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The Malaysian Chinese Muslims. From left: Haji Kamal Koh, Ustaz Shafie Patt, Haji Mawardi Chew and Haji Adam Lee

What is learning? Learning, in my view, is a journey of self-discovery about what it means to be human. As human beings, we are at once and at the same time a person with four selves – a personal or individual self, i.e. a self that we call it our own; a collective self or a self by which we share in common with other human beings; a transcendent self or a self that extends beyond our human world; and a relational self or a self by which we derive our personal consciousness through our contacts with other human beings, with the world of plants and animals, and with what is beyond these worlds.
To learn is to seek about how we are related to all that is relevant to our existence, and about how we are relevant to all that is related to us. The Ta Hsueh, in this regard, is a good companion and starting point for this journey, a journey that takes us into our relationship with others, and others in their relationship with us, in the endeavour to realize the essence of our human existence, which is Tian Ren He Yi, Harmony of Heaven and Human.
The 大 學 or TA HSUEH is a short text with a profound description about the steps one should follow to realize the ideal human being and human society. Ta Hsueh can mean, on the one hand, Adult Learning. It can also mean learning to be a great person. This is the meaning adopted here.
For Malaysian Chinese Muslims, the Ta Hsueh can be a useful guide to understand Islam in a uniquely Chinese way as its contents are surprisingly, Islamic in every sense of it.

My translation of the text below is undertaken against the background of the Confucian thought of the Song and Ming dynasties ( 宋明道学理学家思想), as well as the hikmah school of thought in Islam (伊斯兰心启家思想).

(1) 大 學 之 道 ， 在 明 明 德 ， 在 親 民 ， 在 止 於 至 善 ．
(2) 知 止 而 后 有 定 ， 定 而 后 能 靜 ， 靜 而 后 能 安 ， 安 而 后 能 慮 ， 慮 而 后 能 得 ． 物 有 本 末 ， 事 有 終 始 ， 知 所 先 後 ， 則 近 道 矣 ．
(3) 古 之 欲 明 明 德 於 天 下 者 ， 先 治 其 國 ； 欲 治 其 國 者 ， 先 齊 其 家 ； 欲 齊 其 家 者 ， 先 脩 其 身 ； 欲 脩 其 身 者 ， 先 正 其 心； 欲 正 其 心 者 ， 先 誠 其 意 ； 欲 誠 其 意 者 ， 先 致 其 知 ； 致 知 在 格 物 ． 物 格 而 后 知 至 ， 知 至 而 后 意 誠 ， 意 誠 而 后 心 正 ， 心 正 而 后 身 脩 ， 身 脩 而 后 家 齊 ， 家 齊 而 后 國 治 ， 國 治 而 后 天 下 平 ．
(4) 自 天 子 以 至 於 庶 人 ， 壹 是 皆 以 脩 身 為 本 ． 其 本 亂 而 末 治 者 否 矣 ， 其 所 厚 者 薄 ， 而 其 所 薄 者 厚 ， 未 之 有 也！

(1) The way of learning so that one may attain greatness (as a human being) lies in the following:

(i) It lies in bringing into light what are already the illuminating virtues in the heart
(ii) It lies in oneness of heart with the people
(iii) It lies in firmly abiding in the highest good

(2) Only when one knows he has abide firmly (in the highest good), can he have constancy (of the heart); when one has constancy, only then is he able to be serene; when one is serene, only then can he be at peace with himself; when one is at peace with himself, only then is he able to reflect; when one is able to reflect, only then is he able to arrive at things.
Things have principles and purposes, or functions; affairs have endings and beginnings i.e. destinations and intentions; in knowing what comes first and what comes after, namely, the sequence of things, one has modelled himself on the Way.

(3) In times of old, those desiring to bring to light the illuminating virtues in the hearts of the people, first put the country in order; in desiring to put the country in order, they made sure their family is in consonance; in wishing to bring consonance in their family, they cultivate their persons to be upright humans; in order to cultivate their persons, they regulate their hearts until the hearts do not waver; in order that their hearts do not waver, they made their intentions sincere; in order that their intentions are sincere, they refine their sense of knowing; refining the sense of knowing lies in seeking out the realities of things.
When the realities of things are known, one’s knowledge becomes insightful; when one knows things insightfully, one can make one’s intentions sincere; when one’s intentions have become sincere, one’s heart can become rectified; when one’s heart is rectified, one’s personality can be cultivated; when one’s personality is cultivated, one can bring harmony into one’s family; when one’s family is in harmony, one’s country can be put in order; when one’s country is in order, peace will prevail in one’s society.

