Penipuan Besar Hak Istimewa Melayu

 Penipuan Besar Hak Istimewa Melayu

M. Bakri Musa

 

Petikan Ke Enam Dari Buku Saya: Qur’an Hadith And Hikayat:  Exercises In Critical Thinking (Qur’an, Hadith, Dan Hikayat:  Latihan Untuk Berfikir Dengan Teliti)

 

Jika kita membaca dengan teliti, yakni menggunakan otak, kita bukan sahaja boleh belajar dengan lebih berkesan tetapi juga menghargai apa yang kita baca. Inilah tujuan sastera tulisan, untuk memberi perangsang kepada pembacanya. Begitu juga apabila membaca al-Quran, hadis, dan hikayat kuno. Tanpa berfikir dengan teliti bila membaca Al-Quran atau hadis, itu hanyalah untuk bergema sahaja, tidak jauh berbeza dengan laskar Merah Mao dahulu yang melaungkan petikan dari Buku Merahnya tanpa berfikir atau renungan.

 

            Lebih penting dan amat berkesan ialah keupayaan untuk berfikir dengan teliti akan melindungi kita daripada pengaruh apa yang disifatkan sebagai "Penipuan Besar." Orang Jerman di bawah Nazi pada tahun 1930-an, walaupun kecanggihan dan pendidikan unggul mereka, tidak terlepas daripada penyakit berbahaya ini. Akibatnya bencana terbesar, dan bukan hanya untuk mereka.

 

            Hampir satu abad kemudian, rakyat Amerika juga nyaris tertelan dengan "Penipuan Besar" mereka sendiri. Yakni, Presiden Trump dan pengikutnya percaya bahawa beliau telah ditipu daripada kemenangan "tanah runtuh" dalam pilihan raya 2020. Amerika bernasib baik bahawa rusuhan yang berlaku hanya terhad kepada Trump dan pengikutnya yang tidak menggunakan otak mereka. Nasib baik akibat buruk itu terhad kepada seperti anggota polis yang terbunuh semasa serangan ke atas Capitol pada 6 Januari 2021.

 

            "Penipuan Besar" masyarakat kita semasa ialah “Hak Keistimewaan Melayu.” Kita percaya bahawa itu akan menyelamat kita. Keadaan sebenar ialah kita sudah dan terus merosot di depan mata kita. Apa yang jelas ialah “Hak Keistimewaan Melayu” telah di seludupkan untuk menjadi alat yang luas dan tanpa amanah untuk memperkayakan sekumpulan pemimpin kita. Sementara itu dan menggunakan bahasa ringkas, hak keistimewaan sudah menjadi candu masyarakat kita. Atau dalam istilah semasa, syok sendiri sahaja.

 

            Tidak kekurangan buku dan bahan terbitan untuk membimbing kita untuk berfikir dengan teliti. Sayang sedikit sebab kebanyakannya adalah dalam Bahasa Inggeris atau timbul dari budaya dan masyarakat Barat. Oleh sebab itu, sebahagian besar tidak bermakna atau memberi iktibar kepada masyarakat Melayu dan Islam. Sebaliknya, jauh daripada mengasah kemahiran berfikir dengan teliti, bahan tersebut hanya akan memberi kepercayaan bahawa pemikiran kritis adalah rekaan Barat untuk melemahkan kepercayaan tradisional Timur. Atau lebih teruk lagi, sisa-sisa pemikiran kolonial lama yang berhasrat untuk mengekalkan tindasan masyarakat tempatan dan memperkecilkan nilai dan cara pemikiran kita.

 

            Saya terpikat kepada pengalaman Edward Omar Moad mengajar falsafah dan kemahiran berfikir kritis di Universiti Qatar. Muridnya hanya pandai memuntahkan apa yang telah diterbitkan di Barat. Untuk mengatasi masalah ini, beliau meminta pelajarnya membaca rencana dan berita utama dalam akhbar dan penerbitan tempatan. Dia yakin bahawa pengulas di Barat tidak berminat dengan masalah tempatan. Oleh sebab itu muridnya terpaksa berfikir sendiri dan mengupas serta mengulas pendapatan tersebut.

 

            Berfikir dengan teliti membimbing kita ke arah yang lebih bermakna dan berkesan. Seterusnya itu melindungi kita daripada tertipu dan senang di pengaruhi oleh saudagar jual minyak badan di pasar malam. Juga itu akan membantu kita memahami Al-Quran dan hadis serta budaya dan sastera kita dengan lebih mendalam dan bermakna. Berfikiran kritis bukan hanya untuk kelas falsafah; ia akan membawa kita kepada pembelajaran yang lebih berkesan dan cekap. Hari kita berhenti belajar adalah hari kita mati. Jika kita membaca hikayat dengan secara ringkas tanpa renungan mendalam dan kritikus, itu akan hanya menjadi cerita "tertarik", dan seronok seperti menuntun wayang karton sahaja. Itu mungkin gembira, tetapi hanya itu sahaja.

 

            Tanpa tabiat berfikir dengan teliti oleh rakyat, pemimpin yang tidak bermanah seperti bekas Perdana Menteri Najib Razak dengan mudah boleh menipu orang Melayu termasuk raja-raja, menteri, dan pegawai tertinggi. Najib bersumpah dan kita dengan mudah percaya bahawa wang berbilion yang di sapunya dari Syarikat 1Malaysia Development Berhad ialah derma atau hadiah daripada Putera Saudi. Maklumlah kepada masyarakat Melayu, semua dari Tanah Suci adalah halal termasuklah lalatnya.

