MINISTER in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad said on Monday (June 6) that Muslims are advised not to participate in the Bon Odori festival as the festival contains elements of other religions.
However, the broad statement could have been refined to put more focus or confine the “non-advisable to participate” stance to the dance/chants itself instead of the entire festival.
For a multi-religious and multi-racial nation, it’s advisable that any statements on such issues are provided with full context, deeper explanation and with sensitivity to non-Muslims and other nations.
Otherwise, it would risk the teachings of Islam being misrepresented and the religious authorities being labelled as ignorant.
Also, as far as “not-advisable” goes, why stop at Bon Odori? There could be many other places and events which may confer similar “harms” or “risks”. In fact, spiritual/religious elements also exist in Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Christmas etc. and yet these events are recognised as national public holidays.
For the benefit of the non-Muslims and to avoid misunderstanding of Islam, it is important to know some of the core Islamic teachings relating to the issue:
Relationship between humans of different races
“O mankind, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, so that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing of you” (Qur’an 49:13)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was reported in an authentic Hadith (narration) to have said “There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, or of a non-Arab over an Arab, and no superiority of a white person over a black person or of a black person over a white person, except on the basis of personal piety and righteousness.”
Regarding recreation and play
Dr Yusuf al-Qaradhawi did not specifically mention dancing in his book “The lawful and the prohibited in Islam”, but we can draw conclusions from his views regarding movies and dramatic performances and the like.
Al-Qaradhawi opined that these could be permissible under the conditions that the content must be free of sin and immorality i.e., that which is against the Islamic beliefs, morals, and manner. He further added that portrayals which excite sexual desire, glorify crime, propagate deviant ideas, false beliefs and the like are haram.
Other conditions al-Qaradhawi outlined include the risk of neglect of religious obligations or worldly responsibilities, and physical intermingling between opposite genders.
We can also draw conclusions from al-Qaradhawi’s stance regarding singing, which could be extended to dancing and chanting associated with Bon Odori where he referenced Ibn Hazm making the following statements:
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, ‘Deeds will be judged according to intentions, and everyone will get what he intended’.
“…And he who listens to singing intending neither obedience nor disobedience is doing something natural and harmless, which is similar to going to the park and walking around, standing by a window and looking at the sky, wearing blue or green clothes, and so on.”
Thus, religious authorities should also add in their statements that what is more important is what the Muslim person does at the event and what his/her intentions are.
However, al-Qaradhawi noted limitations to be observed such as the subject matter of songs (in the case of Bon Odori this could be extrapolated to the subject matter of the dance and the chants) that must not be against the teachings of Islam.
For example, it could be considered haram if the song is inviting people to associate God’s divinity with others and/or done “in conjunction with haram activities” such as a drinking party or other obscenity such as nudity and drugs.
Thus, JAKIM should release the findings of the study, to show details of what a typical Bon Odori festival entails and the harms/risks it had assessed.
For example, does the event provide higher access to alcohol or other excesses? Are the dance and chants still being used for spiritual/religious reasons and are the contents of these chants against Islamic teachings? Or are they purely cultural? Is there evidence of such risks/harm based on previous events?
If their findings clearly show that a typical Bon Odori festival in Malaysia entails personal and societal “harm” by Islamic standards as mentioned above, then perhaps the authorities should first engage with Japanese authorities or the local organisers to discuss the issue.
Given Malaysia’s Muslim-majority societal makeup, the objective between the parties should be an understanding of how the event should be organised and handled so that these perceived harms or risks can be minimised, if not entirely negated, for Muslims to not only attend but perhaps even participate in harmless cultural events, alongside non-Muslims.
Should, for whatever reasons, both parties are not able to come to a mutual understanding, local authorities can provide their ruling publicly, be it “non-advisable” or even “not-permissible” for specific elements of the event, if any.
This way, Muslims may still attend the festival in the spirit of neighbourly respect and inclusivity, while being aware of Islamic boundaries as informed by religious authorities.
In this regard, His Highness the Sultan of Selangor’s call for the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) and Shah Alam City Council to attend and observe the event themselves to make better judgements appear to be a more favourable move.
In the meantime, and in the spirit of not diverting from more pressing issues, politicians should know that many other practices in Malaysia are certainly haram – such as corruption – and a much more serious national concern compared to Bon Odori.
If there are still uncertainties or debates surrounding the risk of religious elements in Bon Odori that may or may not be considered a harm or risk to Muslims’ faith or Islamic creed, there are certainly no questions that idolising wealth, power, and status – positioning these above the true teachings of Islam, therefore, above God – is a form of shirk and that it corrupts one’s faith.
This is alluded to by Prof Emeritus Tan Sri M. Kamal Hassan’s in his book “Corruption and Hypocrisy in Malay-Muslim Politics” published my EMIR Research.
On this matter, Dr Yusuf al-Qaradhawi pointed out a verse in the Qur’an and also a narration by the Prophet (peace be upon him) as follows:
“And do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly, nor deliberately bribe authorities in order to devour a portion of others’ property, knowing that it is a sin” (Qur’an 2:188)
“The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Allah’s curse is on the one who offers a bribe and on the judge who accepts it.’”
As a “food for thought” regarding the use of religious rhetoric as part of the “brand” of a political party, Prof Kamal also mentioned the following:
“Therefore, the party behaves in public as if it has acquired religious legitimacy strong enough to justify or compensate for whatever morally-compromising political behaviour, decisions or strategies it has to make in order to gain popularity and garner political support.”
“As Muslim politicians are also Believers, they have to make sure that their love or devotion for the party, their party’s goals, their leaders, their constituencies or their wealth, power and status is placed below that of their love and devotion to Allah SWT, the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.) and striving for Allah’s causes.”
Now that we have indulged ourselves in this apparent diversion, let us move on to tackle more important issues that would have a far greater impact on changing the grave trajectory of the nation. – June 10, 2022
Dr Rais Hussin and Ameen Kamal are part of the research team at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
