Melayu Ketuanism and Islamism

From Nationalism to Islamism.

Before any one goes into an incoherent rage about the statement 'religion being the opium of the masses', please read the last part of this essay. I was expecting these off base responses. The phrase opium of the masses is often associated with Karl Marx. His ideas are no longer in vogue today. One by one, the countries which adopted his thinking have fallen to capitalism. It seems those people, in those counties where the 'opium' is widely adopted have prospered. Meanwhile those countries which adopted his 'godless' doctrines have fumbled.

In my own not too distant past, I came across this very phrase that resulted in very extreme agitation and violent responses from certain quarters. That is not the meaning I applied in my previous essay. Accordingly, I am not going to be drawn into an argument on a topic or subject I did not sponsor. I have to politely decline the invitation to get into the subject in that context.

My object of interest was the combustible issue raised in the Dewan Rakyat a few days ago.

A few days ago, the MP from Ipoh Barat made a statement that caused ruckus and din in the Dewan Rakyat. The MP from Sri Gading demanded the minister in charge of we don't know what, to answer.

Many others and I find this strange- something was said about Ketuanan Melayu being a stumbling block to meaningful national unity, yet we expect and even demand a Chinese Minister to answer on our behalf?

Why don't those clever Malay MPs other than those from Sri Gading and Pasir Mas answer or challenge the assumption stated by the Ipoh Barat MP?

The MP from Pasir Mas was quick off his seat with his usual trademark stock in trade- berating anyone touching on the issue of Malayness. Ibrahim's Ali overt and at times combative defense of Malayness or all things Malay does not prove he is more Malay than other Malays. If at all, he has proven not to be beneath out-shouting other people or jumping on the bench.

It means nothing to skeptical and thinking people who do not care a hoot about how one declares his 'patriotism'. The manner in which he expressed his, is not the only one. This isn't a shouting contest where the one who shouts loudest is the winner.

Both the MP from Sri Gading and Pasir Mas were united in a very fundamental but non productive and therefore, less clever obsession- that of spending time on fighting for and fighting off over what we Malays already had- which is the protection of Malay interests by the constitution.

Why are we fighting over something we already have in our hands? Shouldn't our energy, efforts and resources be directed to acquiring for instance what we haven't got such as technological progress and finding ways how to increase productivity?

Now, the above paragraph can also describe what is happening in Muslim countries all over the world. Instead of focusing on acquiring what we Muslims have not yet acquired, we are busily fighting among ourselves over something which we already have.

If for example, Islam is already completed, why are we fighting over whose version is purer? Because we are obsessed over asserting whose version is purer, we kill off each other, we want to cane people, we want to arrest preachers who are not given accreditation and do all sorts of other unimaginable punitive things.

Let's ask the perennial question- why is it that Muslim countries have generally underperformed in almost all aspects of human progress? In Malaysia, this issue is nothing new. At the turn of the 19^th century, returned Malay scholars who have studied in the Middle East were asking the same questions.

In the early 20^th century, the first cogent and coherent arguments outlining the reasons of Muslim and Malay backwardness were offered by Zaaba. Just so readers know, Zaaba argued in the English Language. He wrote his early essays in The Malay Mail. I am very certain no one would ever doubt Zaaba's nationalistic credentials and indeed he was one of the founding members of UMNO in 1946.

We return to the question. Why did the societies of Islamic civilization stagnate? The same question finds its double in the inquiry- why did Malay civilization stagnate?

We have to assume here that for Islamic civilization, the driving force behind Islamic civilization has to be Islam itself. What about Malay civilization? Since we are obsessed with Ketuanan Melayu, I have to accept that the driving force is Malay Nationalism. I therefore take Ketuanan Melayu to mean Malay Nationalism and not that bastardized version of Ketuanan Melayu so despised by the MP from Ipoh Barat.

Malay Nationalism must be taken to mean a set of precepts propelling the Malay forward. It necessarily includes elements such as affinity with fellow Malays, professed love for all things Malay; willful resolve to see things gets better for Malays and so forth. It must surely NOT include such concepts of a master race enforcing hegemony over other Malaysians.

That last bit is a misconception held and perpetuated by the very same people speaking outwardly of a meaningful unity but holding different and possibly opposite private beliefs. It is worsened further by the presence of agitators from the opposite side. Can anyone imagine the Ipoh Barat MP holding a different version of Ketuanan Melayu other that the one which he WANTS to keep and  the one he assumes every Melayu out there adopts?

But like the minister in charge of we-don't-what said- harmony among Malaysian races is the RULE not the exception. Lunatics with their own hallucinations and from both divides, prosper on the EXCEPTION rather than the rule.

Let us forget about ALL these MPs with their pet assumptions. For Malays especially, let us try to find answers as to what is holding back Muslims and Malays.

As preliminary statements, we can state the following.

1. 
   
   One, what seems to be holding back Muslims are NOT the precise doctrines of the religion but rather the uses to which the religion is applied to and the readiness of societies to change and reinterpret the doctrines.
   
   
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Two, what seems to be holding back Malays are not the doctrines of the fearsome Ketuanan Melayu, but rather the uses to which that concept is applied to and the willingness of Malay society to change and reinterpret the doctrines.
   
   
   
   
   

The ironic truth is that Islamism has sometimes provided a useful cover to governments wanting to maintain control over their economies and people. Likewise, Melayu Ketuanism is more likely used to provide a useful cover to interest groups to maintain control over the economy and the rest of us Malays.