 

            Walaupun rampasan dari kondo mewah Najib berikutan kekalahannya dalam pilihan raya 2018 adalah dalam bentuk wang kertas Euro, dolar, dan pound sterling, masih ramai yang percaya bahawa itu adalah milik UMNO, kononnya. Yakni sisa perbelanjaan pilihan raya. Najib menyangkakan kita percaya bahawa penduduk di Ulu Kelantan boleh menggunakan dolar di pasar malam mereka!

 

            Najib Razak bukanlah pemimpin Melayu yang terkecuali pandai memutar putar masyarakat kita. Ramai pemimpin Melayu lain yang sama tamak mengumpulkan kekayaan yang tidak dapat dibayangkan. Semuanya bertopengkan hak istimewa Melayu membantu orang Melayu! Semasa krisis ekonomi Asia 1997, Mahathir mengadakan dana RM60 Bilion untuk “menyelamatkan” syarikat Melayu seperti Renong yang dimiliki oleh kroninya, dan juga syarikat perkapalan negara yang mana anaknya adalah pemegang saham utama.

 

            Kini Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim pula mungkin mengikut bersama mempercayai penipuan besar ini. Beliau ingin memberi berbilion kepada Syarikat Sapura Energy yang sekarang mungkin muflis. Dia memperbodohkan dirinya jika ia percaya bahawa menolong syarikat itu akan membantu pembekal Melayunya. Anwar sepatutnya lebih tahu bahawa tiada bezanya antara Renong dan Sapura.

 

            Pemimpin Melayu di semua peringkat masih belum sedar tentang kebenaran ulung. Yakni, cara paling berkesan untuk membantu orang Melayu ialah mengusahakan supaya masyarakat kita boleh berdaya saing. Meningkatkan mutu pendidikan negara khususnya di sekolah kebangsaan adalah satu permulaan yang baik dan paling mustahak.

 

            “Penipuan besar" ini akan berterusan dan dianggap sebagai kebenaran tulen selagi kaum Melayu dari pemimpin hingga ke pengikut enggan berfikir dengan teliti.

 

Seterusnya Petikan # 7: Berfikir Teliti Semasa Di Bangku Sekolah

 

The Big Lie of Malay Special Privileges

 The Big Lie of Malay Special Privileges

M. Bakri Musa

 

Excerpt #6 from my Qur’an, Hadith, And Hikayat:  Exercises In Critical Thinking

 

         There is no shortage of books and published materials on critical thinking, but the examples cited are often familiar only to those from Western cultures and societies. For the most part those would be alien if not irrelevant to Malays and Muslims. Far from sharpening critical thinking skills, those exercises would feed only their already false and negative perception of critical thinking being a Western construct to undermine traditional eastern beliefs. Or worse, the remnants of the old colonial mindset intent on keeping the natives suppressed, or belittling our cherished values and mode of thinking.

 

         The experience of Edward Omar Moad teaching philosophy and critical thinking skills at Qatar University is instructive. His students ended up merely regurgitating what had already been published in the West. To overcome that barrier, he asked his students to read the editorials and the leading news items in the region’s papers and to critique those ideas. That forced the students to think. You can be assured that Western commentators would not be interested in those genuinely unique local matters.

 

         Critical thinking guides us towards making better judgements. It would also help us understand the Qur’an and hadith better, as well as our culture and literature. Critical thinking is not just for a philosophy class; it would lead us to more effective and efficient learning. The day we stop learning is the day we die. If we read a novel in a passive manner without much reflection, then it becomes merely an “interesting” story, much like watching a soap opera. There is joy in that, but that is all there is.

 

         By becoming active readers and engaging our critical faculties, we would not only learn better and faster but also appreciate what we are reading even more. That after all is the purpose of literature; likewise, when we read the Qur’an, hadith, and folklore. Sans a critical mind, such readings of the Qur’an or hadith would be but mere rituals, no different from Mao’s Red Guards of yore mindlessly chanting quotes from his Red Book.

 

         On a more profound and consequential level, the ability to think critically would prevent us from being taken in by the “Big Lie.” The Germans under the Nazis in the 1930s, despite their sophistication and superior education, were not spared this dangerous virus. The consequences were disastrous, and not just for them.

 

         Nearly a century later, Americans too nearly fell for President Trump’s “Big Lie” that he was cheated from his “landslide” electoral victory in the 2020 elections. It was fortunate that the tragedy there was restricted only to Trump and his ill-informed followers, plus some innocent lives as with the policemen killed during the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

 

         For Malays, the current “Big Lie” is that special privileges are our savior when in fact the program has degenerated in front of our very eyes to become a vast, corrupt entitlement scheme for the privileged few. 

 

         It is not coincidental that former Prime Minister Najib Razak could with ease hoodwink Malays including our rulers, ministers, and top bureaucrats that the billions he swiped from 1Malaysia Development Berhad were but generous donations from a Saudi Prince. To Malays, everything from the Holy Land is halal, including their flies. 

 

         Even when the loot confiscated from his luxurious condo following his defeat in the 2018 elections was in the form of stacks of Euros, US dollars, and pound sterling notes, many still believe that those belonged to his party. Leftovers from campaign expenses, as per Najib. Yes, those simple villagers in Ulu Kelantan could readily use Euros or US dollars at their local pasar malam!

 

         Najib Razak was not the only Malay leader guilty of hoodwinking Malays while at the same time amassing unimaginable fortunes for himself, all under the guise of Malay Special privileges and thus helping Malays. During the Asian economic crisis of 1997, Mahathir created a massive RM60 Billion rescue fund to bail out such “Malay” companies as Renong, owned by his cronies, and the national shipping company of which his son was a major shareholder.