(4) From the Son of Heaven i.e. Emperor right down to the ordinary people, each and every person made self-cultivation the root of their human engendering. If the root is in disorder, regulation of things can never happen. It is never the case that one who is a person of substance takes things lightly and behaves petty, and one who is petty and takes things lightly is a person of substance.

By
Yamin Cheng

I am, after all, what God made me, what He brought into life. But why does God give me a life?
When God assembled the angels and told them that He was about to bring another breed of existence besides the angels and the djinns, and not only that, this breed of existence will be given the mantle to govern a kingdom called earth, the angels were alarmed and said to God, ‘Are you to make on earth one who would spread mischiefs and spill blood, whereas we glorify you with praises and esteem your loftiness?’ Upon hearing this, God called Adam, the first of this breed of existence, and asked him to demonstrate to the angels that special gift he was given, that gift called knowledge. When Adam had finished demonstrating to the angels this endowment which he was given, God then asked the angels to do the same, but the angels could not do so, admitting to their limited ability to know. Thus, it is knowledge that makes the difference between the ranks of the humankind and those of the angels, and it is knowledge that makes human beings the worthy inheritors of earth who will govern it.
But what do we understand by knowledge? For many of us, knowledge simply means two things. On the one hand, it is about what we can know through what we see, touch, and feel. On the other hand, it is about what we can think with the mind. It is with knowledge that man demonstrates his superiority over all that exists, turning the dense jungles into habitable places and transforming the arid deserts into fertile lands, and in modern times, sending men and machines into space. These already speak volumes of man’s qualification to inherit earth and govern it.
But is knowledge only about the material achievements of life, about building skyscrapers, rockets, and computer technology; about better medical discoveries so that we may stay healthy and be free from diseases; and about having food of superior quality?
Knowledge has often been equated with the intellect. What is the intellect? The intellect refers to four aspects of our knowing faculty and ability, according to the notable Muslim scholar, Al-Ghazali (1058-1011). These are ruh or human spirit, qalb or heart, ‘aql or mind, and nafs or self.
Ruh is the subtle lofty entity that the moment it conjoins the body, life springs into vitality. Qalb is the pineapple-shaped blood-pumping organ located at the left of our body, the seat of conscience, cognizance, passion, and compassion. ‘Aql is the faculty of knowing and is usually identified with the brain, that thinking and judging ability of the mind. Nafs is the totality of the self through which a person’s humanity is measured according to the temperament of this entity, whether it is an erratic soul that incites a person to commit blameworthy acts, a mediating soul that is trying to stabilize between the pull of the blameworthy and praiseworthy attractions, or a tranquil soul where a person is constantly in control of his self.
Taken as a whole, the intellect, in the wholesome and comprehensive meaning of it, is the ruh, qalb, ‘aql, and nafs, all at once. How penetrating is the force of the intellect, depends on how the four entities co-ordinate with one another to produce a synchronicity and symbiosis of knowledge. The mind alone is not knowledge in its totality, and so are the senses, as well as the heart. Therefore, knowledge of things in its broadest sense must encompass the senses, mind, and heart. Knowledge, in the true sense of the word, is sensing, rationalizing, feeling, and ‘conscience-ing’, all at once. It is to know what the eyes see, what the mind judges, what the passions attempt to alter, what kindness says, and what the conscience or ‘inner voice’ mediates and affirms. It is to see outward and to look inward, to observe the visible and physical, to comprehend the abstract and philosophical, and to digest the spiritual and invisible. It is, in modern academic terms, the union of science, reason, art, and religion. Knowledge is the intellect in the true sense of its meaning. And it is this intellect that is the special gift of man, that made him a special breed of existence, that endows him with the privilege to govern earth, and that qualifies him worthy to be called human being in its noblest of meaning.

By: Yamin Cheng

Dr Hew Wai Weng (author) sitting next to Marieke Bloemberg at the Leiden University, The Netherlands

Early this year, I attended a Chinese New Year open house, organised jointly by the Hidayah Center (a dakwah [preaching] institution under IKRAM, a Muslim organisation) and the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (MACMA), with sponsorship from the Islamic Council of Selangor (MAIS, Majlis Agama Islam Selangor) and Mohd Chan Restaurant. Alongside a small exhibition about Islam in Mandarin and English, there were various cultural activities during the open house, such as Chinese traditional music performance, lion dances and Chinese calligraphy competition.

