Pas MP Siti Mastura Muhammad recently seized the headlines again when the High Court ordered her to pay RM825,000 in damages and costs after she lost a defamation suit filed by three DAP leaders.
The Kepala Batas MP had erroneously claimed the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Teresa Kok had links to the late Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng. Looks like an imagination that went berserk.
Mastura could face bankruptcy proceedings if she fails to pay the judgment sum. This could lead to her disqualification as an MP, triggering a by-election.
To avoid this dire outcome, the Pas leadership launched what it called a “jihad fund drive” among its members. The party required its central committee leaders and state chiefs, divisions and branches to donate at least RM500 each. State chapters and wings at federal, state and division levels were to raise a minimum of RM20,000 each.
It is understandable for the Pas leadership to come to Mastura’s rescue in the name of party solidarity. But some observers were baffled that the party chose to associate the donation drive with jihad.
Jihad is understood to be obligatory only as warfare in response to aggression or perfidy against the Muslim community.
But, of importance, is the greater jihad, the spiritual struggle to purify one’s heart, avoid evil and grow into a better person.
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How is committing slander (fitnah) a jihad when the former is considered a heinous sin in Islam as it causes enmity and discord? Surely, committing a great sin such as slander is not jihad.
It would be unfortunate and mischievous if the term jihad is being employed to paint Mastura as a victim of “non-Muslim evil design”, ie to rally supporters for a jihad against the supposed “enemies of Islam”.
One wonders whether there is an insidious attempt to normalise slander by the Pas leadership, given that a few Pas politicians were found to have made unproven allegations against their political foes. For instance, DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng won a defamation case against Perak Pas chief Razman Zakaria in September last year.
To reiterate, insisting that party members pay for the outcome of slander as part of a jihad could send a wrong message to them and other Muslims that being slanderous is acceptable in Islam.
It also sends a wrong signal that it is OK for a slanderer to refuse to apologise to the slandered. Sorry shouldn’t be the hardest word.
Victimhood is not new in Malaysian politics. In the past, certain political parties and civil society groups have resorted to victimhood to try to boost support from their political bases.
Casting ‘the other’ as instrumental in bringing about an existential threat to the ethnic Malay majority community is part of this ploy.
A political party might demonise a group or community as a threat to the existence of the community that the party purportedly champions. Such scaremongering could well polarise society even further.
For example, according to reports, a Pas leader once accused the ethnic Chinese-based DAP of promoting Islamophobia. This might have caused anxiety among members of the Malay-Muslim community and provoked their condemnation.
A political party should not use slander to seek political relevance. No respectable political party should employ such deception.
The opposition has a noble role to play: it should offer alternative policy ideas, ensure democratic checks and balances, and work for the betterment of society.
Islam should not be smudged in a way that gives the impression it condones slander. Using such political deceit could arguably even contribute to Islamophobia.
Let’s instead jihad for a better humanity.
Wishing all our readers a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Mustafa K Anuar
Co-editor, Aliran newsletter
28 December 2024
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
