Because we didn’t arrive back to the hotel until the early hours this morning, day 4 was more like a “decompressing” day. After all, the conference finishes last night with the celebration at Sakarya. We didn’t go out until around 1 pm.
But my day actually started at around 9am with what I would say a serious and thoughtful conversation YB Dr Dzulkifly Ahmad who has been my room-mate for the last couple of days. As you would expect, we discussed recent developments in the country and also in PAS. Of course I can’t go into the details of our conversation but, briefly, we talked about the importance of ideas and why there must be greater efforts to support the development of new ideas both for the country and for the party. I reiterated my view that PAS is moving too much towards the socialist-marxist model of wealth redistribution, particularly with the introduction of the term “Negara Berkebajikan” in our last manifesto. Dr Dzul tried to persuade me that the second half of the manifesto – the one that calls for a “nation of opportunity” – was very pro-trade and pro-market. But he knows I was not convinced that that element was given enough emphasis. After all, the only phrase people associate with PAS now is “Negara Berkebajikan”. We touched on many other issues – it was a conversation that lasted more than 3 hours! – but I think that is the only one I can blog about.
Tok Guru Haji Hadi phoned just as we were finishing our conversation. Let’s go get breakfast, he said.
We then decided to go separate ways. Tok Guru and Dr Dzul wanted to find some stuff from the shops but I wanted to visit a few more sites.
We met again at the hotel at 5pm. Tok Guru and Dr Dzul are leaving Istanbul for KL today, while my flight is not until tomorrow morning. I decided to go to the airport with them, and went on the same car with Tok Guru. I tried to dig a bit more into the concept of “Negara Berkebajikan”.
Tok Guru said that the “Negara Berkebajikan” promoted by PAS is different from what is understood in Britain. I was initially a bit concerned when he said “We want to go further than Britain”. I thought that would mean even more redistribution! But I was pleased to hear his subsequent explanation. He said it was not even a direct translation – ie: Negara BERkebajikan (Nation of Care) as opposed to Negara Kebajikan (Welfare State). He went on to say that he encourages wealth redistribution but not necessarily through taxation. Islam encourages the haves to help the havenots, but, through charitable donations (sedekah) rather than coercion. Zakat was only at 2.5%, making it so low that it was certainly not punitive.
He went on to say that when he was Menteri Besar of Terengganu, among his policies were to reduce and even abolish some types of taxes. And reducing the burden of taxation was part of “kebajikan” because it allows people to keep what they earn. So was encouraging enterprise so that people can help themselves. And, if he had the opportunity, the real “kebajikan” would be by reinvigorating the institution of waqf so that the rich can help the poor by virtue of charitable donations (sedekah). In terms of public service and waqf, he said it was a great loss when, after creating Nilam Puri, the PAS administration in the 1970s did not turn it into a waqf so that Nilam Puri can educate free from political interventions. In that short 30 minutes trip to Attaturk Airport, while talking about “Negara Berkebajikan”, we were actually discussing about reducing the size of the state and reducing taxes.
This excites me. An important strand of libertarian thinking coming straight from the President of PAS!!! But I remember Dr Dzul saying to me just earlier this morning that the term “libertarianism” is not well understood by the public generally, and the term “liberalism” is despised by many Muslims. So I avoided saying any of those terms because I didn’t want to debate terminologies. But I went on to suggest to Tok Guru that PAS now has the chance to give life back to waqf. We could start with masjid and surau in Pakatan Rakyat states. These could be “privatised” into a waqf for each masjid and surau by firstly apointing trustees from among the local people, and subsequently allowing the local people to elect their own trustees. Tok Guru was concerned if the process of appointing trustees would be even more politicised. There is also the issue of religion being under the jurisdiction of the Malay Rulers (Raja-Raja Melayu). Unfortunately we didn’t get too deep into discussing this because we have arrived at the airport.
(At the airport, while waiting in the VIP lounge, Tok Guru joked that had I joined Galloway’s Respect party, there may not be such a big complaint from some quarters. Hmmmm….)
