Can we compartmentalise faith?

by Chan Kheng Hoe
IT SEEMS like Herald has done
it again. A publication of any
sort should carry headlines, but
Herald has managed to become
the headline quite often in
rec-ent times. First, there was
the legal challenge on the usage
of the proper term to refer to the
Almighty. Now, it has been issued
a show-cause letter for
publishing political editorials.
Like all lawyers are wont to
do, let me start by stating some disclaimers. One,
I have not read Herald, because it is distributed
among Catholics and I am not one. Secondly, I am
as far away from being an Islamophobe
as you can be. On the contrary I
would consider myself to be a thinking
Islamophilic. Thirdly, I believe that each
and every person should relate to God
within the context of his or her Godgiven
families and communities.
The disclaimers are necessary in
the light of certain sections of our
society who tend to hijack any discussion
on faith and religion by way of
violent protests and demonstrations.
The authorities then respond by telling
everyone to keep quiet in order to
preserve the harmony of society, however
faked that may be. Unfortunately, the only
voices which heed the authorities’ advice
are the moderate ones. Extremists are willing
to suffer and die for their views, and
hence can never be cowed into silence.
But if I am not a Catholic, why should I
be interested in issues surrounding Herald?
I am interested because I am a believer. I
believe in Almighty God. I do address Him
using a term forbidden by the authorities,
but I won’t go into that issue in this forum.
I try to be a man of faith. I am interested in
relating to God.
More than that, I am not only deistic but
also fideistic. That means God is not only a
vague concept, a divine being who exists
somewhere out there in the universe. God
is neither a notion nor a thesis. Incredibly,
and mysteriously, somehow the Almighty
God of the universe, the Lord of all the
worlds, is also intricately and intimately
interested in intervening in my life.
Cold scientific facts can deduce the
existence of God. However, God cannot
be proven by science alone. That is where
faith comes into the picture. Faith is the
conviction of things hoped for, the assurance
of things not seen. Men and women
of faith who seek to relate to God need to
first believe that God exists, and that He is
a rewarder of all who diligently seek Him.
This brings us to the statements
warning Herald that it is in breach of its
publishing permit conditions which allow
it to publish articles of religion and not of
politics. Specifically, the home minister has
been quoted to say that religion and politics
should never mix.
Really now, is this consistent with a life of
faith? Can religion truly be limited to processes,
procedures and endless meetings? Are
we really made acceptable to God simply by
going through certain rituals? Is the Almighty
so easily fooled by religiosity, and is He so
easily satisfied by ritualistic performances?
It seems to me, based on my very limited
understanding of Islam, that the proposition
goes against the very crux of the minister’s
faith. Is not Islam Deen al-Haq – the true way
of life? Is life not lived beyond the walls of
religious institutions? Is life not richer than
the richest religious traditions? And if all that
is true, can faith ever be compartmentalised
into religious and non-religious segments?
I am privileged to count myself as a friend
of good Muslims. I have a colleague and
partner who is diligently religious, and whose
religion permeates every aspect of her life.
For people like her, I know that to the best
of her ability, her life and work is ibadah. And
that really is the point of faith, isn’t it?
If faith is limited to religious rituals, we will
all be damned. After all, who can honestly
say that he has fulfilled every injunction of his
faith to the minutest detail? Who among us
have not fallen short of the lofty standards in
whichever holy book we hold dear?
But if faith is the realisation that there
is an Almighty God who is interested in our
lives, and that the only proper response is
for us to surrender the entirety of our lives
to Him, then it becomes a glorious journey
in which the riches and knowledge of the
Almighty God is slowly unravelled as we
continue to respond in obedience to Him.
How wondrously rich we would be if we find
fullness of life in the course of that journey.
How pathetically poor we end up when
we try to compartmentalise our faith, and
confine God to the Holy of Holies.

Kheng Hoe hopes to compartmentalise his
job and confine it to a strict 9 to 7 regime if
possible. Thus far, he has fallen short even
of this not-so-lofty standard.