In this article, I wish to comment on the surprise visit of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Permaisuri Agong to the home of Puan Kamala Das on her 100th birthday.

Once again, our King has shown an exemplary attitude towards being a leader for all faiths and races, as opposed to many of our disappointing politicians still shouting the race and religious cards at the top of their hellish voices.

I will explain why I feel that the simple gesture of our Royal Couple far outweighs whatever our Ministry of Unity has ever done or whatever our recent few prime ministers would probably never do to forge this nation in an action cutting across simplistic borders of race and religion.

Let us firstly recount what has happened from the videos and pictures shown on the media.

Please take note of four important things that the Royal Couple did that have cut across our religious divide created by our narrow-minded ulamak or clerics and politicians of religion.

Firstly, the Royal Couple “stepped into” the house of a non-Muslim. Secondly, the Royal couple shared a meal together at the house of a non-Muslim. Thirdly, the King held a great granddaughter of Puan Kamala while the Permaisuri Agong hugged and kissed Puan Kamala and lastly, we see the scene of the Permaisuri Agong feeding Puan Kamala with her own hands.

To many, these are actions that may not be worth writing a whole article about, but to me it is precisely these actions of the Royal Couple as caretakers of Islam that far surpass whatever billion ringgit budget JAKIM has or whatever scholarship religious clerics boast to have, to be closer to Allah.

On that day, to me, the Royal Couple “put to shame” the clerics and politicians of religion, all of them.

Firstly, it seems that the teachings of Islam within the last 30 years perhaps discourage Muslims from going to the houses of non-Muslims.

Why? The reasons I have heard from politicians and clerics are that non-Muslim houses have dogs and that the animal is taboo to Muslims.

I have also heard that clerics forbid Muslims to go to houses that have idols of deities forbidden in Islam.

I have been to houses of worship such as churches, Hindu temples and Chinese temples during my career as well as a Malaysian. I have also visited friends of other faiths for social visits.

There is nothing in the teachings of Islam as narrow-minded as the ones now propagated by Muslim clerics in mosques and schools.

I have thumbed through all the pages of the books on Pengajian Islam from Primary 1 to Secondary 5 without seeing a single picture of Muslims visiting other non-Muslims.

That is how teruk our nation is now in terms of relations between faiths.

Secondly, we see the King and Raja Permaisuri having a meal in the house of a non-Muslim. Wow, to many Muslims ini tak boleh buat! Why? Well, the food may not be halal, the crockery may have some non-halal stuff and if we eat from them then our bodies will be non-halal.

Now this attitude may seem funny to many, but ask any Muslim if they will partake a meal with non-Muslims in their houses.

Of course, I do not know if the cups and saucers I saw in the pictures belonged to Puan Kamala because perhaps the Royal Couple brought their own but I doubt it. It would be disrespectful to the host in simple decorum.

Thirdly, we see the Yang di-Pertuan Agong cuddling the great granddaughter of Puan Kamala and we also see the Permaisuri Agong hugging and kissing the cheeks of Puan Kamala.

Their Majesties have set the bar for a lesson in humanity which our politicians, professors and muftis have failed badly.

So what? Why is this an issue? Firstly, I have heard of an incident reported in social media that a Head Teacher of a madrasa was teaching his students not to cut their hair at a Keling shop. According to him, we Muslims must not let our sacred body parts be in contact with any kafir’s body parts.

Secondly, do you remember the UTM incident of a lecturer teaching students that Indians are dirty?

And finally, can we all remember the laundromat incident of not allowing non-Muslims to sully the clothes of Muslims by putting them in the same washing machine?

This is the situation of teaching Islam in this country. I challenge the religious authority to pronounce their fatwa on all the three actions that the Royal Couple had engaged.

When Ismail Sabri became Prime Minister, he immediately launched his Keluarga Malaysia idea.

I wrote an article in a mainstream media to challenge him to do one simple act of unity and by this act it would save billions of ringgit in campaign and education budget.

I asked him to spend one night at the house of a non-Muslim opposition leader and be seen to partake in meals at dinner and at breakfast.

I challenged the PM to sleep one night as the guest of a non-Muslim.

Did he do it? Of course not-lah! Ismail Sabri is a Melayu with a narrow understanding of Islam.

I also asked in that article that all politicians must lead by example and be seen by the people to be guests at the houses of the other faiths. But again, no one answered my challenge.

Finally, I was touched to see the Permaisuri Agong feeding Puan Kamala. It reminded me of a story where it was said that the Prophet Muhammad had fed a blind Jew:

“There was a poor blind Jew who lives in the market of Medina. The man always reminds the people who passes him by with false allegations saying that Muhammad is a liar and a sorcerer. Furthermore, he also mocks and insults the Prophet PBUH. However, the Prophet PBUH still visits him and feeds him without telling the man who he really is. The Prophet PBUH feeds the blind Jew until the Prophet PBUH passed away. One day, Abu Bakar RA asked Aisyah RA: Are there any sunnah of the Prophet PBUH that I have not followed?” Then, Aisyah RA answered narrating that the prophet PBUH used to feed a blind Jew man in the morning. Learning this fact, Abu Bakar immediately went to the house of the blind Jew and feed the Jew. The blind Jew however, realize that it is not the same man that is feeding him as the man who used to feed him before. The Jew then asked Abu Bakar who was feeding him before, then Abu Bakar told him that it was the Prophet PBUH. After hearing Abu Bakar’s answer, the Jew cried and regretted his actions against the Prophet PBUH. The Jew finally embraces Islam touched by the Prophet PBUH’s actions.” (Reference to the hadith)

Our country is in terrible poverty… not of food, not of money and not of property, but of compassion, kindness and love across human society.

In resetting the country’s education, I think that technology, science and economic pales in comparison to that one true lesson in human survivability.

In closing, I thank Allah The Most Compassionate that we have the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong to set the bar for this lesson in humanity.

Our politicians, professors and muftis have failed us in this important matter.

May God bless our Royal Couple… always.

(Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at a local university and his writing reflects his own personal opinion entirely.)