 

         Fast forward to today, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim who should have known better, risks falling for the same big lie. To wit, his propping up Sapura Energy. He fools himself into believing that bailing the company would help its Malay suppliers and vendors. 

 

         Malay leaders at all levels have yet to learn this simple truth. That is, the most effective way to help Malays is to make us competitive. Improving the national schools would be a good start.

 

         This “Big Lie” will continue and be taken as gospel truth as long as we Malays, leaders and followers alike, do not use our critical faculties. 

 

Next:  Excerpt #7:  Critical Thinking During My School Days

Biasakan Yang Bank; Jauhi Yang Jahat

Biasakan Yang Baik; Jauhi Yang Jahat

M. Bakri Musa

March 26, 2024

 

Umat Islam mengalami peningkatan kerohanian semasa Ramadan, lebih lagi pada sepuluh hari terakhir. Kita percaya bahawa ayat Al-Quran pertama diturunkan pada bulan ini, kemungkinan besar pada salah satu malam ganjil, malam ke-27 (Lailatul qadar) adalah kemungkinan besar.

 

            Budaya mempunyai banyak kaitan dengan perasaan kerohanian dan taqwa yang meningkat pada bulan suci ini. Biologi juga memainkan peranan penting. Akibat berpuasa, badan kita mengalami pertukaran metabolisme dan dengan itu keadaan ketosis yang menyebabkan fikiran kita terlebih ke arahan rohaniah.

 

            Perintah asas Al-Quran ialah "Biasakan yang baik; jauhi yang jahat." Antara lima rukun Islam, hanya yang keempat, memberi zakat, berurusan secara langsung dengan berbuat baik, atau “biasakan yang baik.” Zakat jelas "berbuat baik" kepada si penerimanya. Kurang dikesani dan mungkin berlawanan dengan pandangan pertama, zakat juga memberi kebaikan kepada si penderma dan juga masyarakat umum. Wang yang didermakan itu sudah tentulah digunakan untuk perbelanjaan hidup seperti makanan dan pakaian.Maknanya, wang itu sudah pasti akan di edar dan terus bertukar tangan beberapa kali.

 

            Al-Quran, menetapkan tiga bentuk sedekah. Pertama ialah zakat mal, cukai tahunan 2.5 peratus dikenakan atas kekayaan yang melebihi ambang tertentu. Perusahaan juga di kenakan zakat mal. Dengan kadar yang rendah dan asas yang luas, zakat mal adalah sistem percukaian terbaik dari segi ekonomi. Kadar yang rendah ini juga tidak menggalakkan perakaunan yang kreatif atau berkalut balut!

 

            Kedua adalah zakat fitrah semasa Ramadhan. Ini diwajibkan ke atas semua kecuali si OKU (Orang Kurang Upaya) dan fakir miskin. Zakat fitrah di Malaysia pada tahun 2025 adalah antara RM7 hingga RM22 seorang. Di California, AS$10. Tidak tinggi tetapi kerana asasnya yang luas, jumlahnya mungkin besar.

 

            Ketiga adalah sedekah, pemberian langsung wang, barang, makanan atau jasa dan tenaga sendiri kepada si fakir miskin. Kaedah ingin bersedekah semakin meningkat semasa Ramadan. Lihatlah majlis berbuka puasa beramai. Dalam masyarakat Islam di Morgan Hill, California, kami mengadakan Gerakan Menderma Bahan Makanan dalam tin dan kotak semasa Ramadan. Lebih besar dari segi nilai adalah sedekah jariyah untuk membiayai sekolah, rumah sakit, atau telaga air kampung.

 

            Satu lagi saluran pemberian dan sedekah yang tidak dinyatakan dalam Quran ialah waqaf, samada khas untuk manfaatkan masyarakat am atau keluarga sendiri. Dalam Islam, sedekah dan berbaik hati bermula dengan keluarga, justeru waqaf keluarga. Khalifah Omar mengasaskan konsep ini selepas Perang Khaibar untuk menguruskan harta rampasan perang yang tidak dapat diangkut kembali ke Mekah. Konsep waqaf kemudiannya berkembang hebat sebagai satu cara bagi orang kaya untuk melindungi pusaka mereka daripada di rebut oleh kerabat diraja dan sultan yang rakus. Oleh sebab waqaf dianggap sebagai sedekah atau hadiah kepada Allah, sultan yang tamak tidak berani merampasnya!

 

            Di Amerika, satu negara yang sekular, zakat dan waqaf tertentu boleh ditolak daripada cukai pendapatan. Bermakna, kerajaan akan membayar sebahagian besar derma anda! Di Malaysia, zakat adalah kredit cukai pendapatan. Maknanya, sebagai pengganti cukai pendapatan. Saya hairan rakyat Malaysia yang bukan Islam tidak membantah ketidakadilan yang sedia jadi dan terus terang.

 

            Amalan sedekah termasuklah menderma tenaga dan perkhidmatan anda. Di Amerika yang sekular, pekerjaan tertentu seperti peguam terpaksa memberi sumbangan sukarela melakukan kerja pro bono (tanpa bayar) untuk kepentingan masyarakat dan orang ramai. Pelek negeri Islam seperti Malaysia tidak rang undang seperti itu.

 

            Amalan sedekah yang paling mulia ialah memberi seseorang pekerjaan. Si majikan bukan sahaja memberi seseorang itu pendapatan tetapi yang lebih berharga, maruah dan nilai diri. Justeru Islam memandang tinggi ahli usahawan.

