LAST month there circulated a number of messages (some would say, edicts) that Muslims cannot wish their friends Merry Christmas.
I do not want to go into the rationale given by those who made that proclamation. Suffice to say that they ruled that it is haram.
I didn’t think too much about it, as indeed many of my Muslim friends here in Sarawak. Then one day, just a few days before Christmas, I joined a number of my friends in a celebration and as usual we ended up with a karaoke session.
Since it was Christmas season a number requested Christmas songs. Then it hit him.
“We can’t play that song,” said Tim who was manning the karaoke machine.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Salim would not like it.”
I was taken aback. I have known Salim for years and I count him as my friend and a most reasonable person.
It appeared that Salim was under some pressure. He holds a prominent position in a religious organisation and thus was in a delicate position, what with that “Merry Christmas is haram” edict floating about.
It was so ironic. He was there at a Christmas party. Poor Salim, his friendship pulled him to celebrate with us but the view of some of his faith shackled him. I felt sad for him and for us.
My gloom was compounded when the issue of use of the word “Allah” surfaced again.
“Ah, this is an old issue and we have resolved it,” you may say.
Apparently not quite, and this time the view of one religious council is even more strident and intimidating. It said that not only that the word “Allah” cannot be used by non-Muslims but those who allow the abuse of the word can be considered as apostates. As we know the punishment for apostasy is severe.
A leader of the council said that “Allah” is the exclusive word for Muslims as stated in the Quran, “Verily, I am Allah. There is no god except Me. So worship Me and establish prayers for My remembrance.”
He continued with the old line that if the word “Allah” is used in the Bible it would create confusion.
However, what is not new was his warning, “To whom it may concern, do not cross the line because I’m sure one day the Muslims will lose their patience and will do anything to defend their faith.”
My gloom would have descended to despondence had it not been for some of my personal experiences. I was in Jakarta some time ago and was having breakfast at a hotel with a friend from Kuching. He is a devout Muslim.
“Hey, there is bacon over there,” he said.
Bacon in a 5-star hotel? That is something I have not heard of in Malaysia for a long time.
“Yes, there is a whole section of non-halal food over there.”
“Don’t you mind me having non-halal food on the same table as you?” I asked.
“Of course, not.”
We have a good friend in Indonesia. She is a Christian and her husband is a Muslim. They have been married for well over 30 years and have a son who decided to follow the faith of the father.
A few years ago I attended a spiritual retreat in Puncak, a hill resort outside Jakarta. A Christian pastor shared his experience with the group. He was recently married and he showed us photos of his wedding ceremony and reception in a Church.
The remarkable thing was that a big number of the well-wishers were Muslims led by the village imam who was his good friend.
According to a 2010 report there are over 200 million Muslims in Indonesia. Now that is about seven times the total population of Malaysia. I think the point is obvious.
Last week a friend sent me a video clip with the title “Imam Goes to Church”. There was a subtitle “This will renew your faith in humanity”.
Did it restore my faith and gave me hope? You bet it did. The video shows Imam Mazhar Shaheen of the Omar Makram Mosque visited his friend and confidante the Pastor of the Qasr Al-Dubarah Church, Samih Morees, along with a thousand Muslims to extend well-wishes and greetings to their Christian neighbours at Christmas last year.
His speech and his action was a resounding clarion call for tolerance, respect, dignity, humanity and unity. He is no ordinary imam.
He holds a doctorate in Quranic Rhetorics and is the head of Omar Makram Mosque, located in Tahrir square, the largest square in Egypt. It is the most famous mosque in the capital, Cairo.
Many of us who watched the video were much moved by his exemplary action and speech. To me, this excerpt is particularly pertinent to multi-racial/cultural/religious Malaysia –“we need to cooperate and collaborate where we agree, to dialogue among ourselves where we disagree.”
And I like his ending where he put his hope for the country on “her discerning children.”
This video was first posted by a group called #MyJihad that aims to reclaim the word ‘jihad’ to mean a personal struggle for goodness.
The video also carried a shot of a banner which read, “My dear Christian Brother, I love you. Wishing you merry Christmas. Wishing you peace. Your Muslim Brother”.
At the end of it, #MyJihad stated that their jihad was to build bridges between faiths. I believe this group also organised for the posting on the buses in Chicago of the banner “My jihad is to build friendships across the aisle. What’s yours?”
I believe the God has created this world for all his creatures to live together.
Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].