MAY 16 — In Surah Al-Hujurat, verse 12, Allah tells us that we must avoid suspicion as much as possible. The reason for this is because there are times when the very act of being suspicious itself is considered to be a sin. The verse goes on to caution us against going behind each other’s backs to find faults [49:12].

Which is why it is quite disheartening to see a Malaysia today where people appear to be increasingly suspicious of each other. In so many politically fuelled speeches, we see the reinforcement of the concept of otherness underpinned by the prospect of loss of cultural identity and, ironically, the betrayal of Malaysian Islam.

It is important to understand that Malaysia’s obsession with the culture of fear did not begin with the Pakatan Harapan win in 2018. We all grew up learning about "divide et impera” also known as the concept of "divide and rule” from our history books and it really is no secret that it has been a political strategy employed to exert control over the different races well before independence.

What is disconcerting, however, is how despite ambitions to break away from the grip of fascism, we are still apprehensive over our democratic liberties.