Nurture Our Hang Jebats
Nurture Our Hang Jebats
M. Bakri Musa
[An abridged version appeared in the Sun (Weekend Edition), July 23, 2005]
A culture cannot aspire for greatness if it treats its thinkers and intellectuals with callous disregard. In any other culture, a talent like Kassim Ahmad would be amply rewarded, his achievements widely acknowledged. Yet the best that Malaysia could offer her shining star was a high school teaching position. This was at a time when the number of Malays pursuing graduate work was miniscule. Kassim had taught at the School of Oritental and African Studies, London. Worse, he was once detained under the ISA for daring to espouse his political views.
I first came to know of Kassim Ahamd through his writings while in secondary school way back in the 1950s. His novel and radical interpretation of the Malay classic, Hikayat Hang Tuah, shook the way I – and Malays generally – looked at our traditions and culture.
The traditional thinking was that the hero was Hang Tuah, hence the title. He personified the ideals of a Malay hero, someone loyal to the sultan. Even his name portends great things. Tuah means exceptional, a worthy name for a hero. His protagonist, Hang Jebat, was the traitor who dared challenge the sultan. Even his name rhymes with jahat (rascal), an apt name for a purported villain.
Then came Kassim’s Perwatakan Hikayat Hang Tuah (The Characters in Hang Tuah). It would have remained an obscure academic exercise except for the fact that Dewan Bahasa was desperate to publish works in Malay. It had to resort to publishing student’s theses!
Kassim frontally challenged the orthodox Malay thinking on authority, and royalty in particular. According to Kassim, the real hero is not Hang Tuah, rather the hitherto presumed renegade, Hang Jebat. To Kassim, Tuah is the typical palace sycophant who willingly sells his body and soul to the sultan, a loyalty conveniently reinforced by whatever largesse the sultan could bestow.
Jebat is the rugged individualist, not awed by those who wield power. His loyalty is to institutions, not individuals. To Kassim, Jebat is the true hero, not the prodigal son Tuah.
It is a conflict of commitment to principles and institutions represented by Jebat, versus personal loyalty as presented by Tuah. It is this universal conflict, concretized in the setting of a traditional feudal society, that makes Hikayat Hang Tuah such a powerful and enduring piece of literature.
The impact of Kassim’s Perwatakan is such that a generation later, when the journalist Rehman Rashid was interrogated by the police for possible detention under the Internal Security Act, his tomentors demanded to know from him who the true hero was, Hang Tuah or Hang Jebat. Rehman shrewdly replied, “Hang Tuah,” which may have accounted for his being released!
Kassim’s Perwatakan is one of my most valued possessions, its frayed edges and yellowed pages notwithstanding. I wish somebody would reissue it using modern spelling and syntax, and then distribute it to schools and libraries. If enough Malays read it, it might very well revolutionize our society.
Recently in a social gathering attended by a number of bright young Malay students studying in Ameirca, I inquired whether they had heard of Kassim Ahmad. None had, but they had all read Hikayat Hang Tuah. When I discussed Kassim’s radical character analysis, they were all stunned. Over half a century later, Kassim is still prying open bright young Malay minds and sparking their intellect.
The account of his incarceration, Universiti Kedua (Second University), makes painful reading. A poignant passage describes the guards, under the guise of friendship, taking away for “safekeeping” Kassim’s painfully written manuscript for a new novel. They then proceeded to destroy it in front of his eyes. Such cruelty! The spite of the guards was exceeded only by their ignorance. At a time when published works in Malay literature were sparse, this was an unbelievable act of utter stupidity, if not a crime against our culture.
When reading Universiti Kedua, I could hardly contain my rage against the authorities for their cruelty to this man. I felt great sorrow for Kassim, but far greater sorrow for my own race. A culture that treats its intellectuals with such cruelty cannot aspire for greatness.
The Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer suffered through the same humiliation while in prison, but he was unfazed. He committed his novel to memory by retelling it repeatedly to his fellow inmates. When freed, he quickly published his Pulau Buru quartet, as well as his memoirs, Nyanyian Sunyi Seorang Bisu (The Mute’s Soliloquy) to international acclaim. Kassim however, never quite recovered, and the world of Malay literature lost forever Zaman Pencaroba (Era of Crisis).
Kassim’s ability to shake the collective Malay psyche remains undiminished. In 1986, he released his Hadis: Satu Penilian Semula (Hadith: A Reevaluation). I asked my parents to get me a copy right away. True to form, before he could get my copy, the authorities banned the book! Fortunately, an English translation soon became readily available.
My parents warned me about Kassim, and his supposed anti-hadith stand. Later on my vist home, I apprised my parents of what Kassim wrote. To my surprise, they agreed with Kassim! I wonder how many Malays (includinghte censors) who accused Kassimof being anti-hadith have actually read his book.
A few brave souls saw fit to honor Kassim. Universiti Kebangsaan conferred on him an honorary Doctor of Letters. A courageous editor praised Kassim as Intellektual Melayu Terakhir (The Last Malay Intellectual), a tribute to him but a sad commentary on Malay society.
Rustam Sani, then a Profesor of Sociology at the university, gave a very generous and heartfelt public oration for the occasion. As expected, Rustam did not last long with the university.
Kassim is still writing, the Hang Jebat in him still raging. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, Kassim essays can now be widely distributed (www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com), totally bypassing the Hang Tuahs in the editorial suites.
July 24th, 2005 at 9:29 pm
Dear Bakri,
Thanks for your piece on Hang Jebat and Kassim Ahmad.
Nurture our Hang Jebats, yes. But not in the present climate where one must toe the line in order to move forward and to get on in life. To be different and to speak one’s mind are not encouraged.
It is interesting that you should put Jebat and Kassim together side by side, separated only by the passage of time. Both men challenged tradition, sought change, and fought injustice. Both were authentic individuals. Rare indeed in today’s Malay society.
We talk about “towering” Malays. They are in our midst. But UMNO politicians think that this category of Malays can only be found in their ranks of conformists, sycophants and opportunists. Wrong! In reality, Malay role models like Royal Professor Ungku A. Aziz, Syed Hussin Ali, Rustam Sani, Zainal Abidin Wahid, Kassim Ahmad and Baha Zain are outsiders. I also include the late Pendita Za’aba, Dr Ungku Omar, Aminuddin Baki and Professor Ishak Shari et. al in my list.
Kassim Ahmad is a man of intellectual integrity with unique talents. He is an excellent philosopher-thinker and writer. He remains true to his roots in Kedah, where I was born and where I grew up. I met him many years ago on the campus of the University of Malaya in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur. He had then come back from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He was a very modest and soft spoken gentleman, but behind that fascade was already a wonderful intellectual role model for the up and coming generation of Malays of my time.
Kassim remains the same humble person today, although his stature grew with the passage of time. To me, he adds validity to the statement that “one can make a point without raising one’s voice,” or punching the keris in the air a la UMNO Youth’s Hishamuddin! I honour him for his courage and convictions.
Just read his interviews, articles and books and we can appreciate here is a genuine Malay jewel who has not been recognised and honoured (except The National University of Malaysa-UKM), and a Malay of towering intellect. Those in power can only see him through the prism of politics. I look forward to reading his autobiography.
Thanks,
Din
July 25th, 2005 at 4:42 am
May I suggest that a wider audience can be reached if out of print books are submitted to Project Gutenberg. From their website, the project welcomes books in other languages as well if there are no copyright problems.
Just a suggestion to help improve matters.
July 25th, 2005 at 4:47 am
Dear Dr. Bakri,
You hit the nail on the head.
Your community needs many Jebats. By that I mean gutsy and honest people with integrity. For this, you have to build character and inculcate universal core values which are also enshrined in the teachings of the Holy Koran.
The two Malays I admire are Kassim Ahmad and his friend, Dr. Syed Hussin Ali. Syed Hussin is in politics. So Din Merican is not correct to classify him as an “outsider”, unless by that he means “outside UMNO”.
It is truly sad that Malays, who are a very kind people, are too tradition bound through years of mental conditioning by existing in a hierarchial class based society. They are polite to a fault.
Malay leaders are like “frogs” unable to recognise that there is a huge world out there. They and their followers must be “turtles”, which are adept at swimming long distances, and living among the whales, sharks and poisonous sea snakes in King Neptune’s wide and deep blue ocean, if they want to be “Melayu Glokal” (Hope, Dato Seri Najib understands what he is talking about).
The world of the turtle is different from that of a frog. The frog is a “jaguh kampong” (village champion) while the turtle is a world swimming champion. I have said enough about the Malays. I hope I have not touched any raw nerve.
My own people, the Chinese, have also adopted the Malay way of doing things and life style. They are “Tuns”, “Tan Sris”,”Dato Seris”, and “Datos”, like the knights in the Court of Malacca’s Sultan Mansur Shah. Like grafted Malays, they wear songkoks and the headgears of Malay Royalty whenever they attend official Federal and State functions.
I choose Malacca to illustrate my point. It was the place where Hang Jebat lived and died in honour. It is no longer a Sultanate. This is something the Malays must think about. Political hegemony is meaningless without a economic power. You cannot be strong if you can be bought by others.
The Chinese have learned to play the patronage game. Today, they are the biggest corrupters Malaysia has seen. This is due to their practice of “kow tim” (crudely translated to mean “bisa diatur” practice). If not, how can UMNO’s Osu Sukam throw away millions of ringgits at gambling in the United Kingdom and Australia. Just ask the Chinese timber tycoons in Sabah. If the Chinese community does not give bribes, the Malays will still likely be upright and self-respecting.
It is well known that Malay businessmen cannot bribe public officials and politicians because the latter group feels it is “haram” (forbidden) to accept bribes from fellow Muslims. To overcome this, some Malay businessmen have instead opted to be proxies. It is not forbidden, I suppose, to hold licenses, permits, and shares on behalf of their political masters and public officials.
I, therefore, urge the Chinese community to stop their “kow-tim” practice. May we together revive the spirit of Hang Jebat.
Thank you.
July 25th, 2005 at 5:29 am
Dear Dr. Bakri,
I would like to add to what Mr. Teoh said.
The Indian politicians are no different. They are more like the Malays. They take as much as they can from others, and from their own people. Then, they invest their money in India around Madras and Bangalore since land and property are cheap as they are denominated in Indian rupees.
We are an increasingly corrupt country, where politics is the key to wealth creation.
Thanks.
July 25th, 2005 at 10:14 am
There is a serious lack of character building and intellectually stimulating books for Malaysians to read especially in the Malay language. Our Malay race cannot possibly progress if the level of exposure to good ideas and values is for all purposes nearly non-existent.
Unfortunately modern Malay literature, if such works can be dignified with such a description, tend to be superstitious, dogmatic, racist, sensationalistic and with shallow and uncritical arguments and stereotypes with heavy emphasis on titillating book buyers for commercial reasons.
Most modern Malays seldom read or are able to understand English books or literature without serious misunderstanding of the intended meaning. The same can be said of other languages as well. Therefore the possibility of learning from other races is for practical purposes a vain hope.
The character of a race is not built on material success or power alone. On the idea that such a serious lack can be addressed by introducing political or religious causes and slogans - the fact of life is that usually the most perverted and evil ideas are usually the more attractive interpretation for implementation by those with their own selfish views and agendas.
Based on the above, the future of our Malay race does appear very gloomy as there is a clear lack of character building of the right type among our Malay masses.
Our Malays need heroes and role models to uplift their character in everyday life, but unfortunately our history and worldview is full of evildoers, exploiters, lackeys, weaklings and evaders. Our Malay world is like a mistlike wishywashy grey - cannot make up our minds as to really hero or villain, or just a survivor character trapped by circumstances and role.
Those needed heroes need not necesarilly be a real live towering Malay or a hero with feet of clay. It can be fictional roles showing a worthy ideal. Those heroes and heroines can be a cartoon character, a role in a play, TV series or in a film. It can be a weak character that is shown to be inspired to be a hero by following the example of another hero of another race. The Malays need to learn to follow whatever good examples there are from others and discard and condemn evil examples.
There is a way forward to save Malays, and that duty belongs to the cartoonists, dramatists, film makers, advertisers, TV scriptwriters and producers. They can use the newspapers and magazines, the internet to create Malaysian websites to showcase their ideas and connect through blogs.
Yes, we can see the evil being practised. Our intellectuals need to contribute on a broader front. Not simply nag and make noise only in their own circles.
July 25th, 2005 at 10:47 pm
Dear Bakri,
I am commenting on Bookworms’ piece.
I am pleased that Bookworms, you are upfront in raising issues affecting the Malays today.
The problem is that most Malays do not read. Dr. Bakri Musa made this observation in one of his books. Maybe,”The Malay Dilemma Revisited”. The reason is “it is difficult lah” You, Bookworms, say that there are not enough books in the Malay Language. Maybe, the Malays want to be spoonfed.
Poor excuse. Learn English and any other language of one’s choice and attend night language classes with one’s own money, if one must. It is a question of attitude and motivation. The Vietnamese, for example, are a highly motivated people, working in day and learning English at night. For 10 years (1965-1975), the Americans tried to bomb their country into the Stone Age but they failed. No NEP/NDP for the Vietnamese. We have had it for 35 years (1970-2005).
Malay Role Models are around, if you care to look. Most of them developed in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Those were difficult times. But they are a vanishing group, and will disappear with time. At the same time, we also have self-serving Malays, and these are the so-called Malay “lingo” nationalists of the late 1950, and 1960s.
During the early years of independence, these “lingo” nationalists were in league with ambitious Malay politicians who wanted the Malay Language to be the world’s lingua franca. Malay nationalism was the road to take for political fame and fortune, consequences be damned.
They successfully won the day and Malay became the medium of instruction to replace English in our schools and universities. Did we have the books, articles, and other publications in Mathematics and the Sciences and other subjects in Malay? No, that could come later. We probably thought those things could drop from the sky.
So the national language policy was implemented in earnest without developing the necessary infrastrucure and software needed to ensure its successful execution. “Dasar dulu (Policy first) dan yang lain semua belakang kira (all other things can count later)”.
The consequences of this myopia are for all of us to see and bear. We have Malay university graduates who are unemployable by multinational companies, and government officers who are scared to speak at international conferences and forums because they lack English.
Dewan Pahasa & Pustaka was created in 1956 (?) to accommodate the lingo nationalists and from then on, it is all history. The strange thing about these nationalists is that their kids are fluent in English, and other languages because they are all educated abroad.
The burden of the national language policy failure is being paid by the Malay kids in the kampongs and small towns throughout our country. Yet these language nationalists are still around today, punching their kerises in the air, and resisting any policy change.
Dewan Bahasa is still very active, doing the same things. Vested interests, a feature of all bureaucracies, are preventing any meaningful reform or strategic change. I do not deny that we need to develop our language. It is all not a total waste of the money we invested in this institution.
A cynic might say that Dewan Bahasa was very successful in fulfilling its mandate which is to promote the use of Malay in administration and business in our country. That served our domestic needs. But times have changed and in the era of globalisation, it is a great advantage if Malaysians can handle English, Japanese, German, Mandarin and French and so on.
How can we have “Melayu Glokal”, if we lack language skills, other than our own? If we cannot handle own language, then something must be wrong with us. Of course, we can. But what about English, for example?
Our home grown intellectuals, with few exceptions like Kassim Ahmad, Syed Hussin, Rastam Sani, K.S. Jomo, and Terrence Gomez, tend to go along with their political masters. If you watched TV1, our Infonteinment channel, which covered the General Assembly recently, the guest commentator turned out to be an apologist for UMNO. He had nothing original, or incisive to say. Many others are like him. They are today the shapers of Malay opinion, advocating a culture of conformism. Hang Jebat, goodbye.
But those who dare to speak and offer alternative views are marginalized. They are rarely invited to sit on Government committees to help shape national policy. Worse still, their writings either do not appear in the mainstream media which practises self censorship, or are heavily edited before they make the printed pages. In some cases, their books are banned. Fancy banning books and publications in the 21st century. Sadder still, some have been placed under detention and suffered Police brutality.
