By Thomas Lee

Another religious controversy is brewing over the Prime Minister’s warning to Muslims last week that religious pluralism is un-Islamic because it places Islam on an equal footing with other faiths.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also asked government Islamic agencies and religious teachers to explain the issue of pluralism to the Muslim community.

Najib’s statement is being challenged by various quarters alleging that his stand would cause confusion and religious disharmaony among the people.

However, the Rev Thomas Phillips, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCST), has come out in defence of Najid, saying that all religions had their own theological stand and advised the people against taking Najib’s statement out of context.

“Najib’s statement should be taken as a theological stand. He was addressing a Muslim group so he has his own right as a Muslim,” Phillips was quoted by The Malaysian Insider as saying, adding that he did not see anything wrong with the PM’s speech. “If I were addressing a Christian group, I’d say the same thing. What’s a fact is that all religious groups are not equal,” said Phillips, who is also the head of the Mar Thoma Church in Malaysia.

Philips also does not foresee Najib’s statement holding up ongoing talks in the government’s year-old national interfaith panel because “we’re not talking about theology in there.”

The Committee to Promote Harmony and Understanding Among Religious Adherents was established by Najib in April last year following a spate of attacks against houses of worship nationwide earlier the same year, following the controversy over the use of the word Allah by Christians. The High Court had ruled on 31 December 2009 that Christians have the human and constitutional right to use the word.

I endorse and support what Philips says, and would want to be fair to Najib that as Islam claims to be an exclusive faith with its Declaration of Faith (Shahada) that “There is no God, but Allah” (La ilah illa Ilah) and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger (Wa Muhammad rasul u’llah)”, his stand is consistent with his faith. Najib would be consider a hypocrite if he has not make such a stand.

From the strictly theological perspective, Islam, like Christianity, is certainly an exclusive religious faith, and the Najib position is certainly consistent with the fundamental theology of Islam, and no one should dispute the fact (see my Comment published in December 2010, appended below).

The fundamental issue which many people fail to note is not so much about the exclusive theological position of each faith, but the matter of mutual recognition and acceptance of the right of all religions to co-exist without any legal restraint and political constraint in our multifaceted plural society.

The concept of pluralism in religion is generally viewed as a threat to the theological integrity of the monotheistic religions like Islam and Christianity, whose hardcore adherent consider it an excruciating and harrowing compromise and dilution of their doctrinal beliefs.

Such a view is understandable, and should be respected by all people of all faiths and belief systems.

Having said that, there is another side of pluralism, which I think should be renamed multi-credo co-operation, which does not involve any theological, doctrinal, or spiritual compromise on the part of all participating religious groups.

This is the coming together on the basis of our common humanity and the universal moral values, to fellowship, share, dialogue, articulate, and work together to preserve, protect, promote and propagate our fundamental human, civil and constitution rights, and to strive together as one people to build and develop our nation for the greater good of all citizens.

Much misunderstandings, confusion, and conflicts could be resolved amicably if we are able to come together to dialogue, discuss and even debate on issues of common concern.

In our multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-idealogical society, it is very obvious that pluralism is the defining way of life and lifestyle now and in future.

Hence, there is an urgent need to ensure that the matter of interfaith relation would not be exploited as a racial-religious issue by the evil politicians who are out to deliberately damage and destroy the harmony and unity of the people to achieve their immoral political ambition.

Most of the time, these wicked politicians suceed in their perverted and perversed agenda, simply because of the ignorance and gullibility of the people who are being bombarded daily with distorted news reports, socio-political analysis and commentaries in the mainstream news media.

The urgent task needed now is for the honest political, community and religious leaders to articulate the need and relevance of a pragmatic approach to interfaith relationship, in terms that are meaningful, relevant and authoritatively among the people so that they could be led to explore, discover, recognise, and accept each other’s religion without any suspicion and phobia.

Hence, the Federal Committee to Promote Harmony and Understanding Among Religious Adherents initiated by Najib, and the Penang executive council portfolio to handle non-Muslim religious issues headed by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng are both relevant and deserved to be supported by all people of all faiths.

Religious misunderstanding is a ticking time-bomb ready to explore anytime if no effort is taken now to defuse it.

Here, the media have a very vital responsibility to accurately report the truth, and not to allow the immoral and irresponsible politicians and racial-religious bigots to use and exploit them to deactivate the sensitive time-bomb to damage and destroy our beloved nation.

This task of curbing the spread of religious fanaticism, bigotry, and zealotry takes place within the context of the historical time-space religious, traditional, cultural and socio-economic environment of our nation, and must therefore take into consideration all these factors when formulating strategies to achieve it.

Hence, the necessity for the formulation of an incarnational co-operative policy among all religious groups, and the development of grassroots programmes to bring together people of various faiths for fellowship and sharing in ideas and ideals.

Hence, the necessity for the introduction of comparative religious studies in our education system so as to promote understanding, recognition, acceotance, and respect for each other’s religion among our young people.

Hence, we must, in our various ways, unite in prayer and action to strive for a peaceful and harmonious co-existence of all people of all religious faiths in our nation.

Malaysians are not just religious people living in a spiritual vacuum; our spirituality must be demonstrated visibly and vocally by how we live together in peace, harmony and love in the midst of our plural society.