The charge of apostasy
Our incumbent president, Gayoom, will go into history books with many records and firsts to his name. The most recent of these would be the court case accusing him of apostasy. The outcome, if in favor of the prosecution, would make Gayoom ineligible to run for the country's top job and also make him stateless. Either way he is the first Maldivian to be tried under the new constitution for apostasy.
This case is something of a worry to many Maldivians. It is the first time someone is tried for his or her beliefs. A belief: something very private and personal and by definition something that cannot be measured or quantified. I doubt anyone can realistically prove what are his or her beliefs by producing regular evidence except perhaps a lie detector test.
The architects of this country's constitution have stepped on their own balls by devising several clauses and articles that depend on the religious "belief" of an individual. It's going to hurt a lot of people because what's stopping anyone accusing anyone else for their beliefs with this kind of shortsightedness enshrined into our law? With fanatical and fundamentalist Islam on the rise and its preachers, mullahs, sheiks and whatnot multiplying like a virulent strain by the day, everyone, including the so-called moderate Muslims, should be very, very afraid.
I've written in an earlier post, warning about the consequences of certain clauses in the new constitution and its dangers for all Maldivians, not just for those with differing beliefs but also for the devout Muslims. Today that article and what was implied has been realized - and it has surprised me how soon it started.
Several of these loopholes exist in the constitution. Wherever religious belief is written down as one of the qualifying conditions that article or clause is dwelling in obscurity and vagueness.
It was not long ago that we thought Gayoom was a learned and pious Muslim. Heck, even learned sheiks like Faroog, who is said to be among the signatories of the petition in the apostasy case, sat in Gayoom's audience listening to his religion-stained speeches for many, many years. Did Faroog get an unscheduled revelation from God himself all of a sudden? Today, Gayoom is on trial for apostasy, a victim of the very constitution he himself signed and ratified not long ago. Let us see what happens today at the court.
Meanwhile, what about that lie detector? Yes, I can visualize the headlines. Mark my words, that day will come too.
Update: As expected the supreme court did not find the charge of apostasy against Gayoom convincing enough to declare him a non-Muslim. This case will be pivotal as it will become a benchmark by which future such cases will be tried and instrumental in how the constitution is interpreted. Though it must be noted that not everyone else is as powerful as Gayoom.
M | October 2, 2008 11:41 AM | Reply
that's simply not true! scholars r equipped with a sixth sense of infidel-radar. and god willing, they r always able to pin point ppl such as apostates. in case of error, i'm sure god will compensate the victim on judgement day, god willing.
of course, all this said n done, soon there will be a day when a new mazhab arises n tries adhaalath party for apostasy too. after all, in the point of view of these holier-than-thou ppl, "apostasy" is when u do not conform to their whims (rather than the original definition of not conforming to islam/quran).
and when the law becomes as arbitrary as a person's opinion against the rest of the society, god help us... with yet another psycho religious leader wannabe.
amen.
Hilath Rasheed | October 2, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply
What will come up next? Maldives' very own Inquisition movement?
Buruma | October 2, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply
When a political party under the control of an elite operates,the first question to be asked is: is this party operating on its own or is it just an disposable tool used by the elites?
http://adhaalath.blogspot.com
d | October 2, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply
The surrealness of it all is numbing really... For 30 years we have been ruled by an Azhar educated religious scholar, who at the end of his career has to prove whether he actually believed what he has been preaching all his life.
I guess SHE should now open a religion-resting centre, just like the Thalassemia testing centre; for it might after all be in our blood, in the form of a bacteria - 'the Muslim infection'.
Where is it located really? The religiousness of our souls. If Gayoom has to prove that he is not a Muslim, then all Maldivians will need to do so since Gayoom exercised absolute authority over religious matters in the last 30 years. Or at least he attempted to and to a large extent succeeded until those who dissented formed their groups - the communities on Himandhoo and some islands in Laamu, etc. Those who underwent persecution for keeping their beards, etc.
And what do we have at the end of this? a mess where we cannot agree on what constitutes a Muslim, although we have straitjacketed ourselves via the constitution to the effect that we cannot even begin to think of our other rights unless we are a Muslm first. But increasingly (and disturbingly too?), the words Muslim and Islam and becoming only more enigmatic, in need of endless definitions and debates as to what conditions constitute it.
Ismail Rasheed | October 2, 2008 8:34 PM | Reply
Every Maldivian will now have to line up for an annual lie-detector and Sodium Pentothal test?
I am waiting to see what they will do once they find out I am an infidel! Will they behead me or stone me to death?
I think Gayoom will have to be declared innocent because if he is guilty a lot of others will be guilty of apostasy too and there is no way this country can deal with that.
kaafaru | October 4, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply
issey,
islam being the humane religion it is, you'll have the option of conversion. isn't that what our merciful prophet asked the makkans to do after the conquest? and they all saw the light by the miracle of Allah. its true, there is no compulsion in religion.
n4mian | October 5, 2008 1:59 PM | Reply
kaafaru,
If you keep pulling one half of the laws out of your arse and leave the other half in between your arse cheeks, then of course Islam may sound like rainbows and butterflies. On the contrary, the complete Azhar/Saudi Bills of Legal Punishment regarding apostasy has two options. They are:
[a] Revert back to Islam within 60 (may vary) days
[b] Declaration of capital punishment, for which Islam generously offers a variety of sub-options (hehe..if it makes you feel any better, think of it as 'exit strategies'):
i- Buried up to waist, and get stoned to death.
ii- Use a really rusty knife to get decapitated
iii- Have a date with the firing squad at high noon
Dr. Hassan Saeed hinted at the importance of re-thinking about Islamic Apostasy laws - in order to reform it keeping in mind our new post-theistic world. See his book "Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam". It is unfortunate that not even Dr. Saeed has the tenacity to assert his position on the issue openly to the Public, which understandably would be political suicide, followed by a second round of the Apostasy litmus tests.
For the rest of us, we just have accept the fact that we are not Maldivians. We are being persecuted in our own Nation.
jaa | October 8, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply
I see a business opportunity opening, a niche market for the apostasy obsessed - Piety Meter (tm). Maybe it's time to head over to a breadboard and make a little circuit, complete with blinking lights and a few wires connecting to a person's religiosity center (i.e the heart). The Scientologists have had good success with their oh-(not)-so-impressive e-meters after all...