AS Islam is “ugama rasmi” or the official religion in Malaysia, it has to play a major role in nation building with respect to forging racial and religious harmony. The Friday sermon serves as an informal “teacher” to all Muslim males in Malaysia, and what it says or does not say and how it says it is of paramount importance to the construction of the social and political web of the country.

The Friday sermon is a 1,500 year old legacy of the Prophet Muhammad himself to mould Muslim society into being the best kind of humanity there is. It used to be that each mosque would have a khatib who was knowledgeable in Islam write the sermon and preach about good habits, practices and acts in relation to achieving the status of mukminun or a high spiritual believer. 
In the present day, Muslim countries such as Malaysia have a Department of Religious Affairs that would prepare the sermons and require that the elected khatib reads from it. The exceptions are mosques that are not under the jurisdiction of the department and which were run by the Tabligh, political parties or luminaries such as the the late Harun Din who passed away recently. The main focus of this essay is to suggest better ways for the sermons to be a force in educating Muslims to be larger than their parochial “Islamic self” which is borne of the traditional mindset of the villages and settlements. Malaysia is a nation and a state with half the population subscribing to a belief system different than Islam. At the moment, the sermons serve only to educate Muslims in a narrow context which results in an “isolated mindset” concerning their worshipper’s relationship vis-a-vis the world. 

I have taken the liberty of reading 110 sermons produced in 2015-2017 by the Selangor Department of Religious Affairs to check if:

1. Other races or religions are mentioned in a derogatory manner;

2. Extremist groups and acts of extremism such as bombings, killings, shouting or speaking about other races or religions in a derogatory way are mentioned;

3. Values and goodness of other faiths similar to those of Islam are mentioned to inculcate understanding and mutual respect. 

With respect to the first, I have established that sermons do not include derogatory remarks about another race or religious belief. This is a positive and excellent factor that will preserve religious and racial harmony. Furthermore, each sermon ends with a repeated message of reminding Muslims to preserve the racial and religious harmony in the country.

With respect to the second, I could only find one sermon dealing with the Islamic State, a known terrorist organisation (IS: Pengganas Bertopengkan Islam, November 27, 2015). I found only three other sermons that mention IS and its atrocities in passing. There was no mention of each atrocity as they occurred, such as the Orlando shooting on June 12, 2016 which left 50 dead; the Nice lorry attack that killed 84 people; the Egypt church bombings on April 9, 2017 that left 44 dead; and the Manchester Arena concert bombing on May 22, 2017 that killed 22 people. I checked the dates of the incidents and tracked down the sermons that were read in the following weeks.

I have also not found any reference to the “Cina-babi” incident of the Red Shirts rally on September 16, 2016, or the “kafir harbi “pronouncement of the Pahang mufti who had called for death to all who opposed the RUU 355 shariah amendments proposed by PAS, on June 22, 2016.

With respect to the third, not a single sermon mentioned that other religions shared the values of Islam.

During a tragedy, show humanity

The Friday sermon writers should consider seriously giving time and emphasis to each heinous act committed in the name of Islam. Although sermons are prepared beforehand, in the age of the internet, there is no excuse for not dealing with such atrocious acts as the killing of innocent human beings under the guise of religious piety. When the Friday sermon is silent on the matter, most Muslims will not think twice about it nor discuss it with their friends and family. In this manner, Muslims can never exercise their ihsan attitude of compassion for all if they were not made aware of this incident. Even though the media might report a heinous acts, if the Friday sermons do not make mention of it then there are many negative implications of such a silence. The silence of the Sermons can be interpreted as a kind of indifference about the deaths of non-Muslim which would make the Muslim totally apathetic about the fate of others. From the perspective of the non-Muslim they might be wondering if Muslims subscribe to decent human values or, worse, if the Muslims somehow ‘agree’ silently to these acts of aggression.

