Finding the right language to faith

One of the most poignant and arresting images on display at the art exhibition "Khabar Dan Angin: An Excursus of Faith in Kelantan", which is currently ongoing at the Balai Seni Visual Negara until March 16, is this drawing  by artist Poodien (see pic below). It depicts the image of the artist's late mother in prayer garb (telekung), face set, hard lined and serious. This image is in black and white. Next to it, a colourful batik sarong lay discarded by the side.

It somehow reminded me of the harsh seriousness of studying religion. As a child of the 80s, when corporal punishment was the norm, it was usual for the cane (rotan) to be used in education. Most evident was in Quranic lessons, where every wrong incantation would result in my knuckles being hit by a cane kept by the side of my teacher.

Until today, I am conscious of reciting the Quran for fear of wrong pronunciation. Further, this experience highlights that the Malaysian brand of Islamic education is mainly "all hellfire and brimstone". Worse is the coupling of this with the holier-than-thou attitude that comes with knowing how to speak Arabic or the ability to memorize the Quran by certain individuals.

The drawing by artist Poodien, depicting his late mother in prayer garb (telekung), is currently on display at the art exhibition 'Khabar Dan Angin: An Excursus of Faith in Kelantan', at the Balai Seni Visual Negara in Kuala Lumpur. The exhibition ends on March 16. – Pic by Lyana Khairuddin, January 30, 2016.We celebrate children who are able to recite or memorize the Quran. Yet, the bigger question we should ask is "do these hafizs understand what they memorize"?

Quran recital is beautifully melodious. While I am able to recite the Quran, I have only recently started reading the Quran. I began to understand its spirit and appreciate the need to also read around it, and to learn from more learned individuals while doing so.

The language in which I am learning about the Quran is English.

Having found this need to study and understand the Quran deeper than just merely reciting it has made me appreciate the faith even more. I also note that most known learned scholars are men; a geo-political and historical fact to why the religion as we know it today, is patriarchal.

Thus, I found the recent statement by Perak mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria on banning the Anas Zubedy-led "Let's Read The Quran" (LRTQ) campaign problematic in more ways than one. In the statement, it seems that only reciting the Quran is considered "enough" and rewarded by God.

From personal experience, I think this is superficial. I wanted to know and learn more, and to do so I need to read the Quran in a language that I can understand.

At the ripe age of 33 and having failed to be fluent in French many times now, I think learning Arabic would be challenging for me. Perhaps I can make this a resolution for next year, but I am also steadfast in my principle that I can still be a good Muslim without being an Arab.

Yes, the Quran was revealed in Arabic. The history of Islam has its foundation in the Middle East. Yet, the history of Islam in South East Asia has allowed for an assimilation of culture rather than adapting an Arabic culture fully.

There is after all, no need to discard the batik sarong for an abaya.

While the LRTQ campaign is still ongoing, the organisers made the diplomatic approach to now have the Arabic verses alongside the translation in Bahasa Malaysia or English. I applaud Zubedy for this moderate way of continuing the campaign.

However, this does not overcome the resistance by our religious authorities to empower Muslims with understanding the Quran beyond the superficial recitation of the Arabic version.

Individuals should have the ability to understand their own faiths and seek education and guidance from our religious leaders through discourse and intellectual debates. Instead, what I keep seeing now is a complete ban on certain books, speeches, and a quieting of dissent of people who do seek to understand Islam better.

Our religious authorities seem to be a big brother who controls what sort of Islam we are allowed to live with, when, I quote Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi here, "Islam is a mansion with many rooms".

There is a need for religious bodies to accept pluralism within Islam itself, because, after all we all bow down to one God.

There are missed opportunities for dakwah, where leading by example and exuding compassion would bring more Muslims, and even non-Muslims closer to Islam. Instead, asking questions led to discrimination (as with the case of Wan Sulaiman Wan Ismail), persecution (both cases of Wan Sulaiman and Kassim Ahmad), while converting to Islam seems to allow a bully justification for abusive behaviour (cue Izwan Abdullah).

Language can be a barrier to seeking knowledge. The first step to mitigate this is having translated works. The second is to allow a more inclusive discourse and diverse point of view to intellectual debates, including a gender perspective.

We need more feminist Quranic scholars. We need to empower Muslims in seeking knowledge about the faith and then to have proper interfaith dialogues.

It is from reading the Quran will we be able to live the reality of justice and compassion, and find ourselves closer to our faith. – March 9, 2016.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.