Fortunately, thanks to the internet, we have websites like http://www.bakrimusa.com, http://www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com, http://www.malaysia-today.net and http://www.malaysiakini.com, to name a few, and the bloggers. They allow us to express our views and discuss our concerns in an open and responsible way.
We will soldier on and we will get our share of readers. For example, Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s http://www.malaysia-today receives some 70,000-80,000 hits daily. But recently, Raja Petra’s house was raided by the Police because he wrote articles that were critical of the Negri Royal Family. What is the message?
I must admit that I do not have time for Malay novelists and writers except for Keris Mas, Tongkat Warrant, Dato A. Samad Said, Kassim Ahmad and Baha Zain. I have a preference for the English classics, biographies and autobiographies of and by great men of history, philosophical treatises, international relations, and economics. By doing so, I am not less a Malay. In fact, my readings make very conscious of my “Malayness”.
So, Bookworms, you are not correct to say that we just “simply nag and make noise in their own circles”. You too, and men and women of your generation, must write and act, but do that with responsibility. To do that you must read and think critically and develop your wrting skills.
At my age (66), I have done more than my bit through all these years. My contemporaries and I have made it possible for you and your generation to move forward. The question is : will you and your friends take up the challenge for a better Malaysia and a stronger and more dynamic Malay society?
Don’t you think it is time for action by your generation? You can correct our genuine mistakes, if you understand the Law of Unintended Consequences. Politicians and their sycophants chose to ignore it. Actually, it is hard for me to believe that they really care about the consequences, intended or otherwise.
Thanks.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:09 am
Dear Dr Bakri
Just to clarify after getting Din Merican’s comments.
Malays do read, but mostly limited by their ability to the Malay language. What was available from the earlier years may be out of print, banned, discouraged or no longer available. Not many of the younger generations know anything about past great Malay writers especially those not conforming to the ideas of those in power. Earlier on it was suggested that these books could be transmitted to a wider audience by placing them in the public domain through Project Gutenberg if there are no copyright problems. I suggest Project Gutenberg instead of just on independent websites so that other races and nations can also read, understand and contribute on the Malay world. At the same time, I hope the Malay reader may explore the books in othe languages that are present there.
It would be a benefit to the retirees, their children and granchildren in both rural and urban areas if they can access and download these great works.
The older generation of writers and readers such as your goodself can recommend and arrange for this to ensure that the Malay race does not lose such benefits. In the past, only the well to do, or the obssesive reader could afford the cost of books, journals and newspapers. Many Malaysians were denied the benefits of English education by the choice of their parents and later through the actions of the Malay, Indian and Chinese lingo racists. To change the mental outlook of the Malay race, the required materials must be available. Ideally the Malays study English like the Vietnamese, and somehow progress to a level where they can read great and inspiring works in English. But are we also agreeing that Malay works can be allowed to be lost as not worth preserving as they are not considered educational or inspiring enough?
It is not a question of spoonfeeding or making the effort to be able to absorb modern technology, but the preservation of Malay works that can benefit our Malay race. If there are volunteers to check translations into Malay of great books in other languages to improve the character of the race, that would also be a help. Mistakes had been made. Should there also be an attempt to recover the past? Or should the past and history be forgotten and only the arguments of the present and the future be carried by the newer generation? Should the Malays ignore both Jebat and Tuah, and all those after them and be true bananas? Is the past so shameful that it is a millstone that should be cast away from the Malay neck, not by criticising but by ignoring? Is it a waste of time to debate the past?
What the websites such as Malaysiakini, Malaysia-Today and other blogs and forums do are to be able to reach across the urban-rural divide. The emphasis on the current issues of the day are their attractions but there is so much repetitive noise. Not that it is not good that debate is leading to greater understanding of positions and adjustments in viewpoints. My point is that this is a limited circle of familiar faces to be ignored as fractious dissidents fighting and nagging. They need to be more positive in contributing ideas and suggestions to build a better future instead of dwelling on the misunderstandings and injustices of the past and present. The educational function to create a better Malay citizen or character is not so emphasized. There is too much emphasis on chopping trees, spreading fire and such activities.
To move our Malay race forward, is it better for the new intellectuals to operate in a global view for creating new visions of the future? Or is it that the Malay cannot escape the past without resolving it first? These are practical questions of direction that wiser heads can advise.
Thank you for your space.
July 26th, 2005 at 8:17 pm
Dear Bookworms,
A simple answer to your piece is that we have to learn to communicate better with the Malays in the kampongs and small towns. That matters for they have been ignored for far too long by UMNO. Go back to basics.
They do not understand the “vision thing” that people like Badawi and Najib have been preaching of late. They do not care about “Melayu Glokal” or the “Towering Malay” (Melayu Tiang!). They want better facilities, tools and techniques to make their lives better.
The Malay capitalists can take care of themselves after 35 years of the NEP/NDP. They can go to London, Paris or New York and fly their private jets. They are free to drive their Mercedes and Porsche cars. They have arrived.
We have to bring economic development to the grassroots. GDP growth rates, debt ratios, money supply, CPI, and other indicators are meaningless to the rural Malays. For that to happen, our policy planners and bureaucrats must get out of their comfortable air-conditioned offices in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and spend less time on the golf courses.
Go to the field and meet them at their level, and try to understand their problems as they see them. Let us also put an end to paternalism. Give them what they want, not what we think they need.
We cannot leave everything to our “ulamas” because what they can preach is about “paradise”, and the don’ts of their “Islam” in the kampongs and small towns. The real world is all about possibilities.
So by example, we can change attitudes and motivate. Make them see possibilities, and make positive reinforcement work. You cannot do that if you still have the “British Raj” mentality.
Regards, Din
July 27th, 2005 at 7:23 pm
Kassim Ahmad is no intellect as what this author write him out to be.
In fact his grasp of hedeeth as he espoused his book “Hadis: Satu Penilian Semula” is minimal, rustic and rudimentary. ( Oh yes, I have read the above book of his in Malay before it was supposed to have been banned!! Was it actually banned??, I wonder??)
His arguments are all , and I mean ALL are unoriginal ( it was all ciplak from the orientalist.) Because most Malays are not well read, he would have thought by bringing forth those arguments it may confound new readers, but alas all of them are already answered by the muslims writers many years before. I am surpised that M Bakri Musa was so taken in by Kassim’s writing of hadeeth. This only show how shallow Bakris’ understanding of hadeeth is.
This is not the place to go thru one by one what Kasiim wrote there. In fact I have even argued in public ( during one of the wedding reception ) with Kassim and he was not even able to answer the question put forward. Kassim was an ex communist ( socialist, whats the difference!!) and I wonder if he had ever discarded this thinking of his.
Just to give an example…of what was discussed….
M- muslim
AH -anti hadeeth
Normal tenet from muslim when they argue with anti hadeeth folks..
M: How are you gonna do the details of prayer movement if u do not refer to hadeeth??
AH: We pray according to Nabi Ibrahim’s movement and the general wording that was used are rukuk , sujud etc etc etc…just like what the normal orientalist comes out with.
I did not approach him this cos I know he had his answer in hand.
So I ask him one question….
In the Quran,Allah said the thieves- man and woman , cut their hand of…..the word used was (yad). “Yad” in Arabic mens hand…..The ayah is from Chapetr 5 verse 36..
I ask him, When Allah said “hand, at what place in hand do you cut??…Because ‘yad’ in Arabic refers to from the end of the finger all the way up to the edge of one’s shoulder??
So where do you cut them? At fingertip? At the pergelangan tangan??, at the elbow? At the shoulder’s edge?, in the middle of the forearm? At the biceps?? Where?
He was confounded?..he was goin ah oh ah oh…on and on…Why ..cos the orintalist never had this in their book and this man cannot think of an answer.
In fact at one point he was very nearly saying that cutting hand is almost barbaric ..I stopped him and said that if u said that, then you do not belive in the Quran so what right have you got to tell people to just belive in Quran and leaving hadeeth?
He backed out…
Another point he brought out was that he said muslim need not pronounce the second part of the shahahdah.. which means…
And I belive that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah…
His argument ..he said Allah mentioned in the Quran that the munafiq testify that Muhammd was the messenger of Allah… Chapter 63, part of verse 1.
So he said that ALlah said the munafiq are the one who testify Muhammd ( pbuh) is the Messenger of Allah….
