Pertembungan antara pemikiran progresif dan konservatif

=======================

“Yes, there is a battle for Islam between the conservatives and progressives in Malaysia,” Asri said. “We will enter the dark ages if we allow the conservatives to win.”
Asri has been charged under religious “Shariah” law for giving a lecture on Islam last November without authorisation.
But the cleric says his real offence has been to enrage the country’s religious establishment, which has become increasingly strident in recent times, imposing caning sentences that have rarely if ever been enforced before.
Sharia courts — which operate alongside the civil courts in a dual-track system — recently ordered three young Muslim women to be caned for having extramarital sex.
Another mother-of-two also faced a thrashing after being caught drinking beer but after her case hit the headlines she was ordered to do a spell of community service instead.
“Now they just say punish, punish and punish. Religion is not about punishment. Right now we have to educate the people. It is not the right time to impose punishment,” Asri said.
“The right thing to do now is to educate. You must make it easy for people to get married by giving them financial aid so they will not indulge in extramarital sex.”
Straddling the fault line in the debate are Malaysia’s minority races who are concerned over rising “Islamisation” and fear that tolerance towards Christians, Hindus and others is diminishing.
A series of disputes has erupted between majority Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians in recent years, straining relations half a century after the founding of the secular nation.

======================

Komen: Kebangkitan Islam akan datang bila manusia mula faham apa itu agama yg datang dari Tuhan yg menciptakan mereka, dengan pendidikan yg sewajarnya bukan semata-mata mewujudkan "fear" sehingga manusia lari dari memahami agama. Lalu jadilah mereka bodoh agama, walaupun secara luarannya bernama "bin" atau "binti", bersekolah agama atau berkad pengenalan status Islam.

Ya, takut menjadi kafir, takut masuk neraka itu ada, tapi ibaratnya takut salah bila menjawab soalan matematik, maka kita akan gunakan formula yg betul ketika menjawab, bukan takut sehingga tidak mahu menjawab langsung soalan matematik, kerana matlamat kita semua utk jawab soalan matematik dengan betul yg dikehendaki "pemeriksa". Maka tekunlah kita menjawab soalan matematik dengan kaedah dan jalan kerja yg betul. Bukan cabut lari! Ataupun beri kertas soalan kepada ustaz utk mereka jawabkan bagi pihak kita! Begitu juga Islam, bukanlah menakut2kan manusia dengan hukum hingga mereka jadi cabut lari dari memahami agama mereka. Agama bukan semata2 punishment.

Sunnah Rasul: Nabi Muhammad menghabiskan masa selama 13 tahun di Mekah utk educate masyarakat pada masa tu, kemudian membawa sebilangan org2 yg yakin utk perbuat sistem bersama2 ke Yathrib utk sama2 dirikan sistem cara hidup Islam. Semuanya bermula dengan pendidikan. Cumanya, obviously pendidikan itu bukanlah "pendidikan Islam" seperti yg ada di sekolah2 Malaysia sekarang, mahupun sekolah agama yg membuatkan org semakin tak faham, semakin konfius apa itu agama melainkan amalan2 ritual, penjelasan magic2 dan agama "collect point" sahaja. Believe it or not, inilah fahaman agama yg bertebaran sekarang di muka bumi Malaysia.

Pendidikan yg sewajarnya ialah yg mendidik manusia "menjadi manusia seperti yg Allah mahu". Matlamat hidup ialah "memenuhi tuntutan Allah" dalam semua bidang, dengan memahami prinsip2 yg termaktub dalam AlQuran. Semua manusia berhak membaca AlQuran dalam bahasa yg mereka fahami. Mereka berhak utk tahu apa agama mereka, kerana bila mati nanti ustaz2 tidak akan menjamin mereka ke syurga. Dan bukan meletakkan urusan agama pada sekelompok manusia sahaja seperti yg berlaku sekarang. Agama bukan milik eksklusif. Ustaz cuma boleh "menjelaskan" tetapi tidak boleh "menjamin" sesiapa.