 

            Menimba dengan lebih dalam lagi amalan bersedekah dan berbuat baik, rukun ketiga, yakni berpuasa, dan kelima, menaik haji (kepada mereka yang berkemampuan), juga boleh dikaitkan. Jika melalui puasa anda akan peka terhadap penderitaan orang miskin dan tergerak untuk membantu mereka, maka amalan puasa adalah satu perbuatan berbuat baik. Itu selain daripada "berbuat baik" dengan memberi zakat fitrah.

 

            "Kebaikan" atas melaksanakan haji dan umrah, selain daripada memenuhkan rukun Islam ke lima dan meninggikan takwa peribadi, ialah sumbangan anda kepada industri pelancongan dan perhotelan. Renungkan beberapa banyak pekerjaan yang dicipta, dari ulama dan juruterbang serta kakitangan hotel dan tukang masak. Dari segi pendapatan negara, pendapatan Arab Saudi dari Hajj dan umrah adalah yang ke dua selepas minyak dan gas.

 

            Balik ke rukun pertama (syahadah) dan ke dua (menunaikan solat lima waktu), kamu hanya melakukan kebaikan untuk diri sendiri sahaja dengan meningkatkan takwa anda. Sekiranya itu akan mendorong anda untuk melakukan kebaikan dan mencegah kemungkaran, maka perintah al-Quran telah akan ditunaikan walaupun secara tidak langsung. Tanpa itu, anda hanya memikirkan nasib anda sendiri di kemudian hari. Pengecualian yang mungkin timbul ialah apabila anda berdoa baik untuk orang lain dan doa anda dimakbulkan.

 

            Dalam perjalanan malam Al Isra’ wal Mi’raj Nabi (s.a.w.), Allah memerintahkan umat Islam untuk melaksanakan solat fardu lima puluh kali sehari. Nabi berjaya berunding untuk menurunkan bilangan itu ke lima kali sehari. Itu mencerminkan kebijaksanaannya serta perspektif yang betul tentang solat. Mengikut tradisi, Nabi, s.a.w., berasa segan dan malu untuk mencuba menurunkan lagi bilangan solat fardu!

 

            Tetapi jika anda ghairah untuk bersembahyang dan berdoa panjang dan dengan itu anda mengabaikan tugas duniawi atau melupakan persekitaran anda dan tidak perhati kepada hak dan hati orang lain, seperti sembahyang di tepi jalan sibuk, maka pahala yang anda mungkin perolehi mungkin tidak setimbang dengan bahaya yang anda timbulkan.

 

            Semasa saya berkhidmat sebagai pakar bedah di Malaysia, saya pernah menegur seorang doktor muda kerana dia meninggalkan pesakit di Bilik Kecemasan supaya si doktor itu bersolat Jumaat. Dia mungkin berbuat baik untuk dirinya tetapi pasti dia tidak berbuat sedemikian terhadap pesakit.

 

            Kekayaan, seperti juga air, akan tercemar jika bertakung. Zakat dan sedekah, serta amalan kebajikan yang lain, mengakibatkan pengedaran dan dengan itu menyucikan harta. Lagi beres dan laju peredaran ini, lebih banyak kekayaan bertambah. Inilah konsep ekonomi moden, yakni halaju wang (“velocity of money”). Ekonomi yang mundur biasanya dikaitkan dengan peredaran wang yang lembap dan dengan itu kemunduran kaum. Penimbunan atau menyorok wang dan benda adalah satu keadaan yang melampau. Bank dan institusi memenuhkan dan melaksanakan satu perbuatan yang penting mengedar wang dan kekayaan.

 

            Tidak hairanlah bahawa Allah telah memilih seorang pedagang untuk menjadi Rasul-Nya Terakhir. Seorang peniaga adalah seorang usahawan, orang yang melihat keperluan masyarakat yang belum dipenuhi atau dipenuhi dengan tidak mencukupi, dan kemudian berjaya membetulkannya, dan dengan itu ia memperoleh keuntungan. Masyarakat juga mendapat manfaat.

 

            Sebagai umat Islam kita patut mencontohi Nabi Kekasih, s.a.w. Menjadi seorang usahawan (peniaga) adalah satu yang semua patut cita-citakan. Untuk menghuraikan satu hadis, lebih baik menjadi pemberi daripada penerima gaji.

 

Command Good And Forbid Evil

 Command Good And Forbid Evil

M. Bakri Musa

 

Muslims experience heightened spirituality during Ramadan, more so during the last ten days. We believe that the first Quranic verse was revealed during this month, most likely in one of the last odd nights, the 27^th(Lailatul qadar) being most probable.

Tradition has much to do with this heightened spirituality. Biology too plays a role, with the metabolic ketosis, the consequence of fasting.

The Quran’s central injunction is “Command good and forbid evil.” Of the five pillars of Islam, only the fourth, zakat (tithe), deals directly with this. That zakat is “doing good” to its recipients is self-evident. Less acknowledged and may seem counter-intuitive, zakat also does good to the donor and society generally. Altruism aside, the donated money would be spent on consumables and thus keeping money circulating.

The Quran specifies three forms of charity. First (and major) is zakat mal, an annual wealth tax of 2.5 percent levied on your assets above a certain threshold. This also applies to businesses. With its low rate and wide base, zakat mal is the economist’s ideal taxation system. This low rate also discourages creative accounting. 

Second is zakat fitra during Ramadan, obligatory upon all except the disabled and the poorest. Zakat fitra in Malaysia in 2025 ranges from RM7 to RM22 per soul; in my California community, US$10. Minimal but with a wide base, the total would be substantial.

Then there is sadaqah, direct gift of cash, goods, or services to the poor. This is heightened during Ramadan, as reflected by the many communal breaking of the fast. In my Muslim community in Morgan Hill, we also have an annual Ramadan Food Drive. A variant of charity is sadaqah jariyah, as with building schools, hospitals, or community wells.

