Penang Religious Authorities Fatwa

by drrafick

1. Whenever I have a mental block on what I want to write next in this blog, I just need to turn TV3 for ideas. So far they have never failed me. For that reason I watched it occasionally. Tonight they showed Zahid Hamidi making a twisted statement about the latest fatwa by the Penang Fatwa Council which had banned the recital of the Quran before Fajr prayers using loud speakers. It seems that the only political “modal” UMNO has is by using race and religion to confused and divide the people.
   

2. Firstly the fatwa is issued by the council which is NOT under the Penang government. The decision was distributed to all mosques by the State Religious Authorities which is basically a communication conduit between the council and the people. I must say I agree with fatwa because I find the Mosque officers today has gone overboard with the use of the megaphones. They think by using the megaphone they are “menegakkan syiar Islam” (to spread Islam). Clearly to me they are narrow minded people. In my area they do it before Fajr and Maghrib for about 30 minutes before the Azan.
   

3. I accept the fact that we use megaphone for Azan. However it must be done with optimal volume to ensure that it reaches the Qariah clearly without causing a headache to those who lived right next to the mosque. Sound technology has matured today that we can install small repeater and decentralized megaphone to ensure that those located near and far from the mosque can hear a soothing Azan equally. Unfortunately, many mosques don’t want to do this. Sometimes the Azan that I hear is more like someone screaming than calling for prayers for me who lives right next door to a mosque.
   

4. I believe the recent Penang Fatwa Council decision is appropriate. It should be implemented nationwide. UMNO (Zahid Hamidi) politicizing the issue is short sighted and make them looks desperate. Don’t they realize that their actions can lead to community being divided? On one end they shout 1Malaysia and other end they intentionally divide the community. As it if Penang is return to Gerakan (BN) it will instruct the Fatwa Council to withdraw the decision they have made. If they do, then I question who is interfering with the institution?