KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — PAS information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has reminded Selangor religious authorities not to create unnecessary controversies that could sully Islam, the state government and its own name.
The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) sparked a nationwide uproar after raiding a multi-racial dinner at a church in Petaling Jaya — together with the police — last Wednesday night without a warrant, based on an allegation that the Christian-majority crowd was proselytising to Muslim guests.
“Any action must not be seen as meddling in other religion(s),” Tuan Ibrahim (picture) was quoted as saying in PAS newsletter Harakah Daily today.
“Jais should also ensure that investigation is carried out in a transparent manner and every action must be according to procedures, even after confirming the reliability of the information it received,” added the Pahang PAS commissioner.
He pointed out that the tendency to believe in an accusation and the tendency to arouse suspicions could now be seen in the brouhaha over the raid.
Hence, Jais should not create unnecessary controversies, although it may want to justify its actions in the name of defending Islam, Harakah Daily quoted Tuan Ibrahim as saying.
PAS’s Selangor executive councillor Datuk Hasan Ali has defended the raid, claiming that Christians had used the words “Quran” and “pray” in front of Muslims, which he noted was a breach of Islamic law.
Tuan Ibrahim, however, said the two lessons that could be learned from the controversial raid were that one should not believe slanders without investigations, and that one should not act in a way that attracts undue suspicion.
The PAS ulama explained his view using an anecdote from his teaching days at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), where he recalled that he was uncomfortable when he was served juice at a Malay restaurant in a glass with a beer label.
He had asked the restaurant owner to replace the glass, telling him that although the juice was halal, “the sight of the glass could invite suspicion and slander among my students about me and your shop”.
“The lesson learnt here is that humans tend to have negative assumption. Some students seeing me drinking from such a glass would conclude that I was consuming beer, never mind the juice in it was orange in colour and never mind that it was in a Muslim outlet,” said Tuan Ibrahim.
“The first lesson here is one should not quickly be taken in by slanders without any investigation,” he added.
He also said people should avoid attracting slander.
When asked what Jais should do if its action was proven wrong, Tuan Ibrahim said: “Do apologise if you are wrong.”
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