IDEAS FOR ISLAM IN MALAYSIA

Sekretariat

Jawatankuasa Tertinggi Institusi Hal Ehwal Islam Peringkat Persekutuan,

Pejabat Penyimpan Mohor Besar Raja-Raja,

482, Jalan Bukit Petaling,

50460 Kuala Lumpur.

Assalamualaikum,

Re:  IDEAS FOR ISLAM IN MALAYSIA

I apologize for writing in English. I am writing in English because most of my reading and research regarding Islam all this while has been in English and as such I feel that I can convey my message better on this subject through the English medium.

My suggestions on how we can better our practice of Islam are:

1. Make Malaysia the center and beacon and the leader for the practice of Universal Islam – making Islam inclusive. In order to do so we need to do the following:
1. Relook the way we view, frame and understand Islamic History. We need to identify world and human history as ours – not the history of the Arab people. For a Quranic background on this position please go here http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/search?q=history
2. Reframe and breathe new life into the word pluralism as a positive word within the Islamic tradition. In so doing we go back to the original message of the Quran. For a Quranic background on this position please go here http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2018/03/what-does-quran-say-about-pluralism.html
3. Reframe and breathe new life into the word liberalism as a positive word within the Islamic tradition too. Make the Prophet as our number one example of a liberator. For a Quranic background on this position please go here http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2018/03/what-does-quran-say-about-liberals.html
4. Practice, promote and defend Diversity and Inclusion within the Islamic World by the direct endorsement of the Amman Message by the Majlis Raja-Raja. We should also, after reorganizing and winning the hearts and minds of our own people, organize an expanded and a more in-depth conference here in Kuala Lumpur and thereafter set a permanent office and processes to look into the practice of the Diversity and inclusion within the Islamic world.
2. Update Jakim’s translations of the Quran especially the Bahasa Malaysia version. This is key in making the teaching of the Quran accessible to the majority population. Translations at different points of history is crucial in making the teachings relevant, up to date and practical.
3. Support and protect all endeavors that promote the reading of the Quran in the language one understands best. In Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia. Contrary to popular narrative, it is the translations of the Quran that is more important in the day-to-day practice for the average Muslim population as the majority are not Arab speaking. One such project is the yearly #LRTQ – Let’s Read The Quran Campaign. Refer here http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2018/02/lets-read-quran-2018-campaign.html
4. Colour Coded Hadith Collections by JAKIM- Create a website with a powerful search engine for all the hadith collections colour coding of what is Sahih, Hasan, Daif and Mawdu’. This will help minimize the wrongly used hadith by many both religious leaders as well as lay people.
5. Lead Muslims to pay attention to substance rather than form. An example is our overly concern on dress codes rather than ‘pakaian Taqwa’. Refer here - https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2015/07/03/focus-more-on-taqwa/ . Getting Muslims to pay attention to what is more important is crucial as we are what we pay attention to. For an explanation, refer here http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2018/02/lets-read-quran-campaign-launch-2018.html
6. If there is one thing the religious leadership choose and nothing else, it would be making READING the core message. PAY ATTENTION TO READING AND SEEKING OF KNOWLEDGE. Even if the religious leadership drops everything else and focus only on one thing reading and the seeking of knowledge, we will move forward, be leaders again and be successful both here and the hereafter. So, make reading core. Make reading and seeking of knowledge as one of the central pillars of Islam. After all it was the first of all commandments. Refer here http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2018/03/what-does-quran-say-about-seeking.html and refer to the earlier link on the impact of reading to modern history since the Prophet’s time here http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2018/02/lets-read-quran-campaign-launch-2018.html

Thank you and Salam.

anas zubedy