Imagine if the Chinese Chambers of Commerce calls for a boycott of non-Chinese businesses by all Chinese Malaysians. Imagine if the Ibans in Sarawak call for the patronizing of only Iban shops in the state of Sarawak under the pretext of strengthening Iban businesses.
How does that sound to Malay and Muslim ears? But these communities or any other communities has never done that because they don’t have that us vs them in their mindset.
Now the promoters of the original boycott or buy Malay-Muslim only is back-tracking after being criticised. However, it does not seem to occur to them that even if you were to say “buy our kind’ products first it is jarring to the ears of our neighbours, our fellow Malaysians. It promotes an US vs THEM mentality. Commerce is about the best at service and quality at the right price. It is not about let us buy amongst ourselves; such a mentality merely promotes a crutch and mediocre mindset instead of a competitive mindset.
We also condemn the misleading statement made by Ketua Dewan Ulamak PAS Negeri Pahang, Ustaz Zuridan Mohd Daud in Harakah that this dividing behavior is in accordance with the teaching of Islam according to Surah al-Baqarah 168. The demand in the verse is that they should not follow all those taboos in matters of food and drink which have their basis in superstitious beliefs or irrational usages. In some of the historical narrations it is cited that a few of the Arab tribes had unreasonably forbidden a part of their crops and their animals for themselves, where they used to sometimes attribute those prohibitions to Allah. Then, the above verse was revealed to dismiss that ambiguity. This verse emphasizes that we have to consume from what is religiously lawful and pure / halal / on the earth. Therefore, it has nothing to do with boycotting or choosing Muslim product first as long it is halal and clean.
MAJU PRESS STATEMENT
BOYCOTT OF NON-MUSLIM PRODUCTS/BUSINESSES OR BUYING MALAY-MUSLIM PRODUCTS ONLY/FIRST CAMPAIGN, IS NOTHING BUT BIGOTRY
Imagine if the Chinese Chambers of Commerce calls for a boycott of non-Chinese businesses by all Chinese Malaysians. Imagine if the Ibans in Sarawak call for the patronizing of only Iban shops in the state of Sarawak under the pretext of strengthening Iban businesses.
How does that sound to Malay and Muslim ears? But these communities and others have never initiated such campaigns because they do not have that ‘us vs them’ mindset.
Now the promoters of the original boycott or “buy Malay-Muslim product only” campaign are now back-tracking after being criticised. It does not appear to occur to them that anyone who says “buy products from our own kind first”, is jarring to the ears of our neighbours; our fellow Malaysians. It segregates us and promotes the ‘US vs THEM’ mentality.
This is a dangerous game to play in our multiracial Malaysia, where all different races have contributed positively and equally to the socio-economic and political growth of the country.
We need to unlearn our prejudices as we chant slogans of a “New Malaysia” and teach ourselves to celebrate unity in diversity.
It is about time we understand that we, Malaysians, are stronger when united as one people; one nation.
And we need to come together to reject any and all attempts, political or otherwise, to thwart this unity that we have all worked hard at achieving.
It is also equally important that we educate ourselves that commerce involves healthy competition for our economy to thrive, by competing for the best service and best quality, at the reasonable price. It is not about us buying amongst ourselves, thereby insulating ourselves within a narrow mentality and merely perpetuating the crutch and mediocre mindset, instead of driving the competitive mindset.
We also condemn the misleading statement made by Ketua Dewan Ulamak PAS Negeri Pahang, Ustaz Zuridan Mohd Daud, in Harakah that this dividing behavior is in accordance with the teachings of Islam, according to Surah al-Baqarah 168. The demand in the verse is that they should not follow all those taboos in matters of food and drink which have their basis in superstitious beliefs or irrational usages. In some of the historical narrations, it is cited that a few of the Arab tribes had unreasonably forbidden a part of their crops and their animals for themselves, and they attributed those prohibitions to Allah. The above verse was revealed to dismiss that ambiguity and clear the confusion. This verse emphasizes that we have to consume from what is religiously lawful and pure / halal / on the earth. Therefore, it has nothing to do with boycotting or choosing Muslim products first, as long as it is halal and clean.
No matter what the reasoning is – none of it is acceptable. There is nothing in the Quran that advocates such behaviour. It is not just shallow thinking or ineffectiveness of such methods that make such advocacy unacceptable. It is purely bigotry and racism that drives such thinking and conduct.
Our elected political leaders need to come out right now, stand firm and say it outright: loud and clear, but we only hear a deafening silence . Do not be cowards. You need to lead the way to show the better side of our society. Otherwise you only end up allowing the extremists to lead the way and the cancer will spread.
Islam is not about promoting racism. Period. Anyone advocating racist behaviour is against the teachings of Islam. The country needs to reprimand or remove those who advocates racism. We need a Malaysia for all.
Let’s MAJU together for Malaysia
Malaysian Action for Justice and Unity
3 September 2019