Not stated in the Quran is waqaf (trust) to benefit the community or family. In Islam, charity begins at home, hence family waqaf. The Prophet’s companion Omar conceived this concept following the Battle of Khaibar to manage the spoils of battle that could not be transported back to Mecca. Waqaf later expanded as a convenient mechanism for the rich to protect their assets from rapacious sultans. As waqafs are considered gifts to Allah, those greedy sultans would not dare seize them!

In secular America, zakat and certain waqafs are tax deductible. Meaning, the government is effectively paying a major portion of your donations! In Malaysia, zakat is a tax credit, in lieu of income tax. I am surprised that non-Muslim taxpayers are not howling at this egregious unfairness.

Charity includes donating your services. In secular America, certain professions like law mandate their members to perform pro bono work.

The noblest charitable act is giving someone a job. That not only gives him an income but more importantly, dignity and self-worth. Hence Islam holds entrepreneurs in high esteem.

Stretching the concept of doing good, the third pillar of fasting during Ramadan, and fifth, Hajj (incumbent only on those who can afford it), could also be included. If through fasting you would be sensitized to the plight of the poor and be moved to help them, then fasting would be “doing good.” That is apart from the “doing good” of Ramadan’s zakat fitra.

The “good” in undertaking Hajj and umrah (mini Hajj), apart from personal spiritual fullness, is your contributing to the travel and hospitality industry. Think of the jobs created, from the ulama and guides to the pilots and hotel staff. Revenue-wise in Saudi Arabia, pilgrimage is second only to oil and gas.

With syahadah (profession of faith) and five daily prayers, the first and second pillars respectively, you are doing good only for yourself by getting closer to God (taqwa). If taqwa were to prompt you to do good and forbid evil, then that Quranic command would have been fulfilled albeit indirectly. Absent that, you are thinking only of your own salvation at best and mindlessly performing a ritual at worse. The possible exception would be when you pray for others and your prayers get answered.

On Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.w.) night journey to Heaven (Al Isra’ wal Mi’raj), Allah through him commanded Muslims to have fifty mandatory daily prayers. He negotiated that down to five, reflecting his wisdom as well as proper perspective on prayers. As per tradition would have it, he would have tried to lower it even more but was too embarrassed to ask.

If in your zeal to pray you neglect your other worldly duties or be oblivious of your surroundings and sensitivity of others, as with praying on a busy road, then whatever pahala (religious good deeds) you garner would be negated by your creating a hazard and ill will. That is not doing good!

As a surgeon in Malaysia, I once reprimanded a junior doctor for abandoning his patient in the Emergency Room while he was off for his Friday prayers. He may be doing good for himself but definitely not towards his patient.

Wealth, like water, gets polluted if stagnant. Zakat and other charitable acts serve to circulate and thus purify wealth. This circulation also amplifies wealth, the velocity of money dynamics. Undeveloped economies are correlated with sluggish circulation of wealth. Hoarding is the extreme manifestation. Banks and similar institutions perform this crucial circulatory function.

No surprise that Allah had chosen a merchant to be His Last Messenger. A merchant is at heart an entrepreneur, one who sees a need in society that has not been met or met inadequately, and then goes about remedying that, earning a profit in the process. Society too benefits.

            Muslims are told to emulate our Beloved Prophet, s.a.w. His being an entrepreneur (trader) is one we should all aspire. To paraphrase a hadith, better to be the giver than the receiver of a paycheck.

Enggan Berfikir Dengan Teliti Mungkin Membawa Maut

Enggan Berfikir Dengan Teliti Mungkin Membawa Maut

M. Bakri Musa

 

(Petikan dari terjemahan buku saya “Qur’an, Hadith, Dan Hikayat:  Latihan Berfikir Dengan Teliti”)

“Jika anda buta, menggambarkan wajah gajah senang sahaja. Seperti cerita dongeng enam orang buta, anda boleh menyifatkannya seperti batang pokok besar; kipas gergasi; atau tali kecil panjang, dan seterusnya. Tetapi kalau anda boleh melihat, yakni tidak buta, kerja anda akan menjadi lebih rumit.”

Dari Chinua Achebe "The Sweet Aroma of Zik's Kitchen, from “The Sweet Aroma of Zik’s Kitchen” in The Education of a British-Protected Child (“Harum Manis Dari Dapor Zik" dalam “Pendidikan Kanak-Kanak Yang Dilindungi British.”)

 

Kita kerap kali berbuat keputusan tanpa berfikir dan merenungkan akibatnya. Dalam keadaan biasa, ini mungkin tidak mengapa. Jika keputusan kita tersilap atau salah, akibatnya terhad dan tidak akan memberi bencana atau keburukan yang besar. Contohnya ialah memilih gerai makan untuk berbuka puasa. Begitu juga jika kita terpesona kepada penjual di kedai kaki lima. Kalau tertipu kita kehilangan hanya beberapa ringgit sahaja, melainkan jika makanan di jual itu tidak bersih atau bercampur dengan bahan bisa atau ramuan berbahaya.

 

            Tetapi semasa wabak Covid-19 atau rusuhan kaum, keputusan yang biasanya mudah dan senang di buat mungkin membawa maut jika tersilap. Wabak Covid-19 di Malaysia tercetus akibat perhimpunan besar Tablighi Jamaat di sebuah masjid Kuala Lumpur pada akhir Februari 2020.

