Islamization and Activism in Malaysia

3. Malaysia as an Islamic State: The Debate

51 3 MALAYSIA฀AS฀AN฀ISLAMIC฀STATE฀฀ The฀Debate Of฀the฀arguments฀in฀the฀Islamic฀state฀debate฀that฀I฀explore฀in฀this฀chapter,฀ first฀ are฀ those฀ that฀ should฀ be฀ regarded฀ as฀ emanating฀ from฀ UMNO฀ and฀ the฀ Islamization฀ mechanisms฀ that฀ it฀ has฀ established.฀ Among฀ these฀ arguments ฀are฀that฀existing฀political฀structures฀are฀in฀some฀way฀already฀Islamic฀ or฀consistent฀with฀Islam฀and฀that฀Malaysia฀ought฀to฀undergo฀a฀process฀of฀ further฀Islamization. Second,฀ I฀ examine฀ the฀ approach฀ of฀ liberal฀ constitutionalists฀ who฀ interpret ฀ Malaysia’s฀ Constitution฀ as฀ being฀ fundamentally฀ liberal฀ and฀ not฀ suggestive฀of฀an฀Islamic฀state.฀As฀an฀exemplar฀of฀this฀approach฀I฀take฀the฀ position฀articulated฀by฀lawyer฀Malik฀Imtiaz฀Sarwar฀who฀directly฀refutes฀the฀ government฀position.฀Third,฀I฀turn฀to฀PAS.฀PAS฀wishes฀to฀turn฀Malaysia฀into฀ an฀Islamic฀state฀and฀disputes฀UMNO’s฀assertion฀that฀Malaysia฀already฀is.฀ One฀ point฀ of฀ interest฀ in฀ these฀ three฀ perspectives฀ is฀ the฀ different฀ historical ฀groundings฀employed฀to฀legitimize฀the฀different฀positions.฀UMNO’s฀ salient฀ historical฀ foundation฀ is฀ the฀ imagined฀ history฀ of฀ the฀ Malaysian฀ peninsula฀in฀which฀Islamic฀law฀prevailed฀prior฀to฀both฀colonialism฀and฀the฀ immigration฀ of฀ Chinese฀ and฀ Indian฀ migrants.฀ The฀ temporal฀ precedence฀ of฀ the฀ Malays฀ also฀ forms฀ a฀ key฀ historical฀ justification฀ for฀ UMNO’s฀ arguments ฀that฀Malaysia฀is฀an฀Islamic฀state฀and฀ought฀to฀be฀regarded฀as฀such.฀ For฀liberal฀constitutionalists,฀the฀salient฀historical฀foundation฀is฀the฀creation฀ ฀ of฀ Malaysia’s฀ Constitution฀ which฀ embodies฀ and฀ articulates฀ The฀ Bargain.฀ 51 04 I&AM.indd 51 3/22/10 2:50:25 PM 52฀ Islamization฀and฀Activism฀in฀Malaysia The฀Constitution฀is฀regarded฀as฀essentially฀liberal฀and฀forms฀the฀legitimate฀ contemporary฀ legal฀ and฀ political฀ framework฀ by฀ which฀ personal฀ liberties฀ and฀freedoms฀should฀be฀reckoned.฀For฀PAS,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀the฀salient฀ historical฀ foundation฀ is฀ Medina฀ under฀ the฀ leadership฀ of฀ the฀ Prophet฀ Muhammad.฀The฀constitution฀of฀Medina฀which฀was฀created฀by฀Muhammad฀ forms฀ a฀ model฀ for฀ PAS฀ as฀ it฀ was฀ multi-religious฀ and฀ multi-ethnic฀ like฀ Malaysia฀ is฀ today.฀ However,฀ although฀ its฀ salient฀ historical฀ model฀ is฀ the฀ oldest฀of฀the฀three,฀PAS’s฀vision฀is฀forward-looking฀in฀that฀it฀is฀less฀interested฀ in฀ interpreting฀ the฀ current฀ Constitution฀ or฀ restoring฀ Malaysia’s฀ past,฀ but฀ seeks฀to฀posit฀a฀completely฀new฀Constitution฀for฀Malaysia.