The Star
SHARING THE NATION By ZAINAH ANWAR
DURING a trip to Iran about 11 years ago, Iranian activists, academics and lawyers I met who had turned against the Islamic revolution said they overthrew the Shah in order to have a modern, prosperous democratic country like Malaysia.
Instead, they had replaced one dictatorship with an even worse one that hides behind God’s name to justify its oppression of its own citizens.
Today, in the midst of the still evolving Arab revolution, the model Muslim state everyone is writing and talking about is Turkey.
It’s of course not surprising that today it is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Islamist Prime Minister of Turkey who is welcomed like some rock star among the democracy activists and embraced by the progressive factions within old Islamist parties which have now come into power in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
There is a clear message today among the progressives within the Islamist movement in the Arab region – forget about the Islamic state idea; it’s an unworkable and unachievable utopia as clearly shown by the failure of Iran.
What more in the context of today’s revolutionary ideals.
One by one, leaders like Rached Ghanoushi in Tunisia, Abdel Moneim Abou el-Fotouh in Egypt, Nadia Yassine in Morocco and Mahfoud Nahnah in Algeria are no longer calling for an Islamic state, but for a democratic civil state.
Ghanoushi, who led his al-Nahdah party to victory in the recent Tunisian elections, has gone even further in pledging to establish a pluralist and secular society with respect for human rights and women’s rights, including a pledge not to dismantle Tunisia’s progressive Personal Status Law.
Where does this new trend in the Arab world place Islamists in Malaysia?
The most significant development has been the emergence of the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) led by former founding member of MPF (Muslim Professionals Forum), Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa.
The IRF calls itself an intellectual movement, committed to promoting intellectual discourse on freedom of expression and religion, democracy and liberty.
Dr Farouk, a cardiothoracic surgeon turned academic, was introduced to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the writings of its two foremost ideologues, Hassan al-Banna and Syed Qutb, when he attended study sessions organised by Abim at a madrasah in Bukit Mertajam.
Today, he is determined to liberate the Muslim mind from orthodoxy and conservatism towards reason and rationalism.
The IRF’s brave and principled public positions on issues such as Sexualiti Merdeka, freedom of religion, women’s rights, Perkasa’s abuse of race and religion, have gained it much public attention and support as well as the usual attacks from the “Islam under threat” bandwagon.
Within PAS, there has been a long standing battle between the so-called “Erdogan” faction and the hardliners.
Currently, it is these “Muslim democrats” who seem to hold sway over the party leadership, as reflected by their successful ouster of Hassan Ali.
The latter now labels the “Erdogans” in PAS as “parasites” out to secularise the party.
For the likes of Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, the Kuala Selangor MP and PAS central committee member, the future of PAS lies with an emphasis on good governance and democratic principles in the model of the AKP in Turkey and al-Nahda in Tunisia.
Iran is no longer a source of inspiration, like it once was in the 1980s. Certainly, not Saudi Arabia.
Dr Dzulkifli took much pride in telling me at the much talked about UKEC Malaysian Student Conference in London in January that he had spent time under the tutelage of Ghanoushi and saw how his thinking evolved during his years in exile in Britain.
Dr Dzulkifli proudly proclaimed himself an Islamic democrat to the Malaysian students.
This is today the language of many Islamists who in the 1980s and 1990s preached hell fire and damnation against those who disagreed with their version of Islam.
Of course, there many democrats and feminists in the Arab world and in Malaysia who have struggled for democracy, human rights and women’s rights all their lives who remain sceptical that this rhetoric of change is for real.
Moreover, this progressive Islamic vision remains contested within these Islamist parties themselves.
In Egypt, some of the more progressive Islamists have already broken away from the Muslim Brotherhood and formed their own parties to push for democracy and human rights.
But it is this open contestation and evolution, and the fact that once banned Islamist parties can now stand for elections openly, that is good for the democratisation process in the Muslim world.
If the Islamists want to win and retain power, they have to evolve and envision a kinder, gentler, inclusive Islam that makes sense to the realities of the 21st century.
They need to widen their support base and recognise diversity and differences. They need to deliver on the aspirations of the people. It’s as simple as that.
So, it is not just about winning support from non-Muslims but from many diverse Muslims.
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