In today’s article, as a Muslim and a Malaysian, I wish to respond to Hadi Awang’s latest writing that was published in the media.

In the news portal which quoted Hadi’s social media posting, Hadi had dealt with the recent issue of a Chinese woman in Kelantan fined for dressing indecently.

This incident has sparked an uproar among Malaysians fearing that Kelantan had imposed the moral values of Islam on non-Muslims.

In the picture, it was shown that the woman was dressed in a long T-shirt with short pants.

As a Malaysian living in the country for 61 years, I am used to the sight of women dressing in this manner. For me, this is the Chinese lifestyle and I do not bother them but observe my own morality within my own peace.

It is bad enough that the Kelantanese lady was fined for clothing deemed ordinary for most Malaysians, but in a recent posting Hadi agreed to the fine and rubbed in the idea that these kind of people are like “binatang yang tidak berakal dan tidak bermaruah.”

The whole excerpt can be read as follows:

“(Ada di antara seteru kita) yang mereka tentang juga termasuklah arahan berpakaian menutup aurat yang diwajibkan kepada penganut Islam.

“Adapun kalangan bukan Islam pula mesti berpakaian sopan mengikut sifat kemanusiaan yang bermaruah dan dihormati oleh semua agama serta bangsa yang beradab.

“Tidak bersikap liberal sehingga tidak ada rasa malu seperti binatang yang tidak berakal dan tidak bermaruah yang sedang melanda negara Barat sekarang,” kata Hadi.

The translation from the above excerpt as given by one news portal is as follows:

“(Some of our rivals) oppose (our) instructions to cover the aurat which is mandatory among Muslims.

“(This was despite) some non-Muslim communities who are required (by their religion) to dress decently based on humane values with dignity and self-respect. They are respected by (adherents) of all religions and civilizations.

“Don’t be like liberals who are without shame, similar to animals who cannot think and have no dignity. This (problem) is plaguing the West now,” said Hadi.

There is no denying that Hadi considers all non-Muslims who do not respect the code of Islam in dressing or some kind of decent dress codes in other religions as behaving like animals who have no thought or morality.

Hadi Awang says those who do not dress according to the code of Islam are like animals without the capacity to think and morality.

I will now build my case of answering Hadi’s low view of the human being. However, before delving into my discourse, I wish to remind Malaysians that Hadi has been recorded in saying non-Muslims are all corruptible because they do not accept the teachings of Islam. For him, it seems that there are no good non-Muslims at all.

So, this is one level of how Hadi evaluates the status of a human being.

Secondly, he has been recorded as saying that only Muslims deserve top leadership roles in a democratic country while non-Muslims should just follow.

To him, MCA is a nice non-Muslim party as the members just follow and don’t say anything significant, but DAP is a bad party as the members always challenge Muslim leadership with their own views.

Clearly, Hadi does not understand or rejects the idea of democracy and our Constitution that is silent on the idea of having human beings who can become leaders and another type of human beings who should just be followers.

Now, in a third classification of human beings, Hadi says those who do not dress according to some moral dress code of Islam and other religions are like animals without the capacity to think and the capacity of morality.

Firstly, I would like to deal with the idea of whether “animals” have any value to humanity.

Well, firstly, we learn in schools and universities that there are animals that give direct contribution to human survival.

Cows give milk and meat for protein. Chickens give eggs and also meat to humans. Sheep give their wool for warmth in clothing as well as milk and meat for humans. Even leeches, I am told, have been reared for something useful.

There are many more animals, insects, fishes and invertebrates that, to Hadi, have no capacity to think and no morality, that are absolutely essential for the survival of all human beings, unfortunately that includes Hadi.

I, for one, cannot think of how Hadi can contribute to the survival and fitness of human beings in this world.

Secondly, we have studied in science classes about the importance of biodiversity and delicate ecosystem that humans are supposed to be a part of.

Millions of creatures that, according to Hadi tak ada akal dan maruah, contribute to the importance of the forest, land, rivers and living creatures that complete the biological system scientists are now discovering to be of critical importance to human beings.

The activities of man in overdevelopment and construction have led to the phenomenon of desertification and deforestation.

I am sure Hadi has no idea what I am talking about, probably because the madrasa he attended did not have any course related to ecology and ecosystem.

After graduation, Hadi probably read old kitabs or religious books that dishonor other human beings as they do not contain chapters on the importance of human diversity as akin to the biodiversity of the animal kingdom.

Thirdly, I wish to inform Malaysians that I have never in my entire life considered humans as any kind of animals.

Not only this is a derogatory thing to say as a person of adab but I think it is also insulting to the animals.

If I were to liken Hadi Awang to an animal, I think that animal would probably be angry at me for insulting it.

Hadi is in a class of living things that can be considered neither human nor animal…what, I don’t know-lah!

Before ending my tirade against this man who is unfit to be a Malaysian or a human being for that matter, let me contrast Hadi’s view of Islam to that of the late Siddiq Fadzil in his talks and writing as follows:

“Antara nilai unggul yang harus sentiasa dijunjung tinggi ialah nilai kemuliaan insan. Manusia adalah makhluk mulia, terlepas dari persoalan bangsa, agama dan budayanya. Kemuliaan insan adalah kurnia Tuhan yang bererti Tuhan sendiri yang memuliakan manusia, dan kerana itu tidak siapa pun yang berhak menghina manusia dengan cara apa pun. Sebagai makhluk mulia, maruahnya harus dilindungi dan kebebasannya harus dijamin.”

Listen to the words of a great Muslim, Siddiq Fadzil. Siddiq uses the word “kemuliaan insan” to describe all human beings, not just Muslims.

He further said that Allah Himself created “manusia mulia” and that no one should “menghina manusia dengan cara apa pun.”

In contrast to Hadi who seems to think himself as above everyone else and therefore has a right to degrade other human beings, Siddiq Fadzil presents a humble, noble and compassionate presentation of Islam.

Like Siddiq Fadzil, I am a Muslim and my Islam disagrees with the attitude, manners and words of Hadi Awang in degrading other human beings as animals.

Hadi does not present the noble Islam but he represents a despicable “religion” furthest from it.

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