Banning books narrows our horizons

By Helmy Haja Mydin

Once upon a time, officers from the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) decided to confiscate copies of Allah, Liberty and Love, a book by the liberal Muslim activist Irshad Manji.

This was done under the pretext of preventing confusion among Muslims. More disturbingly, the rakyat was told that Jawi has the power to seize ‘any book or article which threatens the faith of Muslims in the country'.

I have not read Allah, Liberty and Love but the dubious act of banning a book is even more confusing to me, for Islam attaches great importance to knowledge and education.

The very first verse of the Quran (Al-Alaq) that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) can be translated as "Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists)" [Quran, 96: 1-5].

There is little doubt among scholars of Islam that reading, and by extension, the attainment of knowledge, is a cornerstone of the Islamic faith.

History is rife with examples of those in authority banning books, purportedly for the benefit of society. More often than not, this is done in order to protect the status quo or preserve a chosen ideology.

By controlling what is read, they exert control over what people think. Perhaps the most famous example is the book burnings in Germany, pre-World War II.

One of the first acts of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, was to burn all books that were deemed ‘un-German', presaging an era of totalitarian control over the media, arts and information in Germany.

In Berlin, Goebbels declared ‘an end to decadence and moral corruption and the beginning to decency and morality'. Books burned were works by authors of Jewish decent and ‘corrupting foreign influences' or American authors and those of socialist and communist backgrounds.

Ironically, one of works burned was the writings of the German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, who had previously written that ‘where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people'.

I was fortunate to have been brought up in a home that encouraged reading. One of my earliest childhood memories is that of my father reading Aesop's The Tale of the Woodcutter, a story on the importance of honesty.

Even though we were by no means wealthy, my parents spent a considerable amount of their disposable income on books for me. This ranged from the simple pleasures of Enid Blyton's Enchanted Forest to the (then) exciting world of the Hardy Boys, alongside random books on dinosaurs or insects or whatever topic that happened to catch my attention at the time. We even had encyclopaedias back then!

I am eternally indebted to my parents for not only opening my eyes to a world of wonder and imagination, but perhaps more importantly, for allowing me to grow and mature alongside my choice of books - indulging my fascination with Neil Gaiman's The Sandman as much as my flirtations with Nietzsche's existentialism.

In fact, the first time I ever had trouble obtaining a book was when I asked a teacher to lend me her copy of Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. I was rebuffed as apparently I wasn't ready for it (I was 18 at the time).

Decisions to ban books are often based on arbitrary notions of what is dangerous and/or derogatory - notions that shift as society changes.

Some books are deemed unsuitable for minors, begging the question: when is one ‘ready' for a particular book? After all, one does not miraculously develop the ability to scrutinise the particulars of a work of literature as the clock chimes at midnight of one's 18th birthday.

Encourage critical thinking from young

The right thing to do then is to encourage critical thinking from a young age, something sorely lacking in our education system. There is much to be said about the ability to deconstruct an argument and to critically analyse it from varying aspects and points of view.

We should be embracing more books - teaching our students to debate, dismantle ideas and confront dogma - instead of banning works that do not conform to our notion of political correctness.

When dealing with a book that is deemed insulting to Islam (or supposedly confuses its adherents), the easiest route for Jawi to take is to ban the book. However, the easiest route is rarely the most appropriate one.

Rather than banning a piece of work outright, Jawi should come up with literature that explains its viewpoints, something that could even be incorporated into the introduction of the local publication of Allah, Liberty and Love.

By expanding our literary horizons, we begin to relate our values and belief systems with those around us. After all, how can you respect another's point of view without attempting to walk in his/her shoes? For those who seek a deeper meaning to their faith, it tends to reinforce one's understanding of religion.

For Muslims, it is worth noting that there is a hadith stating that ‘seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim, and the Prophet (PBUH) explained that the superiority of the one who has knowledge over the one who merely worships is like the superiority of the moon over every other heavenly body'.

Books are powerful tools that help us understand the changing world around us, as much as the changing world within us. Books might not be the panacea for all that ails us, but they just might make you feel that it is possible to live happily ever after.

HELMY HAJA MYDIN is a Fellow with the Malaysian libertarian think-tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS).