In his column on Jan 1 to welcome the new year, Pas president Hadi Awang will say that secularism is a bigger sin compared to slander and murder because secularism kills Islamic beliefs and faith in Allah.
“It is the biggest sin in Islam,” he declared.
Hearing him, FMT'S Executive Editor K.Parkaran , who is likely a secular enthusiast, will refer to Hadi's warning as "Hair-raising stuff".
But is it the case that those who advocate for a secular state are that different from those who advocate for an Islamic state?
We tend to believe that in a secular state, unlike a Islamic state, we will have the liberty to live our lives in a way that we deem fit, as long as we obey a law that we ourselves have formed with the people around us via a common agreement, and as long as we do not interfere in the rights of others to live their life according to the way that they deem fit, but this might not be the case at all.
We tend to believe that it is only in an Islamic state, that we will have have to submit to the authority of religious authorities, who claim that they and not us who know what is the right way to lead one's life, and have the powers to compel us to lead our lives according to the way that they see fit, but secular states too have been known to compel people to lead their life in the way that the secular authorities deem fit, even if it steps on the liberty and rights of an individual to lead their lives in the way that they see fit.
The latest and most famous case of this happened during the covid era.
We now know that the lockdowns and vaccinate mandates that were dictated to the people by most if not all secular countries in the world, were likely done because the secular authorities, felt that they had a right to compel us to do what they believed is right, even if it is not something that believe is what is right for us.
The secular authorities might have claimed that they have a right to compel us because their coercion was a science based coercion that had to be done for the greater good, but the Islamic authorities also claim that their coercion is a scripture based Word of God imposition that is also done for the greater good. The subject which the secular authorities based their coercion nd the basis of their coercion might be different from that of the religious authority, but fundementally, they both are a coercian and imposition based system and ideology, which beleives that the authorities right to impose their belief system on your life, trumps your own right to determine your life according to your beliefs.
Let there be no doubt – what the secular authorities did during the covid era was also based on belief, rather than facts.
Take the vaccine mandate for example. The secular authorities had forced people to take the vaccines, even when people did not want to take the vaccines, and even if they were willing to take the risk of not taking the vaccines, and even if them not taking the vaccines would have not caused anyone who had taken the vaccines any harm, simply because they believed that everyone must take the vaccines.
Today, there are 2.2 billion people, or 1 in every 4 people, who have not taken a single vaccine, but the pandemic has been declared over anyhow, although the secular authorities had earlier declared that the pandemic and lockdowns will never be declared as over, until each and every one of us had been vaccinated.
This clearly shows that the pandemic and the vaccine mandates was likely something that had more to do with the beliefs of the secular authorities than something that is truly grounded in reality.
If the pandemic was a phenomenon that was truly grounded in reality, the pandemic restrictions and lockdowns should still be in place today, on account of 1 in 4 people in the world being unvaccinated.
That it is likely just a belief system that the secular authorities in the world wished to perpetuate, is why the pandemic was declared over only when the secular authorities succeeded in compelling the nations of the world to submit to its belief system.
Having managed to compel three quarters of the global population to submit to their belief system, the secular authorities were satisfied that they have been able to perpetuate their belief system throughout the globe successfully, and thus ended the coercion method that they had used to make the global population toe to line.
In the same way, those of us who claim that we are secular inclined, might groan and moan that it is unfair for religious authorities to impose their belief system on us, but for all you know , the religious authorities might only desire implementing such things as a dress code or public caning until 3 out 4 people in the country submit to their belief system.
After succeeding in compelling three quarters of the population to submit to their belief system, like the secular authorities during the covid era, the religious authorities might also be satisfied that they were able to perpetuate their belief system to the population successfully, and end or ease the imposition that they applied to make the population toe to line.
If you see the difference between the secular and religious authorities in this light, then rather than see an Islamic state and secular state as two conflicting and irreconcilable states to be in, you are likely more apt to see the secular state and Islamic state as merely two competing belief system, which are both essentially the same – in that they are both a system or ideology that believes that the authorities have a greater right to determine your way of life than you yourself.
Preferring one over the other is akin to the difference between choosing Manchester United fan over Liverpool, or vice versa. On the surface, it might look like if you choose one, you will be diametrically opposed to the other, but essentially, regardless are which way you choose, in the end you will just be a football fan, whose only difference lies in the jersey you wear and the side of the stadium that you sit in.
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