No link with Ezam or Ibrahim Ali, says rally organiser

Organisers of this weekend’s Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Congregation of a Million Muslims) stressed today that their event has no political links, nor are they attacking any group.

In a statement today, its chairperson Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid said any move to politicise or push any “hidden agenda” would be rejected outright by the organisers.

“I will not allow this initiative to be sullied with hidden agenda from any party, and will take a firm stand on this,” Mohd Azmi said.

Specifically, he made clear that the event was not linked to several controversial politicians, including Kulim Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin, who had claimed that he would speak at the event.

“Zulkifli, Senator Ezam Mohd Noor and (Pasir Mas MP) Ibrahim Ali are not involved in the leadership of Himpun. Neither are they speaking at the event.

“Any statement issued by them regarding the event does not represent the organisers,” he said.

Mohd Azmi said the organisers would also not stand for any “hijacking” of the event to “put races and religions at loggerheads”.

‘Evangelists on the move'

Commenting further on the event’s objective to combat Christianisation, he said such moves to sway Muslims existed and that the community should be on alert.

“I would like to also remind all that the evangelist movement has been on the rise globally, regionally and nationally. The efforts to approach Muslims to get them to change religions cannot be denied,” he said.

Mohd Azmi said Christian leaders in this country must state their views honestly “in the context of Malaysia and the federal constitution”, to say that this evangelist agenda is “unacceptable and firmly rejected”.

“We cannot belittle the fact that there has been a rise in incidents of ‘planned apostasy’,” he said.

At the same time, he admitted that there are weaknesses in the understanding of Islam by Muslims, “including among the highly-educated”.

“This resulted in poor policies and liberal attitudes taken by the authorities and the national leadership, which still refuses to implement the teachings of Islam as a whole,” he said.

Mohd Azmi said that this it is this approach which has created space for the “apostasy phenomenon to arise”.

‘Watch out, Muslims’

He added that Muslims should be on the lookout and brace themselves against attacks in the form of infiltration of views and ways of thinking which go against Islam.

This, he said, included secularism and racism, as raised by PAS Selangor commissioner Dr Abdul Rani Osman yesterday, in the latter’s response to the rally for which the top objective is to combat apostasy.

Abdul Rani said Selangor PAS is wary that the event will put religions at loggerheads and will be politically hijacked, when it should focus instead on self-reflection for ways to strengthen the faith.

PAS Youth, has however thrown in full support behind the organisers, while the party's political bureau will decide on its stand in a meeting which is expected to end at 11 tonight.

Among prominent speakers slated for the event scheduled for Saturday at the Shah Alam Stadium is vocal Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria.