From The Gathering Storm Blog

The political insurgence of up to now moderate Muslim nations goes pretty much unreported by the Western MSM and when those moderate Muslim countries are mentioned, they are painted in a positive light as shinning examples of Muslim living peacefully with other religious sects.

Malaysia is one such moderate Muslims nation that is feeling the sword of political jihad.

Over a drink of green coconut at what used to be called the Passionate Love Beach until his Islamist party came to power and scrapped the name, state minister Takiyuddin Hassan outlines the victories in the war on sin.

To the south, in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, celebrations are starting for Malaysiaâ€™s 50th year as an independent state. Its proud achievements are modern universities, a buoyant economy and a respected place in the world as a moderate Islamic nation.

Mr Hassanâ€™s party boasts a different set of achievements: banning mini-skirts, chastising unmarried couples and renaming Kota Bharuâ€™s favourite beauty spot. They also closed down nightclubs, banned nearly all bars except a few Chinese restaurants, where no Muslims are allowed, and refused to let a proposed cinema open unless there were separate sections for men and women.

Sharia law is creeping into this nation quietly and non-violently. The non-violent jihads are making good headway in Malaysia.

He says that it has kept the rustic capital of Kelantan state upright and clean-living. The biggest building in the city is a gigantic headquarters decorated with concrete Korans where the moral enforcement department is based. Its bearded officials spend much of their time prowling parks in Kota Bharu in search of amorous young sinners.

Islam has always had a prominent place. It is the official religion of Malaysia and the Constitution states that anyone born Malay is Muslim.

The debate over the parameters of its role, an old argument in Malaysia, was given a new outing when Najib Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister, broke a taboo to declare that the nation was an Islamic one. He said: â€œWe have never been secular because being secular by Western definition means separation of the Islamic principles in the way we govern the country.â€

There you go. Again, the principles of Islamism are unashamedly presented for all to see. One cannot separate religion from the rules of running a society in Islam.

Minority religions are particularly worried about a series of apostasy rulings. Chinese or Indians who want to marry a Malay must convert to Islam, causing great problems if they divorce or are widowed and want to return to the religion of their birth.

In a notorious case this year a Malay woman called Lina Joy attempted to have Malaysiaâ€™s courts recognise her conversion to Christianity, but failed and was hounded and fled into hiding. Some hardliners have even called for the execution of apostates.

Every state has a religious department with Saudi-style moral enforcers and nowhere are they more active than in Kota Bharu, a city of mosques along a muddy river that bustles during the day but falls silent at nightfall.

Unmarried couples found sharing hotel rooms are hunted down by the enforcers. Couples caught sitting too close together on park benches are fined 2,000 ringgit (Â£285) in the cityâ€™s shariah court under a provision called khalwat â€ loosely translated as â€œclose proximityâ€. Couples have been forced into marriage after being caught together and moral enforcers sometimes pick on foreigners.

While the world spends its time confronting the so-called war on terror, the more insidious threat of political Islam goes on almost undetected by the worldâ€™s leaders. Islamism with its varied forms of political jihad must be recognized and confronted wherever itâ€™s found â€“ especially in the non-Muslim world where it is making inroads daily.


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