WHAT am I as a Muslim supposed to feel about Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister (PMX) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim accepting the honour to convert a young Hindu man to Islam?
To be honest I’m a little bewildered about what to think except that “is this another of his publicity seeking stunts?” although I know it’s not for me to judge his intentions.
Perhaps I’m a little cynical of his actions as he seems to be always closely followed by a camera crew, a bevy of media photographers and a hoard of citizen “paparazzi” trying to capture that singular moment.
It doesn’t help that his biopic Anwar: The Untold Story had been released in the local cinemas a few months earlier. Perhaps a sequel is in the works and he is milking every photo-op. But this “event” was unusual – even for him.
A ‘clarifying’ video is currently being circulated showed that the PMX was on his way out of the mosque in Klang after last Friday’s (Aug 18) congregational prayers and that an elderly man appeared to have invited him to officiate the conversion ceremony.
It is unlikely that this chance encounter had not been discussed earlier with his security detail and the aides that hover around the PMX like a celebrity entourage. Surely nobody can just jump up to the PMX and say, “Please, convert me!”
It thus begs the question if PMX should have politely declined to be directly involved? He could have just agreed to be a witness from the sidelines as was done by his deputy Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Instead, the PM himself presided over the brief conversion ceremony when he would have taught the shahadah or Islamic declaration faith to be repeated by the young man as testament that he has voluntarily embraced the Muslim faith.
Private ceremony
In Malaysia, when an adult expresses the desire to convert to Islam, the religious authorities would interview the person to assess the seriousness of intention and understanding of Islam. This is indeed a serious life event.
The conversion process requires a religious authority with at least two witnesses. The newly minted Muslim would also be issued a certification of conversion as proof for marriage or travel to Mecca for haj or umrah.
It is usually a very private and emotional ceremony.
Did the particular young man in question wanted the honour of declaring his shahadah to the PMX? Did he realise that the publicity might bright negative impact on himself and his family? For the PMX it would be optics for his Islamic “credentials”, so to speak.
The biggest name in the entertainment world to have captured headlines with her conversion in 2018, was Sinead O’Connor’s whose recent death is still being mourned by her fans, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
For such a global headliner who progressed from Catholicism through a tumultuous search for religious identity, O’Connor or Sister Shuhada – the Muslim name she chose – her conversion was very private.
It was a dignified and touching ceremony held before the Imam of the Islamic Centre in Dublin, Ireland without any media circus. It was only later that her conversion was publicly announced after the Friday prayers.
Imagine the backlash when the floodgates were opened. O’Connor received derision, scorn and insults but she was prepared for it. Not a stranger to controversy, she took pleasure in her Muslim identity.
Could any Muslim person preside over the ceremony? The decision to convert would itself be already an intention but the shahadah declared before the religious authorities and witnesses is for official purposes.
It is noted that since the young man in question adopted the name Muhammad Anwar Karthiban, it must have been a great honour indeed to have his namesake – the PMX himself – to accept his conversion.
But a conversion to another faith is a life changing event as it means leaving one faith in favour of another. The Hindu community has questioned the PMX’s role in this. Is he acting as a PM or as a religious leader?
Often dubbed a political shapeshifter, Anwar has transformed from Islamic revivalist to reformist and now in his capacity as the PMX, he is striving to portray himself as a philosophical multi-faceted leader.
Yet the beating taken by his unity government in the recent state elections showed that most Malay Muslims had rejected his coalition of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) in favour of the more “Islamic” Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Is the PMX struggling to regain his political footing with this event? If he did it as a publicity stunt to get political mileage for his ailing government, he might have committed the proverbial act of poking a hornet’s nest. – Aug 21, 2023
Niza Shimi was a former journo with a leading mainstream English media.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
