Update: I wrote this a while back, and spent a lot of time looking into the issues from a strictly comparative basis. I've been told that this view is narrow and should not be adopted. And I agree. This piece may be divisive, and I struggled while writing it. But for me, it was my way of honing some thoughts and trying to look at it from the shoes of the Malaysian Government.
Having given it more thought, I will be writing another opinion, a 'corrected position', soon. I think the position should be more inclusive.
Update 2: Here's the corrected position: The Amman Message (Link here)
Introduction
While Malaysians get caught up in the
politicisation of the ‘Mat Sabu is a Shia’ debacle, it might be a good time to
take a step back and ask ‘Why the Shias?’ The sensible answer might indicate
that (i) any religious issue is a hot button issue in Malaysia; and (ii) what
better way to shake the credibility of PAS and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition?
Though the jury is still out as to the
effectiveness of these attacks (probably not very), the bigger picture should
not be missed: What is it about the Shias that gets some of us so riled up?
Politics aside, there are inherent and
fundamental differences between Syiah and Sunni Islam which has prompted many
observers, intellectuals and social commentators alike, to declare that Shias are not Muslims. While Shias claim the
contrary, it is this author’s opinion that the fundamental differences between the
belief system and practice of Syiah ‘Islam’ and Sunni Islam would in fact
render the former, non-Islamic.
Why didn’t Islam call itself
‘Christianity Part II’ or ‘Judaism’ or something of that sort? This is probably
because the belief system and practice of Islam differed from the Christianity
and Judaism. Would it be possible for the same to be applied on the Syiahs?
This author says yes.
In the paragraphs to follow, this
author intends to look at 2 of the important
pillars of the Islamic faith, namely the Shahadah and the 5 daily
prayers and compare and contrast the belief and practice system of Sunni
Muslims with that of the Shias. Why just the 2? Because they are able to show delineation
in the belief system between the Sunnis and Shias that would be enough to
constitute different religions.
The conclusions that
will be reached are: (i) the Shia faith system does not fall in line with the Islamic
pillars (and thus are not "Muslims" as understood by a majority of Muslims); and (ii) Shias should stop trying so hard
to brand themselves as Muslims but instead declare that they are a different
religion (but who worship the same God- like the Christians).
On a related
note, this author believes that Shias and Sunnis should learn to get along.
There’s enough fighting, and this article is written in no way to ostracize the
Shias. This author feels that a name change would do well towards a more
peaceful coexistence.
