The MP for Kinabatangan, Bung Mokhtar is not a politician one is comfortable to praise, but his advise in Parliament on October 17th, 2023 is commendable.
It was directed to Ahmad Murzak, the PN government's former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Islamic Affair and MP for Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan for his snide remark to call DAP kafir.
Bung appropriately quoted a verse from the Surah Kafirun (Disbeliever) of the Quran.
"I do not worship what you worship, nor are you worshipper of what I worship, nor will I be worshipper of what you worship, nor will you be worshipper of what I worship." With that laid out, the surah ended as, "For you is your religion, for me is my religion".
In the nutshell, it means mutual respect for each other's belief. One should be mindful that each person's belief is predetermined from the parent's religion and the environment they grew up. [Read here] The difference is fated thus it should be accepted, respected and celebrated. Each should be left with their way to live their life and adhere to the true spirit of their faith for peace and harmony.
The Muslim-Kafir description or antonym should be harmless. However, it has been inappropriately expressed in derogatory manner in the past that it became an insult and divisive. Similar undertone can lead into a violent Gentile vs Goyim narrative explicitly expressed by the Israeli Zionist Rabbi below:
The genocide in Gaza is the manifestation of the deep-rooted hatred arising from extreme us vs them narrative. Similar to Kafir, "Goyim", which is non-believer in Hebrew, is offensive to Jews too.
According to Wikipedia here, Kafir is an Arabic and Islamic term which, refers to a person who disbelieves in God, denies his authority, or rejects the tenets of Islam; or simply all those who are not Muslims i.e. those who do not believe in the guidance of Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Kafir is the opposite of the term Muslim and often translated as infidel, pagan, rejector, denier, disbeliever,unbeliever, non-believer, and non-Muslim. The term is used in different ways in the Quran, from being ungrateful, unbelief or non-belief, to be thankless, to be faithless, or ingratitude.
As opposite words or antonym, it is not derogatory. There are similar words in Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism. Such is the views of two state Muftis in Malaysia. and had it not for the snide remark, likely the same view of Ahmad Murzak.
Derogatory use against non-Muslim
A Muslim Quora contributor summarised the reason why Kafir is a derogatory word to non-Muslim as below:
That word is offensive for anyone, not just non-Muslims. To call anyone a kafir is prohibited in Islam even though many Muslims use it without thinking twice. When a Muslim calls anyone a kafir, they are calling them an unbeliever and therefore, they are condemning that person.
As Muslims, we are taught that calling someone a kafir is calling yourself one because you are in no position to be a judge over anyone. Only God is the judge of mankind.
Another extract from Wikipedia gave a historical perspective in the wrong application of the anonym that gave Kafir a derogatory connotation, below:
A tolerance toward unbelievers "impossible to imagine in contemporary Christendom" prevailed even to the time of the Crusades, particularly with respect to the People of the Book. However, due to animosity towards Franks, the term kafir developed into a term of abuse.
During the Mahdist War, the Mahdist State used the term kuffar against Ottoman Turks, and the Turks themselves used the term kuffar towards Persians during the Ottoman-Safavid wars. In modern Muslim popular imagination, the dajjal (Antichrist-like figure) will have k-f-r written on his forehead.
However, there was extensive religious violence in India between Muslims and non-Muslims during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (before the political decline of Islam). In their memoirs on Muslim invasions, enslavement and plunder of this period, many Muslim historians in South Asia used the term kafir for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains. Raziuddin Aquil states that "non-Muslims were often condemned as kafirs, in medieval Indian Islamic literature, including court chronicles, Sufi texts and literary compositions" and fatwas were issued that justified persecution of the non-Muslims.
Perhaps, this explained the view of the American Hindu here who deemed Kafir as the most racist term. But perhaps hidden behind his claim of Muslim's reluctance to integrate is a common non-Muslim disgust towards Muslim's unwillingness to compromise on their taboo.