So I told him to finish off the ayah…he couldn’t ..so I read to him the full Arabic and translated the WHOLE AYAH for him… It goes
“The munfaiq will testify by saying that you ( Muhammad) is the messenger of ALLah,
Allah KNOWS that you ( Muhammad) is His Messenger, and ALLAH testify that the munafiq are indeed liars.
Then he said in the Quran no where were Muhammad was mentioned by name as a Mesenger of Allah and I told him yes there were and I told him to read Chapter 48 the last ayah…..
The translation is ….
Muhammmd is the messenger of Allah, those who are with him……( and the ayah goes till the end).
He stopped and was confounded….Actually most of these anti hadeeth people do not know how to read quran and their understanding of the Quran is very shallow.
End of argument with him.
And it is suprising that Kassim Ahmad can actually belive in the existence of Tuah and Jebat ( which I belive is nothing more than dongeneg kisah kisah lama ) but can easily brush aside the hadeeth , which have ACTUALLY shown scintifcally and otherwise to have stood time tested analytical scrutiny.
I have also read Bakris book, The Malay Dilemma Revisited. I find it very interesting on the most part of it EXCEPT for those areas where he talked about Islam. This is where I believe the author “ Tersungkur Di Pintu Syurga” . In it he talked well on Kassim Ahmad, Sisters in Islam and the fact that most ulema currently lacked modern knowledge etc and so should not be taken seriously etc etc etc…typical marina mahathir and cohorts’ arguments.
If only these people were to learn Arabic( it takes full 1-2 years to get to know it ) and start reading the books of Ibn Taymiyah, Ibn Qayyim , Ibn Kathir, Al Quthubi, Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani, Sheih Albani, Sheikn Ibn Uthaimin etc….would they realize that there is such a vast knowledge there untapped and these people would have then be completely refreshed with the pristine knowledge of Islam.
Alas these would rather take knowledge from people who are hostile to Islam.
The scholars I have mentioned above are so good in their wrting that one would have easily answered any major controversies raised by these orientalist by reading their books. BTW many of their books are yet to betranslated in English although the Indonesians have started to translate many of Ibn Qayiim’s books in Indonesia.
Kassim Ahmad may be a Malay dongeng lama specialist but he certainly is no intellect when it comes to islam and his writing of it is not worth the “daki” that is stuck in between the toes of the those writers that I have mentioned above.
Kassim should have just remained a “panglipulara kontemporar” by indulging in Hang Tuah, Jebat, Puteri Gunug Ledang etc. rather than wasting other people’s time to analyse of his worthless writing about Islam which certainly is dangkal and bucolic.
Bakri should have been more careful in his assessing of people such as Kassim Ahmad.
July 28th, 2005 at 12:57 am
Dear Bakri,
A Defender of the Faith has emerged from the woodwork and into our midst. He comments on Kassim Ahmad, and our favorable remarks about Kassim’s person and writings. He calls himself Baju. What happen to his trousers? Anyway, I will call him “Mr. Baju”.
I have aways thought that Britain is one of the few places where they still have a Defender of the Faith. She is Queen Elizabeth II. Many centuries ago, England had King Henry VIII, the infamous rebel against the Catholic Pope in Rome. He became the first Defender of the Faith, that is the Church of England.
In Malaysia, it would appear that we have many self-appointed defenders. Unfortunately, they cannot discuss Islam and issues of interpretation rationally. In stead, they will resort to labelling others with whose views they oppose, or with whom they disagree. These are the “stick to conventional wisdom” types. They are the ones who are easily carried away by exhortations and writings of the extremists and utopians like Hassan al-Banna, Maulana Mawdudi, Sayyid Qutb, Ali Shariati and Ruhollah Khomeini. Such types are creating lots of problems for peace loving and tolerant Muslims around the world today.
I happen to believe that the Koran is the only true word of God/Allah. It is our Article of Faith as Muslims. With regard to the Hadeeth, controversy abounds. But one thing we all including Kassim can agree, and I hope Mr. Baju too, is that the Hadeeth of the Prophet pbuh were attributed to him and authenticated via a rather involved, convoluted, and if I may add, rather primitive process of recollections of, and verification by individuals who never knew the Prophet in person, or who had lived during his time.
