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Ring-Fencing Constituents

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The Divine Bureaucracy and Disenchantment of Social Life

Part of the book series: Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia ((CCSA))

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Abstract

The notion of ring-fencing as intrinsic to the Divine Bureaucracy’s project to homogenise the expressions of Islam and the identity of Muslim subjects is explored in this chapter. Its case studies will show that both syariah and civil laws delineate the boundaries of group identity by playing a gatekeeping function, defining who should be outlawed as Muslim ‘deviants’ and who should be rehabilitated back into the fold of group legitimacy. One of the most palpable, if not infallible, gatekeeping devices for ring-fencing is the legal prohibition against Muslims opting out of Islam as apostates. Yet ring-fencing goes beyond outlawing apostasy, as various forms of religious deviancy, forbidden marriages and sexual waywardness are part of a broad syndrome to be contained as well. To ring-fence subjects within these conditions of decreed wrongfulness requires that Muslim subjects suspend their civic identity and civil rights, a role that has devolved upon the Divine Bureaucracy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Conversions from another religion into Islam is part of state policy in that public funds are used in proselytisation programmes, notably on the indigenous Orang Asli tribes (Jamilah et al. 2014). However, conversion out of Islam into another religion is not legally recognised even though they exist as cases in this chapter will show. The idea of ‘reverse conversion’ is used in the context of conversion out of Islam.

  2. 2.

    Only five negeri (State, subnational units of governance) in Malaysia, namely Pahang, Perak, Melaka , Sabah and Terengganu, have legal provisions which make the renunciation of Islam an offence punishable by fines, imprisonment or whipping.

  3. 3.

    Section 119(8) of the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment 2003 states “If after the expiry of the period ordered under subsection (8) the person still refuses to repent, the person who is responsible for him [sic] shall prepare a report as soon as possible and bring him [sic] before the Syariah High Court and the Court may make a decision to declare that the person has renounced the Religion of Islam”.

  4. 4.

    Section 48 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment 1992.

  5. 5.

    It is unclear if leaders of these groups use similar textual sources. The concept of ‘Ilmu Hakikat’ (Fundamental Knowledge) was also attributed to other banned groups in Kelantan. A book written by Haji Ahmad Laksamana Haji Omar titled Hakikat Insan was banned in 1992 by the National Fatwa Committee and in 1996 by the Kelantan State (negeri ) Islamic Religious Council (Mohd Aizam 2015, 65–96).

  6. 6.

    “Ajaran: Hasan Anak Rimau”, https://www.carigold.com/portal/forums/showthread.php?t=392208, accessed 14 February 2019.

  7. 7.

    “Ajaran Ayah Pin”, http://mufti.terengganu.gov.my/index.php/home/99-fatwa-diwartakan/138-ajaran-ayah-pin, accessed 14 February 2019.

  8. 8.

    “Fatwa mengenai ajaran salah (Haji Ahmad Laksamana, Hassn bin Yaacub dan Mohamad Nor bin Seman)”, http://mufti.kelantan.gov.my/index.php/component/content/article/125-e-fatwa-kelantan-pentadbiran/akidah/170-fatwa-mengenai-ajaran-salah-haji-ahmad-laksamana-hasan-bin-yaacub-dan-mohamad-nor-bin-seman?Itemid=437, accessed 14 February 2019.

  9. 9.

    He eventually died in 2016, in the same village of Hulu Besut where his Sky Kingdom was formed (New Straits Times 2016).

  10. 10.

    See Mamat bin Daud & Ors v Government of Malaysia, 1986; and Mamat bin Daud & Ors v Government of Malaysia, 1988.

  11. 11.

    Kamariah binti Ali & Anor v Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Melayu Terengganu & Ors, 2005.

  12. 12.

    Kamariah binti Ali & Anor v Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Melayu Terengganu & Ors, 2011.

  13. 13.

    In Malaysia, marriage between a Muslim and a non-Muslim is not legally recognised.

  14. 14.

    Re The Detention of Leonard Teoh Hooi Leong, 1998.

  15. 15.

