From the blog: www.shahnon.com
(no, not Shanon Shah... that Shanon has no time to blog!)
Anyway, this Shahnon fella came for Art For Grabs, and wrote about what he bought (a book by Saharil & Faisal Tehrani, a film by Amir Muhammad) and then mentioned Seksualiti Merdeka. Apparently he sat through the first session on Violence Against Transsexuals. This fella been at Farish Noor's talk in the past and in one of his blogs, showed a photo he took with everyone's favourite liberal historian. But this is what Shahnon said about the notes we were handing out at Seksualiti Merdeka:
..Handout articles on Sexuality issues in Malaysia. One that really caught my attention was an article by Abdul Khalik in The Jakarta Post, "Islam recognizes homosexuality" I just can't believe it. Who are you to speak on Islam?? To me this is pure blasphemy. And I am sad to know that some of our human rights activists here are actually propogating for the so-called sexuality rights in Malaysia.
One of the sexuality issues discussed in the forum was on transexuals. Personally, I have no issues if a non Muslim wants to change his/her sex, but if you are a Muslim, you are bound by the laws of Islam.
Read more: www.shahnon.com
7 comments:
shahnon has as much right to speak for or against any subject. if we truly believe in free speech, we need to give shahnon the same respect u expect others to give u.
Hi Pang, (were you the one wearing white t-shirt and blue jeans? :P)
Thanks for the publicity for my blog here. I'm not really a religious Muslim, but based from my limited understanding of Islam, homosexuality and changing sex are clearly prohibited.
The reason why I criticise the Jakarta Post article was simple. If you want to know the views of Islam on certain issues, refer to the hadith or quote from any leading Muslim clerics e.g. Yusur Qaradawi, Sayid Tantawi etc, and not some unknown Muslim like Siti Musdah Mulia(?).
On Farish Noor, I may not share the same liberal thoughts like him, but that doesn't stop me from admiring his writings and views, especially on history.
Anyways, thanks for the well organised festival. Looking forward to your next upcoming event.
Cheers.
Hi Shannon,
can you enlighten us readers, what is your definition of "any leading Muslim clerics...and not some unknown Muslim..."
Thanks
We live life and write blogs to express and not to impress.
I believe that one thing that many of us who attended the event over the weekend realise is that we all have different point of views, even within the same community, and we need to learn to respect different points of view even is its not something we agree upon. Like they say, its ok to agree to disagree.
To me,even though I am gay, I respect Shahnon as an individual, for expressing his point of view.
At the end of the day, let God be the only one to pass judgement on us.
I just don't get why isn't anyone allowed to comment or even analyze homosexuality in the context of religion.
And to get such comments as "Who are you to speak on Islam?". I believe everyone has their rights to speak or question anything. Just don't personalize it and attack people.
Hey, I have a question. Why is it that the validity or credibility of a Muslim clergy is defined by his or her popularity?
"quote from any leading Muslim clerics e.g. Yusur Qaradawi, Sayid Tantawi etc, and not some unknown Muslim like Siti Musdah Mulia(?)."
Now, I've been a Muslim my whole life and even I know that there's something wrong with that sentence. I was taught that the validity or credibility of a Muslim clergy is defined by his or her understandings on Islamic teachings as well as experience in the field. If popularity was the defining factor, then the most popular ulama can go around spreading blasphemy and we'd have no choice but to follow blindly lest we risk 'damnation'.
Siti Musdah Mulia's view points are as valid as any other educated Muslim clergy.
to Aqmal,
It isnt about popularity, but due to some Muslim scholar's credibility, he/she is popular.
For example, a person is not qualified to come out with a fatwa, unless if he memorizes more than 400 000 hadiths (Imam Maliki, if m not mistaken. So, due to this person's credibility, he is somewhat popular.
Wallahualam.
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