฀Instead฀of฀the฀ 1957฀Constitution,฀the฀primary฀sources฀of฀legislation฀for฀PAS฀are฀to฀be฀the฀ ฀ Quran฀and฀the฀Sunnah฀(traditions฀of฀the฀Prophet). THE฀PERSPECTIVE฀OF฀UMNO On฀29฀September฀2001,฀Mahathir฀Mohamad฀announced฀that฀Malaysia฀was฀ already฀an฀Islamic฀state฀at฀the฀Annual฀General฀Assembly฀of฀the฀ostensibly฀ multi-ethnic฀but฀Chinese-dominated฀BN฀component฀party,฀Gerakan.฀Strong฀ objections฀to฀this฀announcement฀soon฀followed฀from฀various฀quarters.฀Many฀ non-Muslims฀ and฀ Muslims฀ alike฀ objected฀ because฀ they฀ regarded฀ Malaysia฀ as฀liberal฀and,฀in฀effect,฀secular.฀Conservative฀Muslims,฀such฀as฀those฀from฀ PAS,฀also฀objected.฀The฀ostensible฀reason฀for฀their฀objections฀included฀that฀ many฀ of฀ the฀ characteristics฀ of฀ an฀ Islamic฀ state,฀ in฀ particular฀ the฀ Hudud฀ laws฀and฀punishments฀(see฀below),฀were฀absent.฀Politically฀though,฀if฀PAS฀ accepted฀that฀Malaysia฀was฀an฀Islamic฀state,฀the฀party฀would฀lose฀much฀of฀ its฀reason฀for฀being฀(see฀Martinez฀2005,฀p.฀151).฀ In฀defence฀of฀the฀declaration,฀the฀Ministry฀of฀Information’s฀Department฀ of฀ Special฀ Affairs฀ published฀ a฀ booklet.฀ It฀ was฀ titled฀ Malaysia฀ Adalah฀ Sebuah฀Negara฀Islam฀(Malaysia฀is฀an฀Islamic฀State).฀This฀booklet฀was฀later฀ withdrawn฀from฀circulation,฀almost฀certainly฀owing฀to฀the฀criticism฀it฀drew.฀ Nevertheless,฀ the฀ justifications฀ and฀ legitimizations฀ of฀ Mahathir’s฀ claim฀ remain฀important฀as฀they฀are฀common฀justifications฀for฀regarding฀Malaysia฀ as฀an฀Islamic฀state.฀ Among฀ the฀ justifications฀ detailed฀ in฀ this฀ booklet฀ are฀ four฀ scholars’฀ definitions฀ of฀ an฀ Islamic฀ state฀ which฀ Malaysia฀ is฀ said฀ to฀ fulfil.฀ These฀ definitions฀are:฀ 1.฀ Sayikh฀Muhammad฀Abu฀Zuhrah:฀“An฀Islamic฀State฀is฀a฀state฀under฀ the฀ authority฀ or฀ rule฀ of฀ an฀ Islamic฀ government;฀ the฀ power฀ and฀ defence฀of฀the฀state฀are฀in฀the฀hands฀of฀the฀followers฀of฀Islam.฀Such฀ a฀state฀must฀be฀defended฀by฀every฀Muslim.” 04 I&AM.indd 52 3/22/10 2:50:25 PM Malaysia฀as฀an฀Islamic฀State:฀The฀Debate฀ 53 2.฀ Muhammad฀ bin฀ Hasan฀ Al-Syaibani:฀ “A฀ state,฀ which฀ is฀ ruled฀ by฀ followers฀of฀Islam฀and฀where฀Muslims฀are฀able฀to฀live฀in฀peace.”฀ 3.฀ Imam฀Al-Fahistani:฀“An฀Islamic฀State฀is฀a฀state฀where฀Islamic฀administrative ฀law฀is฀enforced฀(Islamic฀law฀is฀enforced).” 4.฀ Imam฀Syafi’i:฀“Any฀state฀that฀was฀an฀Islamic฀state฀will฀not฀lose฀its...