Snooping squads
The big issue in Malaysia right now would seem to be the decision by the Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP) to form a ’snoop squad’ (the ‘Squad Sukarelawan Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan‘) made primarily out of volunteers. Right now, the Cabinet is involved, ministers expressing their ’suprise’ (or to quote Utusan Malaysia, ‘terkejut‘) to the formation of this volunteer squad.
MAIWP probably has good intentions. Probably to them, Malaysia, and the Klang Valley region specifically, is a haven of vice. And there would be some truth to that belief. No one can argue that there is steady increase of crimes occurring throughout Malaysia in recent years. If one was to follow the news on the the media, one would think that our country is no longer safe. Rape, murders, incest, gang crimes etc…. surely something is going wrong somewhere.
Yet surely volunteer squads such as those formed by MAIWP cannot be the solution. Firstly, the fact that they are formed mainly out of volunteers will cause problems. How do you draw the line on what they can or can’t do? Where do they get the power to ’snoop’ on people, to monitor what people do, to ‘catch’ those engaging in vice (maksiat)? When a body of authority such as the police can be prone to misuse of power, what more a body made out of volunteers? Is Malaysia so far gone in the forest of vice that we need ‘morality police’ to take care of us?
Surely not. I for one am not prepared to have my right of privacy taken away by people who are not even authorised by law. People who will not know where to draw the line between what is ‘right’ in their eyes, and what is ‘right’ in the eyes of the law. There will inevitably be problems of false arrest and false claims and such, and I can only see this leading to outrage and confusion.
We cannot tackle our social problems with a ‘hollier than thou’ attitude. Berating someone just because a person is not religious enough is not the way. Yet this is the approach that is widespread; an attitude amongst certain Malaysians to judge a person by one’s own standards. To pandang rendah someone because we think that he does not attain the same religious standard as we are.
I have long realised to stop judging a person by how ‘alim‘ he is. That just because a Muslim drinks, that does not automatically make a him a bad person. Now I may not be the most pious or ardent of Muslims around, but I still stay true to the religion. I do not consume alcohol, I do not fornicate, I do not gamble, I do not eat non-halal food. Yet I am sure that for some, I am a lesser human, just for the simple reason that I do not attain their level of religiousness. And just like that, I am judged not by my Creator, but by those who have no right to do so.
Tackling our social problems have got to be more fundamental, more basic. I am ignorant and humble enough to not be able to offer a way to solve them, but I truly belief there is a viable way. And it is not what MAIWP have suggested.