    In the words of the judge: “Trouble reared its ugly head when she fell in love with one Joseph Arnold Lee, a Christian Chinese. The cupid arrow must have struck Nor’aishah right smack into her heart so much so that she lost all sense of balance. He must have used love potion number 9, for she seemed to be on cloud nine. As Francis Bacon once remarked: ‘It is impossible to love and be wise’. Shakespeare too in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ once said: ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’”.

  16. 16.

    Priyathaseny & Ors v Pegawai Penguatkuasa Agama Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Perak & Ors, 2003.

  17. 17.

    Tongiah Jumali & Anor v Kerajaan Negeri Johor & Ors, 2004.

  18. 18.

    The case file did not state how it was legally possible for her to have converted to Hinduism and changed her name.

  19. 19.

    Priyathaseny & Ors v Pegawai Penguatkuasa Agama Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Perak & Ors, 2003.

  20. 20.

    Ibid.

  21. 21.

    Lina Joy vs Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan & Ors, 2005.

  22. 22.

    Lina Joy v Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan & Ors, 2007.

  23. 23.

    The passage is as is. The person writing this post was a highly qualified professional not someone many would expect to have such opinions. Nevertheless, the purpose in sharing this excerpt is to show how the understanding (or misunderstanding) of a politicised issue like the Lina Joy case elicited many ‘primordial’ outpourings of racial, religious and national sentiments. Translation of the Malay phrases used are as follows: Penumpang di Bumi Melayu (Squatters in a Malay land); rezeki melimpah-limpah (boundless good fortune); Alhamdullilah (God be praised). The author is a member of this e-list.

  24. 24.

    Jika dalam kes ini Lina Joy menang, maka agama Islam akan hancur. Ia membawa implikasi: (i) Kuasa Raja mengenai agama Islam akan hilang (ii) Kuasa Mahkamah syariah tidak boleh dipakai (iii) Orang Islam tidak boleh memaksa anaknya asembahyang, tidak berhak lagi kutip zakat dan tiap-tiap oang boleh mentafsir Islam ikut kehendaknya. Itulah akibatnya. This message was relayed through a wide-reaching electronic mailing list at the height of demonstrations over the Lina Joy case titled “Peringatan Mufti Perak Perlu DiRenungi”. Dated 10 August 2006, it was written by Anual Bakhri Haron, who attributed the speech to the Perak mufti.

  25. 25.

    On moral panics, this is a much-used concept developed by Stanley Cohen to mean,

    [A] condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests… the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions. (Quoted in Wright Monod 2017, 1–2)

  26. 26.

    Another NGO, Pertubuhan Amal Firdausi), had apparently been involved in the rehabilitation of LGBTs through Islam since the late 1990s, and used the Masjid Jamek mosque in the heart of Kuala Lumpur as its operations centre.

  27. 27.

    Government of Selangor Gazette, Vol. 65, No. 12, 7 June 2012 (Fatwa Jenis Penerima Asnaf Al-Riqab Negeri Selangor dan Apa-Apa Yang Berkaitan Dengannya).

  28. 28.

    Antara senarai penerima agihan asnaf Al Riqab yang layak menerima bantuan zakat Al Riqab ialah golongan terbelenggu gaya hidup songsang, termasuk pelacur, lesbian, mak nyah, gay, homoseksual, gigolo, biseksual, pengkid , tomboi dan bersekedudukan dengan orang bukan lslam (Berita Harian 2018b).

  29. 29.

    See “Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan Al-Riqab?”, official portal of Mais, http://www.mais.gov.my/info-mais/informasi/penerbitan/ar-riqab, accessed 14 May 2019.

  30. 30.

    This refers to the concept of law in ancient Greek philosophy, which can be expressed and translated into unchangeable forms of moral conduct (see https://www.britannica.com/topic/nomos-Greek-philosophy, accessed 11 May 2019).

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  1. Department of Malay Studies and Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Maznah Mohamad

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Mohamad, M. (2020). Ring-Fencing Constituents. In: The Divine Bureaucracy and Disenchantment of Social Life. Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2093-8_5

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