Religious Tolerance

Today before going to school, I've the opportunity to surf the net and I revisited a blog which I surfed few days back. This blog earlier on discussed in further detailed of the usage of the word Allah whether it is exclusively for the Muslims alone or shared by all. Reading through the entry opened up my mind and realised that the word is not exclusive as it had been used commonly to denote God for all eternity.

However, this morning I find that the discussion has spread to attacking Islam and no longer criticising UMNO per se. I'm sadden by the words in the blog as it tantamount to racism and highly prejudiced towards Islam. Giving examples of tolerance in the Middle East is not appropriate like saying that Muslims alike freely selling religious paraphernalia to other believers. For me such act is not tolerance but tantamount to ignorance on the part of the seller and it is not condoned in Islam.

I guess the writer is carried away by his sense of crusade and for that I think I should give him the benefit of the doubt. Merely mentioning names like Farish Nor and SIS will not make his arguments bullet proof as the former too are prone to liberalism in Islam which is totally unacceptable. A Muslim is duty bound to follow Islamic tenets throughout his life no matter what his situation is. A Hindu who had early embraced Islam and there's no proof of his denouncing the religion is in fact a Muslim although he may not practised any of the Islamic teachings like praying or fasting.

We should remind ourselves in our quest to uphold democracy not to be overzealous to the extent of belittling other people's belief. As I'm sure the blogger will agree that every religion propagates kindness and tolerance to others but this is certainly not a ticket to hurl heartless accusations towards others particularly if that religion has been recognised by the Federal Constitution as the official religion of Malaysia.

For the blogger, there are countless and wide avenues for us to struggle together but please check yourself against talking about something as sensitive as religion. It is even unfortunate if the blogger himself or herself is a Muslim!

May Allah protect us from misfortunes