Upon completion, the authenticated ones were related and recorded for posterity, again by individuals like Burkhary and Muslim. They were individuals of high moral integrity, no doubt. But as human beings, they did not have perfect powers of recall, and understanding. Only Allah is perfect.
As a result, there is some doubt about the authenticity and reliability of the Hadeeth. But we in Malaysia tend to use the Hadeeth, as if it is gospel, to support our views on Islam at first opportunity, thereby giving them the same weight as verses from the Holy Quran. What we should do, in my opinion, is first to rely on the Koran, and only then use the Hadeeth, even then with care.
Since I am not an ulema, what I think is not important. But I still have a right to my opinion!! Mr. Baju is all worked up on this to the point of agitation. I can understand. He too has his rights.
Let me say that Kassim is not wrong to raise a posture of doubt on the Hadeeth in keeping with the traditions of a rationalist intellectual. But that does not disqualify him from being a good Muslim. To say that his writing is “dangkal and bucolic” speaks volumes about Mr. Baju. He, not Kassim, is probably the “panglipulara kontemporar”.
Kassim is respected as a scholar and researcher outside our country. That is why you and I think he deserves the recognition of our nation. Since most of our leaders are probably like Mr. Baju, Kassim will never stand a chance.
I was surprised when Mr. Baju, a person who claims to be familiar with the writings and thoughts of Ibn Qayiim, Ibn Khatir et.al, could make such uncomplimentary remarks. But then it takes all sorts of people to make this world.
Thanks.
July 28th, 2005 at 10:12 am
dear pak bakri,
i dare you to name (at least) one woman as a towering malay. I’m sick of only men being referred to as role models.
Hang Jebat? Why not Puteri Gunung Ledang?
July 28th, 2005 at 6:52 pm
Dear Bakri,
Before you can reply to Nor’s question, it is better to ask him to establish some criteria.
Is it academic excellence, professional distinction, exceptional talent, intellectual contribution, public service achievement, or some combination of these? Is beauty important? Maybe, we should ask Prime Minister Badawi to define “towering”. To me, without any criteria, “tower” is just a “tiang”.
Or are we not wasting our time thinking about this petty and irrelevant issue?
Having said that, I certainly would not say that the Malay girl who got 17 or 18 A’s in SPM a towering Malay. Yet our Government made a big “hallabaloo” and “whoha” about her achievement. She has just started her academic life, For God’s sake, and has nothing really solid to crow about at this stage of her life.
I would consider Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali as an excellent role model of a modern Malay woman. But she would embarassed if we considered her a “towering Malay”. I personally know her to be a great lady, a widely read and enlightened person, a wonderful wife to Tun Mahathir and very supportive mother, and an excellent public service professional. Despite her many achievements, she remains a modest Muslim of integrity. Her brother was the late Tun Ismail, the first Malay Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia, who I regard as a legend in his own time.
I do not know whether Puteri Gunung Ledang is for real. She could be a figment of the Malay imagination for all I know. A sort of sentimental favorite, over whom many Malays like Nor fantasize.
Thanks.
August 16th, 2005 at 8:36 am
Dear Bakri,
I was irritated by your citation of my interview with the Special Branch in 1987. I did not, “shrewdly” or otherwise, say “Hang Tuah was right”. Your saying I did implies that I was moved to give Rahim Noor the “right” answer. As I related in that passage in my book, I said I didn’t know, “especially as the answer depended on who was asking the question”. Don’t let your well-known disdain for me colour your recollection of the record.
Wassalam,
Rehman
June 11th, 2007 at 2:44 am
Whatever your view of Kassim Ahmad is, there is a book specifically proving that Kassim Ahmad’s view on Al Hadeeth is skewed and “way off base”. Not only one but so many.
I pity u m bakri for taking the time to read Kassim’s book but refusing to read books that refutes Kassim. Let me assure u that to date Kassim has been silence about the refutation.
But, it’s an issue of ideology. M Bakri shares the same liberal ideology as kassim. Therefore, whatever he writes, u swallow.