Indeed, in the last few years, as a way of disseminating Islamic message among non-Muslim Chinese, there is a growing trend of accommodating Chinese cultural elements in the Islamic preaching in Malaysia. Chinese-style mosques, Chinese Muslim preachers, Chinese halal restaurants and Chinese New Year celebrations are among the creative forms to promote the universality of Islam and to show that ‘there can be a Chinese way of being Muslim’.

Chinese Muslims are minorities in Malaysia, in which only 1 percent of ethnic Chinese are Muslims. In the past, ethnic Chinese who became Muslims were assumed to lose their Chinese cultural identity and become ‘Malay’. The recent emergence of Chinese Muslim cultural identities, which combine both Chinese cultural symbols and Islamic messages have challenged this widely held perception that ‘Chineseness’ and Islam are incompatible.

Unlike conventional dakwah activities, which aim at strengthening the faith of Muslims, Chinese Muslims dakwah movements aim to universalise Islam and invite non-Muslims to get closer to the Islamic faith. Differentiating Chinese ‘cultural’ traditions (budaya) from religious rituals (agama), Chinese Muslim leaders argue that Chinese culture does not contradict with Islamic principles. Instead, it can facilitate the spread of Islamic messages, which I call here ‘dakwah pendekatan budaya’ (preaching by using [Chinese] culture) or ‘cultural dakwah’.

Statements such as, ‘Chinese New Year does not belong to any religion and that it is a cultural event shared by all Chinese’ are commonly used by Chinese Muslims to justify their celebrations. A common belief in this school of thought is that many Chinese in Malaysia hesitate to become Muslim, because they are afraid of losing their Chinese cultural identity after conversion to Islam. By holding public Chinese New Year Celebrations, this group would like to diminish such worry, with the hope that more Chinese will convert to Islam, or at least get closer to Islam.

Many Muslim leaders endorse these celebrations, as long as such activities do not contain non-Islamic elements, such as deity worship and the consumption of non-halal food, for example pork and alcohol. They see Chinese New Year activities such as wearing red, giving ang pao and lion dance as cultural practices that do not contradict Islamic teachings. They also think get-together events, such as mutual visits, reunion dinners and open houses, fit well with Islamic values, and view these activities as promoting ‘silaturahim’ (maintaining good relationships).

Since 2010, working together with the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (MACMA), IKRAM has held various Chinese New Year Open House celebrations. IKRAM is a Muslim organisation in Malaysia, consisting primarily of well-educated, urban-based, middle-class and reformist-minded Malay Muslims. In 2013, the Selangor branch of IKRAM organised Chinese New Year celebrations in nine locations in Selangor: eight small open houses at different districts, all held at Chinese halal restaurants; and a grand one in a Chinese school. Remarkably, one of the key sponsors was the state-controlled Islamic Council of Selangor (MAIS, Majlis Agama Islam Selangor). I joined some of these celebrations, which were well attended by Malay and Chinese Muslims, as well as non-Muslim Chinese.

Chinese cultural elements and Islamic messages are strategically combined in such events. Let me describe one of these celebrations in detail. On 24th February 2013, the 15th day of Chinese New Year, more than one thousand people attended a grand Chinese New Year open house in the Chee Wen Chinese primary school in Subang Jaya. The organisers had chosen a Chinese school and not a mosque to hold this event, hoping that more Chinese would join without hesitation. Invited guest speakers included leaders from Chinese organisations, Islamic NGOS, and Hui Muslims working in Malaysia. There were three hosts for the event: one of them was of mixed Chinese-Malay parentage and the other two were Hui Muslim studying in Malaysia. Most of those involved in organising the event were – both Chinese and Malay Muslims – wore red. Halal Chinese dishes with a localised twist, including a 100-feet yee sang (a popular Chinese New Year dish in Malaysia) were served. The food was sponsored by Mohd Chan Restaurant, a Chinese halal restaurant.