 

            Semasa rusuhan perkauman Mei 1969, seorang gadis sekolah dan rakannya ingin menuntun wayang di pusat bandar. Biasanya keputusan sedemikian di buat tanpa berfikir panjang. Tetapi dalam suasa yang amat bertukar, keputusan gadis itu mengakibatkan sahabatnya terkorban dan ianya di kejam igau tengah malam yang tidak berhenti, seperti yang di ceritakan oleh Hanna Alkaf dalam novel autobiografinya yang memukau, The Weight of Our Sky. (“Beban Langit Kita.”)

 

            Kita mesti berhati-hati bila berbuat sesuatu keputusan sungguh pun itu mungkin di lihat sebagai tidak penting kerana anda telah melakukannya kerap kali. Tetapi keadaan semasa mungkin berubah tanpa anda sedari, seperti semasa rusuhan kaum 1969 atau bencana lain seperti wabak Covid 19. Kita perlu sentiasa berwaspada jika ingin mengelak bahaya dan tidak terkorban.

 

            Namun semasa kemuncak wabak Covid-19, ada yang mendakwa bahawa kita harus patut takut kepada Tuhan lebih daripada virus yang tidak nampak. Pada kaum Kristian pula, Nabi Isa akan melindungi mereka dengan lebih berkesan daripada memakai topeng muka atau di suntik. Beribu mungkin berjuta yang terpesona dengan kata menenangkan hati itu, termasuk orang Islam di Malaysia mendengar imam mereka ke kaum Kristian kulit putih di Amerika dengan paderi mereka. Akibat mendengar pemimpin agama tanpa berfikir dengan teliti membawa maut dan kesedihan kepada keluarga mereka yang berpanjangan.

 

            Keengganan atau malas untuk berfikir dengan teliti sebelum berbuat sesuatu keputusan yang besar atau kecil bukanlah kelemahan atau tabiat mereka yang miskin, kurang pengetahuan, tidak berpendidikan, atau rakyat Dunia Ketiga sahaja. Kebijakan dan kelulusan tinggi bukanlah jaminan bahawa anda tidak akan tertipu. Anda mungkin pintas dan bijak dalam satu bahagian tetapi itu tidak semestinya terpindah atau ada kena mengena di kawasan lain. Mungkin anda berada di dalam persekitaran yang baru di mana andaian sebelum tidak boleh digunakan atau tidak lagi sesuai. Pelancong mudah tertipu kerana mereka kurang sedar tentang persekitaran baru dan mengandaikan bahawa keadaan lama mereka masih berada.

 

            Sebaliknya mereka yang cerdik dan pandai pun mungkin menjadi mangsa. Sangkaan bahawa mereka mahir, bijak dan bermaruah tinggi dan beramanah hanya atas nama dan pangkat serta kononnya kelulusan dan kepakaran, sering tersasar dan mungkin membawa ke jalan jahanam.

 

            Pada tahun 2008 Bernie Madoff, seorang pengurus wang terkenal di Wall Street New York dengan beribu-ribu pelanggannya, ditangkap kerana menjalankan apa yang kemudiannya terbukti sebagai satu skim wang Ponzi yang rumit. Yakni, dia menggunakan dana daripada pelanggan baru untuk membayar "keuntungan" lumayan yang dijanjikan kepada pelanggan terdahulu.

 

            Pelanggan Madoff semuanya bijak, berjaya, dan berkelulusan tinggi. Madoff tahu bahawa mereka akan semestinya bertanya dengan teliti beberapa soalan penting. Untuk memastikan bahawa itu tidak berlaku, Madoff memperolehi keyakinan mereka dengan cara lama. Yakni dia "menjamin" pelabur awalnya aliran keuntungan yang mantap. Kecuali itu bukan keuntungan yang tulen, sebaliknya wang daripada pelabur baru yang terpikat dengan janji keuntungan yang terjamin yang di alami oleh pelanggan asli. Pada dasarnya, dia menumpulkan akal dan fikiran kritikal mereka dengan wang. Itu cara lama, satu sifat rasuah walaupun mereka tidak menyedarinya sebagai begitu.

 

            Kita biasa dengan permainan silap mata. Ahli silap mata itu akan mengalihkan perhatian anda, dan dalam sekelip mata burung merpati muncul dari lengan panjangnya. Penuntun kagum!

 

            Istilah “silap mata” mencerminkan apa yang berlaku dari segi anatomi. Silap mata mencerminkan dengan lebih benar dari segi anatomi apa yang berlaku dengan lebih tepat lagi daripada frasa Bahasa Inggeris "sleight of hand" (keliruan tanggan). Tipu helahnya ialah melalui mata, bukan tangan.

 

            Bila kita menerima sesuatu keputusan, maklumat atau penegasan daripada seseorang tanpa menggunakan keupayaan otak kita untuk berfikir dan menilainya, kita membenarkan diri kita di mainkan atau menjadi alat silap minda mereka. Kita mungkin menjadi mangsa mereka dan dipermainkan seperti dalam silap mata. Menggunakan otak dengan teliti dan berfikir cara kritis akan menjauhkan diri kita untuk dipermainkan atau terus terang tertipu.

 

            Dalam silap mata, mata kita terpikat kepada benda yang lain. Dalam silap minda kita terganggu oleh apa yang dipanggil oleh ahli psikologi sebagai pencemaran maklumat dan kebanjiran data yang mengelirukan otak supaya kita sangkakan berbuat keputusan yang betul dan tulus berdasarkan "fakta."

 

            Berfikir dengan teliti akan membimbing kita dari mengikuti orang secara membuta tuli, seperti pelanggan Madoff. 

