Islam Is Wider

By Farouk A. Peru, "Call Him Allah but never call Him Aum!" - Malaysia Today - Malaysia
Sunday, November 23, 2008

Superficiality pervades Islamic discourse in our country. Instead of studying Quran and trying to elicit from it solutions for the real problems we face (in which case it would have plenty to say), we worry about certain cultural expressions and how it can harm our faith despite the egalitarian and pluralistic nature of Quranic thought.

The latest fatwa from the National Fatwa council is one which shows a lack of sensitivity and a lack of information.The lack of sensitivity comes from how they talk about yoga and Hinduism as being such horrible things to do and be. While the notion of polytheism is aberrant in Islam, many Hindus in my experience actually use their theology simply as representation and at the end of the day, believe in Atman, the great soul whom they identify as God.

And even if they didn’t, do we have the right to speak about them in such a derogatory manner? Could the fatwa council not have included a statement saying that this fatwa is simply an opinion and is not meant to be a derogation to hindus? What arrogance prevents them from saying so? The lack of information is evident in their wording that yoga contains ‘physical elements, worshipping and chanting’. Physical elements we know but what is this ‘worshipping’ and ‘chanting’? Are they talking about the asanas, the physical postures in yoga? There are postures which resemble the Islamic prostration, are those haram as well? What of the headstand posture, how is that an act of worhip?

And what of the chants or mantras? Why are those a problem? The mantra ‘aum mani padme hum’ has a deep etymological significance. Each syllable is meant to purify our being from bad things such as pride, jealousy, avarice, passion, ignorance and aggression. Isn’t this a good thing, purification?

Quran says in chapter 91, verse 9 that the soul which is successful is one which purifies itself.

Each syllable in ‘aum mani padme hum’ also signifies qualities of God such as wisdom, compassion, quality of being and equanimity. What is so unislamic about these qualities? If we looked through Quran, we will find that these qualities are repeated in Quran itself. This is why Quran calls itself ‘muhayminan alaihi’, that is a guardian over it, it being all ideologies before it. It was never meant to be the sole of source of truth but rather its criteria.The only difference between the Islamic and Yoga expressions are the cultures from which they originate.

The national fatwa council has taken upon itself to equivocate Arabic expressions of piety and worship with Islam itself. What if Mohamed was born in India? Would God have not commanded him to appropriate existing rituals albeit without the physical representations of God? Muslims may be praying in Sanskrit today if that was the case.

I wonder how the national fatwa council would see things then. And what about the sufi practises? Where does the council think they came from? The sufi dancing rituals for example were not Arab-originated yet they are seen to be more glamorous face of Sufism and and again there is nothing wrong with that.

We live in a pluralistic world alongside people of different cultural origins and expressions. If we expect them to understand us, then we must first seek to understand them and not to judge them in such a narrow and culturally chauvinistic way.

Islam is wider that the National Fatwa Council makes it out to be. If we read Quran, we will find it to be extremely unworried about how one expresses one’s devotion to God. Rather, it concerns itself with our ethics and how we treat others. Muslims need to realign themselves to this mindset.

[Picture: Malaysia: Paka - Terengganu. Photo from Tourism Malaysia http://imagegallery.tourism.gov.my/].