Inter-faith subject in Malaysia; Is it feasible and necessary?

It has recently been proposed that an inter-faith subject should be introduced in Malaysian schools. Great as it may sound, the plan will not be free from criticisms. In fact, the relevance of such plan is highly contentious. In Malaysia, whenever a problem arises, one of the most commonly cited solutions would be the introduction of a subject in class, to solve the problem in the long run. People have called for subjects on corruption, money-management, civics education, sex education and etcetera. Of course, recommending such solution is easy but the question is, will it be feasible? The introduction of more and more subjects in classroom only burdens the students and encroaches on the time allocated for core-subjects. Otherwise to counter this, the school period can be extended to accommodate the new subjects. But that too comes with a cost. Students’ time for leisure and recreation are taken away in absolute subtlety.

The idea of having an inter-faith subject for the young is definitely not done with ill-intentions. I believe, it is proposed to inculcate a greater sense of tolerance and acceptability among the younger generations. Especially for a country like Malaysia, where there is an “invisible ticking time-bomb” waiting for the moment to detonate and rip our social fabric apart, unity and better understanding amongst the citizens of Malaysia, are highly warranted. Let’s just admit it, our unity is brittle and rather small provocations from anyone can tear us apart. To rectify this, the ability to understand each other, despite the differences we all have, is highly crucial. Maybe, inter-faith education could be just the right formulae that we have hoped for.

But, the question is, should we have yet another full-fledged subject for the students? What we should realise is that, not everything can be taught in classroom. Until now, the Malaysian government have resorted to use classroom subjects to inculcate many moral values deemed important for the upbringing of the young. Thus, subjects such as Civics Education and Moral Studies were introduced, supposedly to shape holistic-minded pupils. Civic and moral values that should be learned through practical and hands-on approaches, have been narrowed into mere words on pages. Instead of this, the schools and the teachers should spread the positive values by shaping a culture in the education institutions that requires students to practically adopt the values while in school.

Now, if after proper consultations with stakeholders (including the students) are done and it is decided that such inter-faith subject is vital to be introduced, the implementation should be done with great care and with proper guidelines.

Inter-faith subject should be neutral and the discussions embodied in the subject should be done in a secular manner. Neutral means, all types of religious faith and dogma should have equal and fair representation in the subject. Not a single, major religion or belief should be left out. Secular on the other hand means that, the discussions in the subject should not strive to show that one particular religion is above the others and that other religions are fake and sinful. Inter-faith studies in Malaysian schools should be in line with global scholarly-religious discussions, and not taught as per the ideologies of the Malaysian religious bodies and political parties.

Inter-faith studies should be able to teach the students what each religion constitutes and preaches. Inter-faith studies should also enable students to identify the similarities and differences amongst the different religions. The students should be taught not just to tolerate, but to accept the differences that exist around them. Inter-faith studies, at such an early age, should not be a medium to argue who is right and who is wrong. Most importantly, the instructors or teachers should be well-equipped with inter-faith knowledge and skills to simplify the idea of multi-religions that may seem intricate to the students. The teachers, should play a neutral role in the classroom and teach the subject without prejudice. No teacher should try to imply that their religion is the best. Otherwise, it would be akin to asking the controversial televangelist Zakir Naik to teach inter-faith religion. He would end up concluding that his religion is the only sacred faith in the world. Absurd, isn’t it?

Actually, Malaysia already has elements of inter-faith studies in several subjects such as in History, Moral Education and Civics Education. However, it is only in the History subject (particularly in Form Four) where it is taught relatively extensively. Like it or not, the Form Four History textbook is a “great” example on how inter-faith studies can go bad, or rather disastrous. Out of 10 chapters, five (5) chapters are dedicated for Islam and its civilisation. Islam is taught “extremely extensively”, and it is, however, not surprising. Now, learning about Islam, especially for the non-Muslims, is definitely not wrong and it is in fact highly encouraged. But the scale of how other religions are given very less importance is worryingly perplexing. It is “dumbfounding” to see how explanation on the basics of Hinduism (purportedly the oldest religion), Buddhism and Christianity (known for vast historical significance) is only mentioned in two pages (Chapter Two). This begs the question, what makes Islam so special for it require five chapters when other religions are mentioned in mere pages?