Inside the hall, there were decorations of Chinese lanterns and Chinese calligraphy that read: ‘Allah is the Greatest’ and ‘Happy Chinese New Year’ in Mandarin. Various entertainment programs, including Chinese traditional music performance and lion dances were staged. There were also screening of videos, introducing Islamic teachings and sharing experiences of Chinese converts.  MACMA Selangor also held a small exhibition about Islam in Mandarin and English. Qur’an, Islamic books and leaflets in Mandarin and English were available for free. Some volunteers also approached the non-Muslim Chinese who attended, asking their views on Islam and sharing the Islamic messages with them, in a subtle and indirect way.

The chairman of IKRAM Selangor Hassanuddin Mohd Yunus explains,

Islam is a universal religion. In the past, we have only conducted dakwah among Malay Muslims. This is our mistake. We have made Islam a Malay religion, which contradicts the universal value of Islam. We should share the beauty of Islam with ethnic Chinese, who are mostly non-Muslims. And the best way to spread Islamic messages to ethnic Chinese is by using cultural approaches. Chinese New Year is a cultural event, not a religious one. Therefore, we organise Chinese New Year open houses. We serve yee sang (a Chinese Malaysian dish). We give ang pao (red envelope with money). We want to show that Islam and Chinese culture are compatible. Masuk Islam itu bukan Masuk Melayu (convert to Islam is not equal to convert to ethnic Malay).’ (Interview, Hassanudin Yunus, 24 February 2013)

In Seremban (a small town, an hour-drive away from Kuala Lumpur), there was also a Chinese New Year dinner celebration inside the Al-Saadah Complex. The Seremban Al-Saadah Complex is a newly-completed Chinese-style mosque in Malaysia, initiated and sponsored by the Islamic Council of Negeri Sembilan (MAINS, Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan). Its architectural design was inspired by the Great Mosque of Xi An, in mainland China. Various Chinese features dominated both the exterior and interior design of the mosque complex, such as the Chinese-designed entrance gate, the Chinese garden, the courtyard and pavilion, the red pagoda-shaped minaret, red lanterns and Chinese calligraphy.

This mosque complex hosts various activities, such as religious talks, Mandarin classes, conversion ceremonies and cultural festivals. Remarkably, during the Idul Adha celebrations in 2011 and 2012, Chinese Muslim religious teachers presented their sermons in Mandarin (with translation in Malay on LCD screen) inside the mosque. Moreover, the mosque invited an Imam from mainland China to serve the mosque. The mosque committee is also planning to hold regular Friday sermons in Mandarin, beginning from the mid of 2013. If this plan comes true, the Al-Saadah complex might be the first mosque in post-independent Malaysia which conducts Friday sermons in Mandarin regularly.

In the past, it was quite difficult to imagine that a Muslim organisation would organise a Chinese New Year open house or an Islamic authority building a Chinese-style mosque simply because of the pervasive perception of Islam as the symbolic marker of Malay identity.  Yet today, not only Chinese Muslims, but many Malay Muslims are enthusiastic in preaching Islam through the use of Chinese cultural symbols and practices.

What are the factors that have contributed to this emergence of cultural dakwah in contemporary Malaysia?

First, there is a growing expression of Chinese Muslim cultural identity among Chinese converts. In the past, many Chinese converted to Islam because of intermarriage or for economic reasons. Many of them came from lower middle-class background, were less educated and did not speak Mandarin. Therefore they were more easily assimilated into the Malay community. Today, there is an increasing number of urban middle-class and Mandarin speaking converts. They become Muslims out of religious interest and take their new religion seriously. They also prefer to maintain their Chinese identity. They see their Chinese culture as an important asset and a preaching strategy, which could facilitate them to share the Islamic message among non-Muslim Chinese. In addition, the recent influx of Hui migrants and students in Malaysia has also given confidence to local Chinese Muslims to cultivate their unique identity.

Second, there is increasing number of urban middle-class Malay Muslims who no longer rely on government assistance and who do not view Islam from an ethnicised perspective. In the past, generally, Malay Muslim organisations were not keen to preach Islam to non-Muslim Chinese. Certain groups were worried that when a Chinese converts to Islam, he or she can then obtain Bumiputra status and enjoy the extensive economic benefits associated with the status (which in reality, is not always the case). These groups also viewed Islam as their core identity marker, hence if a Chinese becomes a Muslim, he or she should also become a Malay. However, such perceptions have diminished in these recent years. Today, many middle-class Malay Muslims are well educated and do not depend on government assistance to make ends meet. They do not see Islam as a ‘Malay religion’, but a religion for all mankind. They state that Islam teaches Muslims against asabiyah (clanism/tribalism). They refer to Quranic verses and Hadith texts to highlight the universality of Islam.