So, there we go….. four days of bouncing ideas with Islamic movement leaders from around the world, interweaved with very lively discussions with Tok Guru and Dr Dzul. And, somewhere in the middle, my belief that there are elements of libertarianism just waiting to come out from PAS, only if it can be better articulated into a coherent set of policies, became stronger.
Filed under: Misc
It’s good to hear that and we’ll rocking the boat soon..
i wrote about freeing the mosque from political intervention here. at the very last, here-
http://someideas.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/dilema-prioriti-antara-iman-dan-syariat/
Peranan masjid
Masjid kita harus proaktif dalam hal ini. Masjid perlu menjadi lebih mesra pelanggan dan mesra kepada orang-orang bukan melayu. Walaupun hal ini nampak remeh, saya setuju jika papan tanda nama masjid dieja dalam tulisan jawi, dalam bahasa cina dan india untuk lebih terbuka. Pihak masjid perlu diberi dana dan pada masa yang sama harus diberikan lebih ruang untuk independent membuat program interfaith dialog dengan agama lain di Malaysia, kelas Bahasa Mandarin dan Tamil, kelas-kelas komputer dan kemudahan wireless internet.
Oleh kerana ketua Agama Islam dan istiadat orang melayu teletak pada sultan, maka tugas sultanlah untuk merasmikan, membekalkan dana dan memantau pelantikan ahli jawatankuasa surau. Memberikan dana bukanlah tugas sesebuah kerajaan kerana sesebuah kerajaan pasti akan memberikan pengaruh politik di dalam masjid. Saya mencadangkan kepada insititusi istana menyerahkan tanggungjawab dana kepada orang-orang yang telah dianugerahkan pangkat dari istana seperti Dato’, Tan Sri dan sebagainya. Jika mereka dilihat gagal dalam menguruskan dana masjid, maka gelaran Dato’ atau Tan Sri tadi boleh ditarik balik.
Your discussion with Tn Presiden PAS did throw some light regarding PAS true stance regarding free market Idea, even though it may not have been fully digested by the members.
On the other hand, some quarters may have even gone completely quiet had you joined UKIP or some other weird parties. Had you joined Lib-dem instead, the liberal tag on you will be more permanent, just because of the word liberal
Assalamualaikum Wan,
Betul tu Wan, tinggalkan perselisihan atas nama dan terminology dan fokus kepada polisi yang bernas. Ini kerana non-muslim amat phobia kepada terminologi Islamik tanpa memahami polisi2 Islam yang sememangnya adil. Sebaliknya, sesetengah muslim juga kurang memahami idea2 dari non-muslim yg baik dan bersesuaian dgn kehendak Islam, lalu menolaknya secara total berdasarkan terminologi. Enta pun tak perlulah tekankan sangat terminologi libertarian sekiranya polisi yg hendak dilobi adalah adil dan bersesuaian dgn Islam. Rugi kalau orang menolak sesuatu atas nama.
p/s: Ada bawa balik Turkish Delight? Boleh singgah sat.
Maksudnya, penggunaan terminologi “Negara Islam” dan lain-lain perkataan Arab juga perlu diberhentikan?
Tak apa nak pakai terminologi apa pun. Kita mesti ajar orang berfikir bahawa terminologi tidak ada masalah. Bukan dengan cara kita membuang terminologi tu. Cara marketing masing2 la kan. Tak mesti pegang satu cara saja. Dunia makin ke depan..jangan rasa inferior sangat.
singgah ‘semeta’… menyibukk (“,
maaf jika komen saya xberapa bersangkut paut …
komen saya-saya pun setuju elakkan (tidak seratus peratus krn lihat keadaan/ kefahaman dan kesesuaian) menggunakan terminologi. kerana kekadang tidak mengambarkan prinsip islam secara holistik. tetapi pada satu keadaan juga saya melihat terminologi ini juga merupakan sub dalam prinsip2dan konsep islam itu sendiri. jadi terapan prinsip dan konsep islam perlu diperkukuhkan.
Tulisan yang baik dan pengajaran yang bermakna