Author:
Publication: The Wall Street Journal
Date: June 30, 2006
The Christmas shopping season may be months
away, but Islamic clerics have already struck an early blow against the festivities
in Malaysia this year.
A recent edict from the National Fatwa Council
warned Malaysia's Muslim majority not "to join in the celebration of
the festivals of other religions." That means no Santa hats, Christmas
trees or other kinds of fun when December rolls around. Or, for that matter,
no more Lion Dances at Chinese New Year -- another target of the clerics'
wrath.
If all this sounds more like Saudi Arabia
or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan than multicultural Malaysia, you're not far off
the mark. Malaysia is a secular state where, although Islam is the official
religion, the country's Buddhists, Christians and others have generally been
free to practice their own religions. Holidays are a shared occasion. Malaysians
have even created their own festival known as Kongsi Raya, which marks both
Chinese New Year and the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
Kongsi Raya is a primary target of the hard-line
clerics, who are outraged at the heresy of so many of the country's 15 million
Muslims sharing an Islamic holiday with nonbelievers. Although the National
Fatwa Council is the highest body of Muslim clerics in Malaysia, its edicts
don't automatically have the force of law, even in the Islamic courts that
exist alongside the regular justice system. That means there's probably little
danger of anyone being jailed for celebrating Christmas.
But supporters of the country's multicultural
heritage have plenty else to worry about. The opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia
(PAS) has called for the death penalty for those who renounce their Muslim
faith. And Hindus protested in Kuala Lumpur last week over the demolition
of their temples, which they blame on a growing "Islamization" of
Malaysia." The government says the temples were built illegally on public
land.
Now the Muslim hard-liners have overreached
themselves, judging from the popular backlash against the Christmas edict.
"What they are preaching is a hate ideology
that even their master ideologues in Saudi Arabia are now trying to reverse,"
the New Straits Times editorialized. Malaysian bloggers sarcastically asked
whether trying to ban the World Cup would be next on the list. To its credit,
the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi firmly rejected the
clerics' edict.
With this kind of popular backlash, Malaysia
seems in little danger of moving further down the Saudi path anytime soon.
Come December 24, Santa should feel free to visit Kuala Lumpur.