Contnuing the Wikipedia extract below:
Relations between Jews and Muslims in the Arab world and use of the word kafir were equally as complex, and over the last century, issues regarding kafir have arisen over the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Calling the Jews of Israel, "the usurping kafir", Yasser Arafat turned on the Muslim resistance and "allegedly set a precedent for preventing Muslims from mobilizing against 'aggressor disbelievers' in other Muslim lands, and enabled 'the cowardly, alien kafir' to achieve new levels of intervention in Muslim affairs."
Kaffir, Caffer and Arab Slave Trader
The Arabic word, Kafir has proliferated as a term and into other derivation such as Kaffir or Caffer deemed offensive and derogatory to Black Africans for its strong link to slavery and Apartheid.
Again from Wikipedia:
By the 15th century, Muslims in Africa were using the word kaffir in reference to the non-Muslim African natives. Many of those kufari were enslaved and sold to European and Asian merchants by their Muslim captors, most of the merchants were from Portugal, which had established trading outposts along the coast of West Africa by that time. These European traders adopted the Arabic word and its derivatives.
Some of the earliest records of European usage of the word can be found in The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation by Richard Hakluyt. In volume 4, Hakluyt writes: "calling them Cafars and Gawars, which is, infidels or disbelievers". Volume 9 refers to the slaves (slaves called Cafari) and inhabitants of Ethiopia ("and they use to go in small shippes, and trade with the Cafars") by two different but similar names.
The word is also used in reference to the coast of Africa as "land of Cafraria". The 16th century explorer Leo Africanus described the Cafri as "negroes", and he also stated that they constituted one of five principal population groups in Africa. He identified their geographical heartland as being located in a remote region of southern Africa, an area which he designated as Cafraria.
By the late 19th century, the word was in use in English-language newspapers and books. One of the Union-Castle Line ships operating off the South African coast was named SS Kafir. In the early 20th century, in his book The Essential Kafir, Dudley Kidd writes that the word kafir had come to be used for all dark-skinned South African tribes.
Thus, in many parts of South Africa, kafir became synonymous with the word "native". Currently in South Africa, however, the word kaffir is regarded as a racial slur, applied pejoratively or offensively to blacks.
The kalimah Allah found in Christian materials highlighted that Malay or Bahasa Indonesia is the language in certain East Malaysian churches. Consequently, the Arab Islamic terms were adopted and naturally Kafir is also used to describe non-believers.
Muslims in Peninsular generally opposed to the use of kalimah Allah, but it is acceptable in religiously tolerant and integrated East Malaysia and even in the Arab world. Even the prayer, and call for prayer of Orthodox Christian and Orthodox in the Middle East have uncanny resemblence to Islam.
Bad politics of Takfir
So who will be calling who Kafir now?
If it is openly expressed in Malaysia without restrain, would the retaliations be a never ending exchange that eventually divide the country?
East Malaysians can be brutally honest and also be cryptic. The question who is Kafir could be hidden in Willie Moggin, MP for Puncak Borneo call in Parliament for sensibility, below:
This brought out an emotional and stinging response from PAS with Sanusi leading a nasty attack to accuse Howard as insulting Islam.
Aware of the political consequence of retaliating back, DAP may have requested Howard to stand down and apologise:
Actually it was not necessary because PAS had in the past allowed, defended, and celebrated non-Muslims to "insult Islam" as accused by UMNO once upon a time.
Their non-Muslim arm representative were more liberal to quote Quran and even recited Islamic doa:
At the end of it all, it was purely a politically motivated stunt intended to put their opponent in a bad light and building up their "Islam under threat" narrative.
The current us vs them theme has Dr Mahathir's divide and rule signature in which his ally with PAS is motivated by self preservation. His next move could be to gain control of PPBM via Hamzah or Azmin Ali after ousting Muhyiddin to deliver the final blow to UMNO.
Been there, done it. Enough is enough of such politics.
The country is practically near dire straits. Politics should be purposefully intended to unite, bring back stability, and realign back to the road for progress in all aspect of living.
Politics should be a mean and support system to enable the national leadership to focus on addressing present predicaments. It is the worst timing for such toxic politics and powerplay.
One wonders what is wrong to be polite, more harmonious in the practise of politics. Politicians should be showing their prowess in meaningful and substantive policy debate, while the ruling side in their governance than debating over wasteful trivial and divisive quarrel!
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