Islam is highly controlled by the state in Malaysia. Some religious authorities even regulated the mosque architecture. Although there is not much public resistance towards these various forms of religious control, there are growing demands for diversity within Islamic expressions among urban Muslim youth. They do not want to see all the mosques built in similar pan-Islamic architecture, thus they support the construction of Chinese-style mosques. They do not want to just eat Malay food, thus they visit Chinese halal restaurants. However, it is uncertain whether this support for diverse cultural expressions of Islam will also lead to the greater pluralisation of Islamic discourses.

Certainly, cultural dakwah is a means for Malay Muslim organisations to expand their ‘faith market’ beyond their own ethnic group. Perhaps, it is also a reaction to the perceived threat of ‘Christianisation’ among Malay Muslims. In the last few years, some religious authorities have warned Muslims against the wave of ‘Christianisation’. In 2012, the Religious Office of Selangor (JAIS, Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor) even raided a church activity, which allegedly attempted to convert some Malay Muslims to Christianity. At the same time, some religious authorities have begun to sponsor the establishment of Chinese-style mosques and the celebration of Chinese New Year, as a way to disseminate Islamic messages to non-Muslim Chinese.

In Malaysia today, we are witnessing not only the emergence of ‘cultural dakwah’, but also ‘political dakwah’, ‘street dakwah’, ‘digital dakwah’, ‘food dakwah’ and so on. Recently, the Islamic party, PAS, has put focus not on its ‘Islamic state’ agenda, but on a ‘welfare state’, together with the slogan, ‘PAS for All’ to broaden its electoral support. In the last election, for the first time, there were non-Muslim candidates running under the PAS banner. There is also an increasing support of non-Muslims towards the Islamic party. During the last election campaigns, many non-Muslim Chinese publicly campaigned for PAS to the extent that some even put up the PAS logo as the display picture of their Facebook pages. Several PAS strategists welcomed this support of non-Muslims and see this as a form of ‘political dakwah’, which means spreading the Islamic messages through political engagement.

In the last ten years, there has also been a mushrooming of Chinese halal restaurants in Malaysia. Mohammad Chan Halal Restaurant and Sharin Low Seafood Restaurant are the two most successful cases. Both Mohammad Chan and Sharin Low do not see contradictions between making profit and preaching Islam. Sharin Low notes that he ‘berniaga sambil beribadah’ (does business while worshiping). All these dakwah methods share similar criteria – indirect, friendly and adaptive. Such attempts certainly could improve the perceptions of non-Muslims towards Islam, yet it is uncertain whether these efforts will convince more non-Muslims to become Muslim.

Amidst the concern of an increasingly puritan Islam or ‘Arabisation of Islam’ that is hostile to ethnic traditions, ‘cultural dakwah’ which promotes hybrid forms of Islamic manifestation reaffirms the cultural inclusivity of Islam in Malaysia. Indeed, the successful stories of Chinese-style mosques, halal restaurants and Chinese New Year celebrations show that many Malay Muslims no longer equal Islam to a Malay religion. There are also various transnational dimensions of ‘cultural dakwah’, such as building mosque with reference to the design of old mosques in mainland China, and inviting a Hui Muslim from China to become an Imam in Malaysia.

The promoters of ‘cultural dakwah’ differentiate ‘ethnic practices’ from ‘religious ritual’ to preach Islam by using Chinese cultural approaches. By doing so, they make Islam appear more universal and inclusive. However, such ‘culture-religion’ distinction has limitations and can be problematic, especially when it comes to defending contentious practices. For example, the notion of a ‘culture-religion’ distinction might be convincing enough to justify the Chinese New Year ‘cultural’ celebration, yet it is inadequate to defend Muslims practicing yoga (which some Islamic authorities in Malaysia deem to contain Hindu elements and are therefore un-Islamic), and to protect the rights of Christians to use the term ‘Allah’ in the Bible. In other words, while many promoters of ‘cultural dakwah’ accept cultural diversity, provided it falls within specified ‘orthodox’ boundaries, yet they might hesitate to cross religious boundaries, observe non-Islamic rituals and endorse alternative interpretations of Islam.

Hew Wai Weng is a research fellow at Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin.