As one who grew up in adulthood with the Islamic Reformist movement of the Malaysian Islamic Study Group MISG and the International Institute of Islamic Thought IIIT both in the United States of America, I take a serious interest in the development of Islamic understanding among the Malays in Malaysia.

I have lamented many times in my writing on why muftis and professors of Islamic studies do not challenge Hadi Awang and personalities like Zakir Naik in their pronouncement of interpretation of the Qur’an and Islam in a manner that has destructive elements for our nation.

Recent events and information brought to me by friends seem to point out a disturbing aspect about religious knowledge policing by the professors of Islam in public universities in Malaysia that would have a detrimental impact on the idea of universities as the seat of knowledge, ideas and discourses for the betterment of humanity, not just the Malays.

Perhaps this was the answer to my desperate question why the silence from professors of Islam in many issues of Islam taking over the country day by day.

There are easily, I would assume, 60 or 70 professors of Islamic studies in Malaysia, and their silence is unacceptable to me as an academic.

If the public were to raise an issue of architecture, I would be the first to respond. Well…who else but a 20-year veteran academic like myself?

Now, when there is an issue on Islam, I find myself responding to the issue in isolation.

I am used to comments like “dia tu professor senibina, so apa yang dia tahu?” or “dia tu sokong DAP, memang geng liberal”.

I still explain issues based on my knowledge of Qur’anic tafsir and the meaning of the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad and ignore those hurtful comments because as Muslims, we are commanded by Allah and the Prophet to explain what we know in the best hikmah possible as an individual act of devotion to Allah.

I do not do it for the university KPI; I do not do it for my YouTube viewer numbers or subscribers; and I certainly do not do it for sucking up to anybody.

Clearly, no Malay academic would do what I do at the cost of his or her future Datukship or contract extension.

I do it because I am an accountable Muslim to God and a responsible Malaysian to my fellow citizens.

With respect to the policing of knowledge, I am aware that the Ministry of Home Affairs used to be the main culprit of stagnating knowledge on Islam particularly.

Beside that, we also have the Department of Religious Affairs which decides what books Muslims should read or not.

I remember the ban on the book by G25 called “Breaking Silence” and also the ban on books translated and published by the Islamic Renaissance Front written by Mustafa Akyol.

I still have all these banned books and have read them and that’s why I have grown leaps and bounds than others who are still under their tempurung Islam.

At that time, I called on public universities to condemn these arbitrary acts of policing intellectual growth and critical inquiry, but I was met with silence and reprimands.

One reprimand came from a Vice-Chancellor of a public university with the name of “Islam”, and the other was also from my own university management.

The first inkling of my suspicion of this policing of knowledge and intellectual discussion at public institutions of higher learning began when I was invited by an academic to present my thoughts at a conference organised by an institute of “Islamic studies”.

I was extremely excited and pleased at the invitation after being labelled by Malay extremists as a “Chinese chauvinist”, a Christian sympathiser, a liberal, a sesat Muslim, and a disloyal Malay.

I welcomed the chance to be criticised openly and in front of myself instead of in the anonymity of Facebook, unnamed commentaries as well as articles using the name Melayu liberal to mean me.

However, a week after receiving confirmation of the invitation, I received an email from the same person embarrassingly apologising to me because the organising committee decided to retract my invitation without any reason given.

From insiders, I understood that the retraction was ordered by the deputy director of that “Islamic institute” because of my “liberal writing on Islam”.

I had thought it was because of my progressive thoughts on Islam and nation-building that I was invited.

Then, came the case of my friend, Ramli Ibrahim. He was invited to speak at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, but at the last minute, his invitation was “un-invited”.

The reason cited was that Ramli, who was an acknowledged world-renowned dance artist and intellectual of Hindu classical dance and music, projected an image of a Muslim that contradicts the ideas of Islam sanctioned by the nation.

I can understand this tempurung mindset at kedai kopi or government departments, but at a university?

Come on, if the universities cannot handle thoughts of Karl Marx or Irshad Manji or Adolf Hitler or Khomeini, what are we having universities for?

Does a PhD or research study not require and extensive literature review of subjects before formulating a thesis question just because it contradicts some muftis’ idea of Islam?

I have never paid serious attention to muftis or Hadi’s pronouncement of Islam because I have my own means to check and answer my own questions.

As far as most Islamic Reformist can attest, the first lesson in the Islamic Reformation taught to us was …there is no priesthood in Islam.

Islam is supposed to be the most democratic religion because it develops the ideas and thought of discussion and collective decision without dispelling critical thoughts.

University is supposed to be the frontier of knowledge, not the prison of thoughts and ideas.

Recently, some information came to me that another academic was denied presenting his discourse in a small intellectual meeting at public higher institutions because such Malay professors of Islam fears his “liberal” and unorthodox thinking about Islam.

I was excited to listen to this professor, but was later told that it was not allowed. Susahlah ini macam!

If universities cannot lead to change in society, then it would be up to politicians and the Dubai Movers.

Change requires unorthodox thinking and ideas. If you do not know what they are, try reading Anwar’s Madani ideas. Those are the most unorthodox to many Malays, but not to me as I have discovered them in my early readings as a 20-year-old studying in the United States, “land of the great kafirs”.

There is no longer hope to change in this nation when universities shut its doors on knowledge, thinking and ideas that challenge the norm simply because some Malay professors of Islam are too lazy to read other people’s books of ideas, thoughts and different perspectives of life.

The term professor “kangkong” should be replaced with professor “tempurung” or professor “syok sendiri”.

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