LINA JOY ...what's the fuss about?

By Amde Sidik

Much has been said about Lina Joy and I am not giving more background story to it. What I am about to write is just interpreting some facts which most of us already know. An ordinary citizen like me trying to understand the issue, but to be able to tell others about what one thinks isn’t always easy. I am also trying not to get caught up in the web of argument based on sentiment and emotion. When come to a question of religion I view it like I am using a telescope, sometimes I see from both ends. Any discrepancies in the eyes of others it’s between me and the Almighty.

Why Lina Joy case was such a high profile case? It reflects the narrow mindedness of religious people and the un workability of the system they use to inculcating religious education, in short the level of understanding about God and religion still much to be desired in our context today.

Religion touches very nerve of Malaysia. What is Malaysia’s nerve? Well, you will know more as you go along with this piece. The Lina Joy debacle ripples Malay people. Malay people are special because they the majority race of Malaysia. Majority people are disturbed and awakened from their sleep at a wrong hour. They never thought as Malay saying-air yang tenang tiada buaya; that there is a crocodile in calm water, so to speak.

In all fairness things can happen unexpectedly in so many forms and shapes as we see it, but actually it is not unexpected but rather expected, it depends on how sound our sleep is, its that sleep the creates problem. Say thousand years ago our forefathers would never ever imagined that human could fly, that is now aeroplanes, and took many centuries before the actual aeroplane took off, there had been a process going on. Many years ago who ever thought man and man get married- the guys’ marriage now it is about to be normal, also it did not start overnight or may be not even gradual, it has always been there, if you know what I mean?

Malay race think they would not be spared by unexpected turn of event, that is, a Malay Muslim relinquishing her religion and takes other’s religion instead. Lina Joys cracks the very foundation of Malays society, the adat and the custom and the most importantly their religion. Malay still hold that Malay is Islam and Islam is Malay. Very many Malay are seeing thing only from a pinhole. In actual fact it is quite normal for other races across the globe.

Now let me recap the institutions that Lina Joy had to face on her journey to seek for freedom of religion of her choice.

Her hurdles started from her race, Malay, religion- Islamic religion, the law of the country-Civil Law and Syariah Law, and Politic of the country.

My argument here starts not necessarily in hierarchal order as above nor they are fully reasoned out, Malay race is seen as the highest order of race in this country (not in the Country’s Constitution), Malay race is always Muslim, a non Muslim Malay is intolerable and unacceptable, and it is worse if Muslim Malay takes up other faith. Where did Malay learn this? It could not be from Arab brothers and sisters? I know most Malay think Arab is more Islam than any other races. Some 15% of Arabs are Christian. Most Malay in Madagascar is Christian, so too some in South Africa and just around the corner, the Balinese are Malay but Hindu. The Quran says Islam is a religion for anybody who wants to embrace it. Islam does not clock you out or in based on race. No compulsion in religion, Al Baqarah 2.256. I heard the argument form my Malay friends, yes, which all Muslim is responsible to safeguard the sanctity of Islam, but yes too, no mention that Muslim require to penalise those who want to leave Islam. Penalise I mean here is seen when the whole nation’s machineries are used to do injustice which laws of the nation provides for not to.
No complication and no special knowledge required to understand the interpretation expressed or impliedly in the construction of the law in Article 8 of our Federal Conatitution. Syariah law does not override the power of civil law in civil court in this country. There is no competition between the two. Who has the final authority to decide whether Lina Joy could delete the word Islam from her Malaysia Identity Card?
Let's go to the basic, our Constitutional law.
Having understood what in the law is, there is no mentioned that the National Registration Department has no power not to delete word Islam. It isn’t the duty of NRD to decide whether one wants to be a Muslim or not or that it must refer to anywhere. Second, it is only a Muslim that is not allowed to change or delete or is there in the eye of Syariah law? Lina Joy was not a Muslim at the time she applied, which being the case no body has the right to force her to be Muslim. If the name is written elsewhere in other document she can always annul it and IC is just a document. I don’t need an IC if I live in Timbuktu but no body has right to say I am not a Muslim. Lina Joys was and is not a Muslim what’s the fuss about? We don’t even require our court of law to waste its time and money, its public money, and it’s my money too.