however that marked a turning point. once arabs got the idea that
jehad which is politics + religion + violence = success, they started
their own 'crusades' which today is better known as terrorism.

modern liberal christianity meanwhile has moved on and become more
secular and less violent. eventually islam too will follow that route
once the middle east is democratised and goes capitalist.

kiasuman

One thing about this Mahathir.
He can call a spade a spade with biting pungent words.