Race and Religion II

Apologies for the long silence. Been very busy lately and was away for a week. I want to reply to Failasuf's comments on my last post. 1) Chinese dominance of trade and business - and their racist selectivity in conducting business Response: I have no problems with people of any particular race being economically successful. Good businessmen deserve to prosper regardless of their race or religion. By ensuring their businesses are successful, they contribute to the economic wellbeing of the country by creating jobs and economic growth. But with regards to the "racist selectivity", I think it is unfair to label just the Chinese as racist. Why do people of other ethnicity refuse to go to shops run by those of a different race? Here in the UK, it never occured to me to not go to any particular shop because the owner is of this or that race. If anything, both the shopkeepers and the consumers in Malaysia are selective and both have to change. Blaming anyone is not the way forward. 2) The outflow of wealth from Muslim hands to non-muslim hands (due to meritocracy and equal distribution of opportunity and wealth to all citizens) Response: Again, I do not see any problems with this statement. If the sellers are all non-Muslims, then obviously the Muslims will have to spend money there. If this were to be avoided, then the Muslims must become successful economically. But then again, are we not all Malaysians? If so, what's the fuss? When wealth move from one person to another, we should start thinking that it is still flowing between Malaysians (if you want to ignore globalization). We have to one day stop thinking in "Muslim vs non-Muslim" or "Malay vs others" dichotomy. 3) Influx of secular materialistic influences from chinese/non-muslim controlled businesses such as ASTRO. Response: Well, once again, if anyone disagrees or dislikes what is happening, they should offer an alternative for free individuals to choose from. Unfortunately some of us are well-known for our ability to complain but have always failed to organise our efforts. We must learn to put up, or shut up. *** With regards to the morality issue, I hope every one of us can openly and honestly debate how Muslims and non-Muslims can live together without having to resort to the ethnicity divide. Malaysia belongs to all Malaysians, not for those of any particular race. And most importantly, Muslims cannot continue to refer to the texts written hundreds of years ago for the nitty gritty issues in our daily life. On the major principles of religion, yes. But not on the technical issues that may not exist in the past. The scholars of the past lived in a different environment and no one is free from environmental influence. We need new thinking in our fiqh mu'amalah.