By virtue of their mutual interest does nature unite people against violence and war… the spirit of trade cannot coexist with war, and sooner or later this spirit dominates every people. For among all those powers… that belong to a nation, financial power may be the most reliable in forcing nations to pursue the noble cause of peace… and wherever in the world war threatens to break out, they will try to head it off through mediation, just as if they were permanently leagued for this purpose
— Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace, 1795.
Author: Hafiz Noor Shams
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[1053] Of Liberal Islam is not liberalism
I have a tingling suspicion that the school of Liberal Islam is not part of liberalism. Earlier, I have reasoned that while I am a liberal, I am not a member of Liberal Islam. This entry will further strengthen that assertion.
Forgive me but when I refer to liberalism, I really mean classical liberalism. Nowadays, the core concepts of liberalism have won the global ideological battle so greatly that almost everybody at least gives a lip service to liberalism in order to share the victor’s glory. Everybody loves winners and this includes Liberal Islam. Even religious conservatives through varying degree nominally accept certain aspect unique to or introduced by liberalism. Thus, I must qualify liberalism before I go on.
The problem with Liberal Islam is that, it does not hold the concept of liberty for the sake of liberty. Rather, it holds liberty — particularly civil liberty — because the school interprets the sources of Islam to allow as such. Whatever the conservative camps are saying, Liberal Islam still refers back to the sources of Islam. At the very least, it is the Koran. A real liberal does not embrace liberalism because “revealed knowledge” tells him or her to do so. A real liberal embraces liberalism simply for the sake of liberty through his or her own reasoning. A real liberal is not a slave that follows every order or commandment presented to him or her. A real liberal thinks for him or herself.
If it is true that Liberal Islam is not part of liberalism, why does Liberal Islam call itself Liberal Islam?
I would venture to say that the term “liberal” of Liberal Islam acts as a superlative. The term “liberal” in Liberal Islam simply describes the fact that Liberal Islam is more liberal in its interpretation of the sources of Islam compared to that of religious conservatives’. Nothing more. In comparison, the same reasoning is meaningless in liberalism; it should be meaningless simply because “revealed knowledge” is irrelevant.
It is no question that some of the tenets of Liberal Islam are similar to that of liberalism. Nevertheless, Liberal Islam does not go as far as liberalism in embracing liberty. And that liberty encompasses more than civil liberties. Free market is an important pillar in liberalism but Liberal Islam does not seem to stress too much of it.
The fact that term “liberal” in Liberal Islam is a superlative, a socialist could be a member of Liberal Islam. Socialism is affirmatively not part of liberalism. If socialism were liberalism, then the Cold War would not have made sense.
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[1052] Of mark February 10
Mark February 10 in your calendar people. Why?
And that’s why I [Barack Obama] wanted to tell you first that I’ll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee. For the next several weeks, I am going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us, and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country together. And on February 10th, at the end of these decisions and in my home state of Illinois, I’ll share my plans with my friends, neighbors and fellow Americans.
While I was watching Barack Obama addressing at the DNC in Boston on TV long ago, I thought he was the star of the day. I still remember of him speaking something to the effect of “there is no red state, there is no blue but there is a United States of America.” That, as an non-American living in America during the 2004 election, moved me a lot. I thought, if only Malaysia has a politician like him that unites us all, instead of driving a wedge through us all.
p/s – sharing is good. The Obama speech at the DNC that touches the no red, no blue state:
Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America — there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
Beautiful, is it not?
Amid chaos in Johor, I am hearing worrying calls for something similar to conscription. I have not heard an outright call for conscription but Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil is suggesting something that comes close to that effect:
PETALING JAYA, Jan 14 (Bernama) — Woman, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil will announce the locations of all flood relief centres in Johor tomorrow so that the National Service Training Department (NSTD) can deploy its trainees to the areas.
She said with the addresses of these centres revealed, the department can move on its own to help the flood victims.
“For the cleaning works, please bring your own equipment,” she told reporters after the launch of an anti-drug campaign at Seri Sentosa flat, here Sunday.
Yesterday, she suggested that the National Service trainees be utilised to assist the Community Services Department (CSD) in helping flood victims in Johor.
A more worrying development is this:
KOTA BAHARU, Jan 14 (Bernama) — The Disaster Brigade is made compulsory at public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) in an effort to nurture caring attitude and exemplary conduct among students, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.
“The formation of the brigade is made formal today and we hope private institutions of higher learning will follow suit,” he told reporters after delivering his new year address to principals, headmasters and district education officers from Tanah Merah district here today.
More from The Star:
KOTA BARU: Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed wants public institutions of higher learning (IPTAs) to make community work compulsory for undergraduates.
He said all IPTAs must form community brigades to help ease the sufferings of those who become victims of natural disasters such as floods.
The brigades’ role is to extend help to victims of natural disasters namely in clean-up programmes, he told reporters after meeting Jeli district education officers and principals here yesterday.
Instead of mulling over conscription — or whatever one may wish to call it — how about we fully mobilize our professional and volunteer-based military?
In the name of pragmatism, I would prefer a nationwide emergency that is conscious to civil liberties to any kind of conscription.
Even if conscription were acceptable, it would be highly inappropriate for Malaysian leaders to call for conscription while they themselves prefer to spend time vacationing abroad in times of disaster. Such leaders have no moral rights to call for conscription.
p/s – implementation of conscription to increase others’ happiness is another example of conflict of happiness.
The boycott of Batu Talam by-election reminds me of the past Thai election.
The natural question is this: is there a Malaysian provision that would null and void the election result if certain quota is unfulfilled, i.e. very low voter turnout?