The arrest of former Perlis Mufti, Dr. Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin raises disturbing questions.

One, isn’t it unjust to arrest a person and take him to court while investigations on him are still on-going?

Two, doesn’t this smack of arbitrariness and high-handedness, and doesn’t it erode  established judicial norms and the rule of law?

Three, wasn’t the deployment of an extraordinarily large number of JAIS staff and police personnel a show of force which is tantamount to abuse of power?

Four, since Asri has been giving talks in Selangor and elsewhere for a while now, what was the reason for arresting him at this point in time?

Five, was the arrest a well orchestrated move by certain religious authorities, backed by  some Muslim NGOs,  to dissuade the federal government from going ahead with the  appointment of  Asri as the new head of a potentially influential Islamic dakwah foundation, YADIM?

Six, if this was the motive, doesn’t it show that there are religious institutions and groups in the country that are intolerant of views on Islam which are different from theirs, however humane and rational some of these views may be, and however well grounded they are in the Qur’an?

Seven, isn’t such intolerance a betrayal of the respect for differences of opinion, and for dissent, embodied in  Quranic Thought and in the practice of the Prophet?

It is important to ask these questions because Asri’s crude and coarse treatment echoes the authoritarianism of certain groups in other parts of the Muslim world that has led to tension and conflict. This is why any attempt by any group to monopolize religion and marginalize alternative voices should be checked immediately.

It was one of the causes of the closing of the Muslim mind in past centuries and was partly responsible for the decline of Islamic civilization.

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar,

President,

International Movement for a Just World (JUST).

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

4 November 2009