DeepaRaya greetings a blesphemy?

MALAYSIA: The internal e-mail circulated by Takaful Malaysia's religious department head, Fauzi Mustaffar, forbidding Muslim staff from extending Deepavali greetings is another reason why Muslims are oftened portrayed in the negative light by the West.

In the email, Fauzi said that because the Deepavali festival involved the worship of Hindu deities, issuing greetings was like practising polytheism and against the tenets of Islam. He claimed that this was blasphemous and was against Islamic teachings.

Earlier in the year, the Perak mufti, Datuk Seri Harussani, suggested that celebrating Gongxi Raya and having open house with the other religious groups should not be encouraged because it can erode the Muslim beliefs among the Muslims. I felt sorry for Muslims because of these remarks.

Firstly, Islam had been around for a few centuries. In its history, it has undergone several developments resulting in different sects. Lesser religion would have outlived its usefulness, but not Islam. Before 9/11 in 2001, Muslims over the world had been able to live a largely peaceful lives and accepted by their Christians host countries. This suggests that Islam does not discourage or forbid its followers from mixing with followers of other religions. It is only after 9/11 terror attack that Islam as a religion had been hijacked by a handful of so-called 'believers' that use the religion to further their political ideology. As a result, the majority of true Muslims are being held ransom. For Fauzi, an educated man, living in a Muslim country that professes the Islam Hadhari or 'Civilised Islam', to utter such word is indeed sad. It is precisely because of people like him that reinforced the West's poor and wrong perception of Islam.

Secondly, by saying that having open house and celebrating Gongxi Raya (joint celebration of Chinese New Year and Hari Raya) and Deepa Raya (joint celebration of Deepavali and Hari Raya), can erode the Muslims faith, shows how insecure he is about his own faith. If I am a Muslim, hearing this words is tantamout to insulting my faith! How can visiting friends and enjoying each others company be detrimental to the Muslims's belief? If a Muslim can so easily be swayed away from his faith, then Islam as a religion has failed. But we know that Islam did not fail as a religion, from the number of its followers worldwide. I think the only one that has failed Islam is Fauzi.

Thankfully, other Muslim leaders had since voiced their disagreements. In rejecting the email, Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin has called on Muslims to portray a positive picture of Islam to the other communities and said that such an act did not portray the spirit of brotherhood adopted by Muslims.

Perak mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria, while discouraging joint celebrations, said it was not blasphemous to extend wishes to someone celebrating a festival. He further added that: "As Malaysians, we must be respectful of each other's religions or festivals."

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin, said that "forbidding Muslims to wish Hindu friends Happy Deepavali is a narrow interpretation of Islam. Just because you wish someone Happy Deepavali does not mean that you have embraced his beliefs and religion. It is not syirik (practising polytheism)."

Common sense will tell that extending festives greetings is nothing religious. Visiting friends and enjoying each others company is nothing religious. If these are not religious, how can one religious beliefs be eroded? Maybe Fauzi's faith in Islam is shaky to the extend that mere greetings can destroy whatever faith he had in Islam!

What has the company Fauzi works in said about the email? The company, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd, which is part of the Bank Islam group, has apologised for any confusion that has arisen from the misinterpretation of its recent e-mail. A spokesman for Takaful Malaysia reiterated that Mohd Fauzi's e-mail was meant for "internal circulation and as an advice or an opinion for our staff only." Internal circulation cannot and should not be used as an excuse. Internal circulation is also an expression of an opinion and is a reflection of how a person think. It is alright if he expressed his opinion to himself, but expressing the same opinion to his staff, whether internal or not, is dangerous. Being the head of department, he has a certain amount of authority and his words are usually followed. Given that his organisation is based on Islamic principles, people may misconstrued it as the 'true' teaching of Islam.

The world today is undergoing a period of turmoil between the Muslim and non-Muslim world. Although this situation is due to the extremist actions of a few, the larger peaceful Muslim community had been held ransom. We certainly do not need people like Fauzi to complicate matters. These are the very people who contribute to the antagonisms and did not do justice to the Islamic faith.