Not only that, the elements of inter-faith studies in the text book have been selectively shaped. It is surprising that while the major religions are discussed (even Confucianism, which is a set of philosophies, is included), one of the Abrahamic religion is excluded. Yes, it is the religion of Judaism. Not a single paragraph is dedicated to explain about the religion. Again, it is perplexing as to why Judaism is not included in the list of religions. If the students can be taught about two of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity and Islam), the same should apply to Judaism. In thinking about the relevance for the exclusion of Judaism from the syllabus, one can only deduce that it is due to the intolerance against Judaism among many Malaysians and the alleged “Agenda Yahudi”. Another possible excuse that I can think of is, Judaism is not a major religion in Malaysia and thus, the need to learn about it does not arise. With such intolerance shown towards Judaism, it is not surprising to see many adopting anti-Semitic perspective in Malaysia.

Not only have other religions been made to look inferior, even Islam is not taught in the way it should be. The discussions above Islam tried to show Islam as a singular religion, without any denominations as seen in Christianity. Shia Islam, a denomination in Islam, is not mentioned and explained in the text book. Although Shiites (those in the Shia Islam branch) constitute only about 15-20% of total Muslim population worldwide, Shia is definitely an important denomination and faith within the larger Islam. It should also be noted that while Sunni is predominantly practised by Malaysian Muslims, Shiites also exist in Malaysia and they face persecution (both directly and indirectly) from the government and many Sunni Muslims. It is why I have noted above that if inter-faith subject is to be introduced in Malaysian schools, it should be in line with global scholarly-religious discussions, and not taught as per the ideologies of the Malaysian religious bodies and political parties. Apart from that, in Chapter Six of the textbook, it teaches extensively about the great Muslim civilisations. After the demise of Prophet Muhammad, a period of leadership known as Khulafa al-Rashidin took place and were continued by three caliphates, namely the Umayyad, Abbisid and the Ottoman.

Again, all the mentioned caliphates belong to the Sunni denomination. The Fatimid Caliphate which existed during the period of the Abbisid Caliphate was “carefully carved-out”. The only reason that I could think of is the fact that Fatimid Caliphate belonged to the Shia denomination. The Fatimid Caliphate is no small, insignificant empire. It spanned over a large geographical location and existed during the Islamic Golden Age. The caliphate practised religious tolerance and was renowned in that time. In fact, the much-celebrated Al-Azhar University in Egypt is an institution that came from the Fatimid Caliphate. Thus, it is rather mind-boggling on why such empire was excluded from the textbook chapter. Again, the only reason that I could think of is, as many Sunnis in Malaysia would say, Shia is not Islam.

Just because most Muslims in Malaysia are Sunni and many do not regard Shiites as Muslims, the young children should not be deprived of the real knowledge. Most importantly, the religious perspective of Malaysian Muslims should not cause non-Muslims deprivation in gaining knowledge.

On top of all these, if an inter-faith subject is to be introduced, a special chapter on atheism, agnosticism and other general non-belief categories should be included. Students should be taught why some individuals prefer to abandon conventional faiths and instead prefer to declare themselves as atheist or agnostics. In the process of teaching the students, atheists or agnostics should be labelled as immoral and sinful beings. Rather, the students should be taught that everyone should be respected and discriminated against just because of their religious faith.

If Malaysia can accommodate all the aforementioned criteria, only then should inter-faith subject be taught in schools. If the Education Ministry so wishes to retain the current “formulae” in teaching about religious diversity, by all means, please scrape off the plan. It will not do any good for anyone.