In Kamarul Zaman’s book, non-Muslims can’t write about their faith

Unfazed lecturer says Hannah Yeoh started it first, flays critics

Aries46: Universti Utara Malaysia lecturer Kamarul Zaman Yusof’s allegation is so unwarranted and childish one wonders how in the world he justifies his role as an educator at the highest level of education.

What is so wrong about Selangor assembly speaker Hannah Yeoh writing about her own life experiences and relating it to her Christian faith? Are Christian politicians forbidden to do so?

In fact, many a time we see Muslims freely quoting verses from the Quran and no one feels offended or objects to it. And who is forcing him to read Yeoh’s book?

If Yeoh feels Kamarul Zaman’s allegation amount to slander, she has every right to lodge a police report and sue him for defamation. And Kamarul Zaman’s justification he did a tit-or-tat couldn’t be more ridiculous.

Wira: Kamarul Zaman, Yeoh is talking about her personal journey with her God. If that can be taken as proselytising, God can never be mentioned in any book in this country.

Moreover, if you want to read her book, you have to buy or borrow one. She is not giving those out for free.

Unafraid: Is it wrong for a person to write a book about the religion she believes in? What is so offensive about that?

Yeoh’s book documents her own personal journey to become the youngest speaker in Malaysia and she gives glory to God for this. Why do others see this as a threat to their religion?

There are other Christian biographies in our bookstores. Do these bigots see these books as serious threats to their faith? What weaklings are these that the mere presence of these books threatens them?

Prudent: I would say, to be fair, that Kamarul Zaman has a point. The attack was against Yeoh’s faith in Jesus Christ and her “good behaviour in Christ”.

The Bible clearly teaches that a follower of Jesus Christ, in the event of being attacked on their faith and their “good behaviour” as the fruit of their faith, should be prepared to answer their attackers.

But they should do it with “gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1st Peter 3:15-16).

In dragging in the secular authorities by making a police report, Yeoh clearly breached this tenet of her faith. She should answer her critics with the same medium through which she was slandered, as Kamarul Zaman averred.

Fairplayer: Prudent, please do not add salt to Yeoh’s injury. Just look at what they did to Ahok (former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama).

Vijay47: Acute stupidity has been present on the Malaysian landscape for so long that we are not surprised when it periodically reaffirms its existence.

In fact, it has mutated itself to a higher plane – we now have politicians who suggest that rapists marry their victims, especially underaged victims, are contributing to individual social responsibility, then there are various muftis who profess that it is acceptable to take out a non-Muslim or two, all in the name of religion, of course, and the latest contribution to Malaysia’s spiritual wellbeing, scholars in comparative religion who find great comfort and strength in their own belief by being offensive to other faiths.

So in Kamarul Zaman, nothing else is new. He merely takes delight and pride in letting us know of that monumental vacuum in knowledge and intelligence he suffers from.

Perhaps his next demand could be that car stickers like “Christ is the Way” should be banned, lest, yes, he is confused and his faith weakened.

Reverse123: The British ruled the nation for 150 years – did any Malays adopt Christianity? Over 20 years, thousands of Malays went to ‘mission’ schools, did any become Christian?

Today, thousands of Malays (including ministers’ children) are getting education from land of ‘kafir’, have they become Christian?

Ravinder: Indeed, if hundreds of thousands of Malay/Muslim children who attended the Christian missionary schools and convents from Standard 1 to Form 5 or 6 (i.e. 11 to 13 years of their most impressionable period) in the days before this lecturer was born, did not convert to Christianity, can he explain why and how the faith of today’s Muslim Malaysians has eroded so greatly that merely reading Yeoh’s book could make them convert to Christianity?

He should instead use his research expertise to study the phenomena of the drastic erosion of the Muslim Malaysians’ faith in Islam (if that is what he means to say), and come up with practical, effective methods of teaching Islam so that the faith of the Muslim Malaysians of today will revert to that of the Muslim Malaysians of yesteryears.

Otherwise, he should not engineer excuses to find fault with Yeoh and other non-Muslims as doing so is unIslamic and unprofessional.

XED: This lecturer should concentrate on such facts as the huge numbers of Muslims fleeing to heathen Western countries from the abodes of Islam, risking their lives, sacrificing their assets, and enduring great hardship.

Not Convinced: Kamarul Zaman is not stupid. By equating DAP with Christianity, he is furthering the narrative that Islam is under threat in this country where Muslims comprise the majority, and thus serving the political objective of both Umno and PAS.

Anonymous_1421806811: Being a Muslim myself, I find it hard to understand why Muslims in Malaysia are so “weak” when it comes to anything that associates with other faiths, particularly Christianity.

To them the symbol of a cross or excerpts from the Bible are often seen as symbols of proselytisation. I always thought learning and understanding other religions will strengthen their faith even more.

Is the Muslim faith in Islam that weak? Perhaps I am wrong but being a “qualified” lecturer in UUM and obviously, an expert in proselytisation, Kamarul should write a thesis on this Malay psyche and how to overcome this problem.

Appum: Kamarul Zaman, I am not a DAP member nor a staunch supporter blindly. I support anyone, any party who is intelligent, fair, moderate or leaders who think and speak intelligently and show quality in their actions.

You, without realisation, is somewhat a “leader” in your field of political science since you are a lecturer in that institution of higher learning.

But unfortunately, you have tarnished your name, your status as an academic, your career as professional in political science by your short-sighted reaction to a biography of a person not of your faith.

Your intolerance and narrow view of issues and writings have reflected the poor quality of your mindset and training.

No matter how and what you say to the press to support your actions, your original thinking and actions have overridden all the goodness you may have in yourself.

The power of expression is so great and empowering that many short-sighted people and leaders don’t realise it, like some ministers.

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