BODY-SNATCHERS: EPILOGUE

GOOD SENSE has prevailed. Thank God. MAIS, the Selangor Islamic Council, has withdrawn claims over the remains of the late Rayappan Anthony and his burial will be held by his family according to Christian rites. In the end, they accepted the fact that Anthony was no longer a Muslim at the point of his death, after exhaustive investigations to prove otherwise.

What this means is that a Muslim may leave the religion, after all. Well, at least for the convert. The late Rayappan Anthony’s final contribution to his fellow citizens is thus an important one. No longer do Malaysian converts to Islam who changed their minds about being Muslim need feel that they have to flee this country to die just so they can rest in peace. For, this is exactly what I hear on the grapevine. Now all they have to do is make absolutely certain that the evidence of their renouncing Islam is beyond doubt.

As a Muslim I feel much saddened by the whole sorry episode.

Firstly, it embarrasses me that the procedures, vis-à-vis religious matters, which have huge legal implications, are left uncertain. On the one hand, the non-Muslims operate under a secular system. Their religion is a private affair, pursued in their own time and on their own terms with the religious establishment of their choice. On the other hand, Muslims like me live very much under a strong Islamic state apparatus, which would like to be even stronger than it already is.

Secondly, I am saddened by Islam’s failure to hold on to its converts. All Muslims know that the converts, mualaf, are special. Provisions for the way they are to be received by Muslims exist in the Qur’an. They are to be treated with great care: “Alms shall be used for the advancement of Allah’s cause…and those that are converted to the faith.” [9;60] And yet, cases such as Rayappan are not uncommon. It reflects badly on the Muslim community; a situation made worse because the state provides for the administration of the religion and the zakat, the wealth tax, should enable a perfectly good welfare system. Instead, we hear talk of those who are supposed to be looking after our soul wanting a slice of the commercial action.

Maybe what the government ought to do is impose on those entrusted with the administration of the religion a kind of internship, the way doctors do, before they are allowed to even come near a Muslim, dead or alive. Why is it Muslims think little of their soul when its impact upon society is so great? Is it any wonder then that converts do not stay and those born into the religion have to be forcibly restrained from leaving? A crying shame really!