Thus, it is imperative that the khatib through a well written khutba or sermon take time to explain the events and the message of hatred and sin of killing innocent lives as extolled in the Quran and the hadith.

The sermons must also deal with the events occurring at home, such as the Cina-babi name calling and and the call for Bible burning. There was absolutely no mention of this and the message of silence would make it seem that the official position is of agreement or indifference. Both positions are totally unacceptable if the nation is to forge ahead in the future with more meaningful issues other than the tired rhetoric of Malay-Chinese or Islam-Christian antagonism. The sermons must clearly rebuke those practicing religious and racial slurs or extremist acts of burning churches or desecrating cemeteries perpetrated. The Prophet had never taught such acts of “devotion” to Islam by desecrating properties or shouting racial slurs.

Teach that other faiths share Islam’s values

With respect to the third issue, this is where the Friday sermon can do the most good. iIn a multi-faith and multi-cultural nation like Malaysia, the people must understand each others’ belief systems and tolerate or celebrate each others’ difference. The primary and secondary as well as the tertiary educational system of this country have failed to deliver this fundamental of character and attribute in the citizenry. With the existence of Islamic religious schools and non-Malay vernacular schools that promises total isolation from one another’s belief and culture, this is a recipe or a time bomb to disaster in race and religious management in this country. The Friday Sermon can deal with the similar values of spirituality and social consciousness that exists in all teachings such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity and others. If the force of the Friday sermon can be used then many Muslims would look more kindly on other races and religious adherents and we would have a more peaceful country.

The Friday sermons also never dealt with such actions by civil movements like the Green Planet movement, the Red Cross or the Human Rights Watchers. Although there may some small differences between the attitudes of these organisations with Islam, there are many more good acts and things that can be celebrated together. If Muslims were to share these ideas and thoughts with these many groups, then the stigma of being an isolated religion can be dispelled. 

More compassion, love and acceptance

I have found that the Friday sermons deal with three things generally; the acts of rituals, the meaning of Islamic history and the Muslim as a loyal citizen and a productive worker. There is hardly any sermon that deals with compassion for humanity and tolerance of others. In my random sampling of hundreds of religious lectures by Muslim ustaz, the topic would be rituals and history. Again the subject of compassion to all human kind is not a favourite topic. It seems that Muslims have been educated that forms of devotions such as solat, fasting, performing the haj supersede all other concerns; that if these forms were perfect, one can go to heaven. In my understanding of Islam, these acts of devotions must result in the attitude of compassion and tolerance as well as love for all and it is those that would determine once place in the hereafter. 

The Prophet Muhammad has shown much compassion and tolerance in his life. He did not take any action against the Taif people who pelted him with stones. He did not hang or behead any citizen of Mecca when he liberated it as the head of of 10,000 strong Muslims. The Meccan leaders and relatives had mistreated him and his family in the most despicable manner and yet he bore them no malice or sought vengeance .

In my random listening of many sermons, lectures and speeches by non-Muslim personalities who are Buddhists, Christians, Hindus or Atheists, these people concentrate on the issue of compassion, tolerance and love for all and never mention anything of formalistic rituals as acts of devotions that supersede acts of the heart. The Muslim scholars give speeches, sermons and teachings that are of the opposite content.

In the 21st century, Islam is at a crossroads. It will either be accepted as a civilised faith or it will be shunned as a faith that tolerates and encourages atrocities against others. It can be known also as a religion that is self indulgent of its own virtues. It can be known as a religion that rejects all teachings and lessons of human civilisation and accepts only its own sources of teachings. It will be the most parochial, narrow, intolerant and non-accepting of all. Unless Muslims are educated by teachings in schools or mosques to be what the Prophet Muhammad wants, as a mercy to mankind, Islam will not have a bright future. The Friday sermon is a key educational tool to transform a selfish, intolerant and dispassionate Muslim into a human being that shines with forgiveness, acceptance and love for all mankind. – June 25, 2018.

* Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is professor at UCSI University in Cheras.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.