Ramadan A Time For Fasting Not Slapping

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From Mustafa K Anuar
It is unsurprising that many of us Malaysians were deeply disturbed by the recent incident in Johor Bahru where a non-Muslim young man was allegedly slapped by a Muslim elderly man for eating in a convenience store during daytime.
A non-Muslim was vehemently castigated for eating during Ramadan in an allocated eating space.
This suggests that the seemingly self-righteous man has transgressed the legitimate space and rights of the non-Muslim.
Worse, it was committed in an unlawful manner. The case is being investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.
In this regard, it is useful for the Muslim man concerned to be reminded of Surah Al Kafirun (109:6) in the Quran: ‘For you is your religion, and for me is my religion’.
In short, there should not be compulsion in religion.
Such improper conduct obviously has serious implications. For one thing, it can harm the now fragile ethnic and religious relations among the diverse people in Malaysia. It has stoked anxiety among Malaysians.
To be sure, the religious practices of one group should not adversely impact the religious traditions and rights of another group. However, the red line has been crossed in this case.
And, mind you, it doesn’t help when we have certain politicians in our midst who are ever eager to exploit race and religion for their dark designs of driving a wedge between communities.
Our country cannot afford to be constantly weighed down by the toxic politics of race and religion if we are serious about moving forward in terms of socioeconomic progress.
Besides, the drastic changes in the geopolitics of the contemporary world also demand that we, as a nation, address the challenges that emerge as a result.
A more serious implication is that self-righteous behaviour of certain Muslims does a great disservice to the Islamic faith, which could possibly enhance Islamophobia within certain segments of society.
The man’s misconduct runs counter to the deeper meanings of fasting, which are to enjoin Muslims to, among other things, exercise restraint, self-discipline, empathy, compassion, patience and respect, as well as to steer away from backbiting.
Ramadan is also a month of self-reflection and of enhancing piety and stimulating charity.
In short, fasting is more than mere abstinence from human desire for food and water, which the man appeared so keen to emphasise.
So, despite such clear religious commandments, what drove the man to act in a way that religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar condemned as un-Islamic?
Perhaps we could get a better understanding of the issue if we situate the incident in its wider social context.
Moral policing, which is what the Muslim man in effect was doing, is not a new social phenomenon.
Such moral surveillance has been conducted by Malaysia’s religious authorities as well as vigilantes over the years, not only during Ramadan but also other months.
For instance, in 2016, the Selangor Islamic religious department (Jais) resorted to modern communications technology to encourage Muslims to help police the morals of co-religionists.
Members of the public were urged to use its mobile app called ‘Hotline Jais’, which was available on Android devices to report suspected Shariah-related crimes, such as khalwat (close proximity) and ‘deviant Islamic teachings’, at a faster rate.
It would appear that from the above case, vigilantism has been condoned by certain religious authorities in the name of protecting Islam.
Thus, it is no surprise that, for example, a vigilante group called ‘Badar Squad’ emerged in Kedah about a decade ago, whose crusade of sorts was to stamp out activities it considered ‘sinful’.
At this juncture, it is not a stretch to argue that the kind of moral policing that the Muslim man in Johor Bahru has committed could have the effect of turning self-restraint during Ramadan on its head.
Surely, this is not intended in Islam.
What could be injurious to the image of Muslims in the country is that the insistence imposed on non-Muslims to steer away from doing things that could jeopardise the Muslims’ observance of fasting worryingly gives the impression of a fragile faith.
To put it another way, do Muslims need non-Muslims to “help protect” their faith? - FMT
Mustafa K Anuar is an Aliran executive committee member and an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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