 

            Pelanggan Madoff mengingatkan saya dengan cerita dongeng dua ekor keldai. Satunya telah dibebankan dengan bungkusan garam; keldai yang ke dua, kapas. Semasa mereka menyeberangi aliran air, keldai pembawa garam itu tergelincir dan jatuh. Apabila ia bangun, bebannya terasa ringan sedikit sebab sebahagian daripada garam itu telah terlarut. Itu mendorong si keldai itu untuk terus sengaja tergelincir beberapa kali untuk meringankan bebannya. Melihatkan sedemikian, keldai yang membawa kapas itu terus mengikut bersama. Tetapi malangnya, tiap kali dia rebah, bebannya bertambah berat sebab kapas itu bertambah basah!

 

            Iktibar cerita dongeng itu jelas dan mudah difahami. Kita mesti awas sebelum meniru kelakuan atau perbuatan orang lain. Sekali pintas keadaan mungkin kelihatan serupa untuk mengelirukan anda, tetapi sebaliknya bertentangan dengan apa yang anda sangkakan serta inginkan.

Lack of Critical Thinking Could Be Fatal

 Lack of Critical Thinking Could Be Fatal

M. Bakri Musa

 

Excerpt from my Qur’an, Hadith, And Hikayat:  Exercises In Critical Thinking

 

“If you are blind, describing an elephant is easy. You can call it, like the six blind men in the fable, a huge tree trunk; or perhaps a giant fan; or an enormous rope, and so on. But having eyes, far from making such descriptions easy, actually complicates them.”

 

Chinua Achebe “The Sweet Aroma of Zik’s Kitchen” in The Education of a British-Protected Child

 

It is amazing how often our decisions are made through faulty analysis or without much thought. In many instances those may be excusable for if they were to be wrong, the consequences would be self-limiting or carry a low cost. Deciding which restaurant to patronize falls into this category. Likewise if we were to fall for the snake oil salesman’s slick pitch, we would be out only a few ringgit, unless his products were to be laced with arsenic or some such dangerous potions.

 

         However, when there is a raging Covid-19 pandemic or a deadly race riot, then those hitherto simple decisions could have life or death consequences. The first surge of Covid-19 in Malaysia was triggered by the mass Tablighi Jamaat gathering in a mosque at Kuala Lumpur in late February 2020.

 

         During the May 1969 riot, an otherwise inconsequential decision to go for an afternoon movie downtown cost a school girl her best friend, and for herself, endless nightmares both literal and figurative, as Hanna Alkaf related in her riveting autobiographical novel, The Weight of Our Sky.

 

         One cannot but be circumspect in making what may seem to be even the simplest and seemingly inconsequential decision. The decision may be routine as you have done it so often in the past, but the circumstance may have changed without your being aware of it, as on that fateful day in May 1969 for those innocent schoolgirls in that novel.

 

         Yet during the Covid-19 pandemic there were those who claimed that we should fear God more than this sub-microscopic virus. Or that Jesus would protect us more effectively than vaccines or face masks. Millions fell for those soothing words, from pious Muslims in Malaysia listening to their imams to evangelical White Christians in Midwest America their pastors. More than a few paid with their lives for their lack of critical thinking in assessing the veracity as well as wisdom of their faith leaders’ advice.

 

         This reluctance to think critically is not an affliction peculiar only to the poor, uninformed, uneducated, or those in the Third World. Being smart is no assurance that you would not be taken in. You may be so in one area but that does not necessarily transfer to another. Or you may be in an entirely new environment where your previous assumptions would be inoperative. Tourists are easy prey precisely because of this lack of awareness of their new environment or assuming that their old assumptions still apply.

 

         The otherwise wise and prudent could still fall victim. Their implicit assumption–that they could trust their skills and smartness, or the integrity of those they were dealing with based on nothing more than that nebulous entity as reputation, expertise, or familiarity–is often misplaced.

 

         In 2008 Bernie Madoff, a prominent Wall Street money manager, was arrested for running what later was proven to be but an elaborate Ponzi scheme. His clients were all smart and otherwise successful. He knew that they would ask tough questions. To discourage that, he gained their confidence the old-fashioned way. He “guaranteed” his early investors a steady stream of great returns. Except that they were not true returns, rather cash from new investors lured by the promise of generous profits. He blunted their critical faculties with cash, the old tried and true way.

 

         We are familiar with magic shows, or in Malay, silap mata. Literally, “a slip of the eye.” The magician would distract you, and in that split second slip out the pigeon from underneath his long baggy sleeve. The audience would gasp!

 

         Silap mata is a truer (anatomically) and much more evocative description of the trick than the English “sleight of hand.” The trick is with the eye, not hand.

 

         When we accept an assertion without exercising our critical faculties, we are allowing ourselves to be given a silap minda, trick on our mind, akin to the magician’s sleight of hand or the Malay silap mata, except that it is our mind and not eyes being played on.

 

         In a magic show or silap mata, our eyes are momentarily diverted; in silap minda we are distracted by what psychologists call information pollution, a glut of erroneous and misleading data, to lull us into thinking that we are making the right decision based on “facts.” Critical thinking guides us from blindly following others, as Madoff’s later clients did his earlier ones.

 

         Madoff’s later clients bring to mind the fable of the two donkeys; one loaded with bags of salt, the other, cotton. As they were crossing a creek, the salt-carrying beast slipped. As it got up, the load felt lighter as some of the salt had leached out. That prompted the donkey to continue slipping, for with every ‘slip’ its load became lighter. That in turn led the donkey carrying the cotton to do likewise, only to find that its load much heavier with every fall. The cotton had absorbed the water.

 

         Beware! Things may seem to be just similar enough to deceive you, and you would end with the very opposite of what you had expected or desired.

 

Next Excerpt:  The Big Lie of Malay Special Privileges

QHH Excerpt #2: Minnows In A Pampered Hatchery

 :  Excerpt #2:  Minnows In A Pampered Hatchery

Qur’an, Hadith, And Hikayat:  Exercises In Critical Thinking

M. Bakri Musa

 

Excerpt # 2:  Minnows In A Pampered Hatchery

 

The central injunction of the Qur’an is “Command good and forbid evil.” This is strengthened by the sunnah, the utterances attributed to the Prophet (hadith) as well as by his exemplary conduct. Interpretations of both Qur’an and sunnah must therefore conform to this central command. If our readings of the Holy Text or sunnah were to lead us otherwise, then we must re-examine our premise.

 

         One particular term I examine here is ribaa. Our current interpretation of that term results in more harm than good. It discourages Muslims from putting aside savings and thus contributing as well as participating in the modern economy. It is time to re-scrutinize the meaning as well as intent of ribaa.

 

         Reciting the Qur’an and recalling hadith are not the challenge; living their message is. That would necessitate some degree of comprehension, and that in turn requires a critical mind. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is Allah’s words and thus perfect. However, its interpretations, being the works of humans, are not. They are burdened with all the imperfections inherent with such endeavors. Only Allah is perfect.

 

         Man-made laws, unlike Allah’s which are perfect and immutable, of necessity require amendments from time to time. The US Constitution for example, has been amended 27 times since its inception.

 

         Pramudya Azhar Oktavinanda in his University of Chicago JSD dissertation, “Interpreting Immutable Legal Texts: The Posnerian Pragmatism of Islamic Law,” asserts that at the operational level there is little to no difference between the two. While Allah’s dictates cannot be altered, their interpretations can and do change with time, culture, and circumstance.

 

         While amending secular laws are governed by prescribed rules and procedures that have been agreed upon ahead of time, with God’s laws however, we need our critical thinking faculties both at the individual as well as societal levels to interpret them to meet our current needs and challenges. Absent critical thinking we would be trapped by the interpreters of yore.

 

         While we acknowledge their vast contributions and tap their wisdom, we should also be aware that theirs was of a different era, norms, culture, and language; likewise, the challenges they faced. Instead, we should deduce from the particularities of their reading and try to derive the underlying universal principles, and then apply those to our current tribulations. This was the method used and advocated by the late Fazlur Rahman as manifested in his various treatises.

 

         We should not be led astray by the specifics. Such a challenging task would entail much critical thinking. Endlessly reciting the texts or views of past luminaries is no substitute; likewise when reading our hikayat and folklores.

 

         Writing on critical thinking in English for a Malay audience may seem, as per the wistful Malay saying, teaching a fish how to swim. All you have to do there is provide the water. Or so it may seem.

 

         Malays educated in English or have been exposed to Western liberal education should be familiar if not facile with critical thinking. Alas that is not so. Pursuing my earlier fish metaphor, Western-educated Malays may have been taught to think critically, but back in their familiar home waters, most are content flowing with the stream and swimming with the rest of the school.

 

         That stream is now full of fish bred and pampered in protected hatcheries, with all their needs provided. Even the currents they swim in are artificially created and their directions controlled, unlike in the real world where those and other elements are unpredictable and often treacherous, far from the comfortable artificiality of the hatchery.

 

         So comfortable and for so long have Malays been pampered in the hatchery that we assume it as the natural order. We have been lulled by that sense of false security and have failed to realize that we have been controlled and manipulated all along. We have been led to believe that since those in control are of our own kind, they would have the same benign benevolent intentions, or at least share our values and goals. We have been lured and trapped by our tribalism instinct, the very danger our Qur’an and Holy Prophet had warned us against.

 

         Hatchery operators are by nature obsessive control freaks. They have to. A slight error and they would wake up in the morning to see all their fish belly up, and they are stuck with the stench.

 

         Shifting to terrestrial imagery, ponder the kind shepherd leading his contented flock from one lush meadow to another, as per many religious texts; to wit, the Biblical “The Lord Is My Shepherd,” and J S Bach’s cantata, “Sheep May Safely Graze.”

 

         Malays too have our comparable comfortable wisdom, as with Raja dan rakyat berpisah tiada! (King and citizens separate not!) Those pristine pastoral temperate imageries of Bach contrast to the raw realism of the tropical jungle as so aptly captured by the African proverb:  The sheep will spend its entire life fearing the wolf only to be butchered by their shepherd. Malay leaders are closer to the African shepherd model than the biblical one.

 

         To revert to the hatchery metaphor, Malays are now but pampered minnows to be released into the recreational fishing waters for the enjoyment of their leaders and other sports fishermen.

 

         A major contributing factor to this sorry state of Malays vis a vis non-Malays in Malaysia is our schools. The vast majority of Malay children attend national or religious schools. The focus and rewards there are on memorization, regurgitation, and following the existing order–the very antithesis of critical thinking. In short, indoctrination masquerading as education.

 

         As for the few smart ones (test-wise) who would later attend universities in the West, old habits die hard. When they return home, they would be back accommodating with ease to the controlled flow and artificial current. Soon, either out of habit or having been re-acculturated to the existing value system, they too would go happily with the flow without realizing that the stream had since been directed towards the fish trap. By the time they realize that, it would be too late.

 

         For many Malays it is their belief that God had created the hatchery and its current. Who are we mere mortals to challenge that or swim against it? The idea that those currents are created and manipulated by our own kind, with the best of intentions or otherwise would never enter our mind because of our lack of critical thinking.

 

         I hope this book would help disabuse my fellow Malays and others out of their comfort zone.

 

Next:  Excerpt #3:  The Outline