Liberalism has replaced PAS as main threat to Umno, says Muhyiddin
The main challenge Umno faces now is no longer PAS, its old adversary, but the rising threat of liberalism and secularism, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Umno deputy president said Malays were attempting to show they were more liberal than their fellow Muslim brothers.
"In today's reality, there appears to be a growing number of Malays who are trying to prove that they are more liberal, instead of being more Islamic."
"In the past, Umno was merely faced with the challenge posed by PAS, and the battle to prove who was more Islamic," Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, said in his opening speech at the simultaneous opening of the Wanita, Puteri and Youth general assemblies tonight at the party’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
He told party delegates at the Putra World Trade Centre that liberalism was a challenge which the party had never faced in its history.
"Islam is facing a massive threat from liberalism because Muslims are being insulted openly," Muhyiddin said.
"Today, we are hearing many cases of Islamic laws being broken in the name of freedom and human rights," he said.
On November 7, the appellate court ruled that the provision in the Negri Sembilan Islamic religious enactment which made it an offence for Muslim males to dress and behave as women was unconstitutional.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Section 66 of the Shariah Criminal Enactment violated Articles 5, 8, 9, and 10 of the Federal Constitution.
The unanimous ruling means that similar laws enacted by the states and the Federal Territory are also null and void.
The decision was greeted with dismay by many Muslim muftis and even Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, who suggested the Negri Sembilan religious authorities appeal the court's ruling.
Muhyiddin said liberalism was at odds with Islamic law, accusing the ideology of attempting to encourage deviant practices such as same sex marriages.
"What is more worrying is the existence of secularisation in religion, where religion is viewed through the lens of Western secular liberal ideology."
Muhyiddin said this trend was spreading throughout the world, citing an article in the October edition of The Economist which portrayed same sex marriages.
"This is clearly against Islamic law and also other religions," Muhyiddin said, adding that in order to resolve the issue of liberalism, moderation was a key word.
"We must not be seen as being too extreme but at the same time, we have to protect and defend Islam from being influenced by the ideology of liberalism."
Furthermore, Muhyiddin said, the twin spectres of extremism and militancy also had to be held at an arm's length from influencing Malay youths.
"Extremism and militancy has been spreading like wildfire and influencing Malay youths to take up arms as a shortcut to heaven," he said.
"To resolve this issue, we must act in a mature manner and not be emotional. We have to hold more discussions on freedom and human rights from an Islamic perspective." – November 25, 2014
