If you are not happy, leave the country! Aiya, not nice lah.

I did not expect this from an educated person, or shall I say, a man who has gone through the university system.

Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi Abd Majid was reported in the media as saying that residents of Selangor who disputed the State Ruler’s decree that “Allah” can only be used by Muslims should leave for other States.

Mahmood Zuhdi, an expert on Islamic law at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, is reported to have said that Selangor residents are duty-bound to obey Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s recent reminder on the use of the word “Allah”.

This is what the media reported him as saying: “What has been decreed by the sultan, we need to obey, there is no compromise if you are Muslim or [from other faiths]. If there is any seed of rejection towards the decree, they need to go to other (States).”

He said this after the Selangor Sultan renewed his decree barring non-Muslims in Selangor from using the word “Allah”.

The sultan is the head of Islam in the State so he has every right to issue such a decree. And Mahmood Zuhdi has every right to his opinion that everyone in the State should obey the sultan. I have no objections to that.

I do not want to get involved in the debate over the use of the word “Allah” as I think too much has already been said and written about it.

I want to touch, however, on the suggestion by Mahmood Zuhdi that those who disagree with the decree should leave Selangor. I believe he could have chosen his words a little more carefully.

I would have expected someone of his educational background to say that the reasons for the sultan’s decree should be widely disseminated so that people – including non-Muslims – can come to better understand the rationale behind the move. Education is the right way, I think.

It is becoming a trend these days for those in power or those supportive of those in power to tell those who disagree with the government or government policies to leave the country, or in this case to leave the State.

In October, the non-governmental organisation Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia, or Isma, urged Christians to emigrate if they could not accept the sovereignty of Islam, after the Court of Appeal ruled that the world “Allah” was exclusive to Muslims.

Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman was quoted in the media as saying: “They can make other choices, like migrating to other countries, if they no longer accept the sovereignty of Islam and the king who protects the institution of religion.”

In early July, the Member of Parliament for Kinabatangan, Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin criticised Air Asia X Chief Executive Officer Azran Osman Rani for calling Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia a racist newspaper and told him to leave the country if he was not happy in Malaysia.

In late June, Utusan Malaysia, in its Awang Selamat column, said the opposition Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara, Tony Pua, should migrate to Taiwan or Hong Kong if he was not happy with the holding of Ramadan bazaars in the country.

And who can forget the statement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, about 10 days after the May 5 general election, that those who were unhappy with the country’s political system should leave the country?

People should be free to voice their opinions, and I will defend their right to say their piece. But telling people to leave the country just because they disagree with you is not so nice lah.

Here is a question: If every time someone or other who disagreed with the government or those in power or certain policies were to leave the country, how many people would be left?

Is this any way to solve a problem?

The early freedom fighters of the nation disagreed with many of the things done by the British colonisers. What would have happened if they had all left the country instead of staying to struggle and win independence?

If former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had left the country after his disagreement with first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-haj, what direction would the nation have taken?

If every time someone in the world disagrees with his or her government or the powers-that-be and decides to leave his or her country, can you imagine the migration traffic?

If, say, Nelson Mandela, had left South Africa because he was unhappy with the apartheid regime, wouldn’t South Africa and the world be the poorer for it?

What the intelligent person would do in situations where disagreements arise is to give his reasons for his stand or view and debate the issue; and do so with civility.