Meet Hoslan, the iman who threw shoes at federal court judges

46-year old Hoslan Hussain may just be Malaysia's answer to Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who stunned the world by throwing a pair of shoes at then US president George Bush during a press conference in Baghdad in 2008.

The difference is that Hoslan, an Imam at a mosque in Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur, did not hurl his shoes at the country's top political leader, but directed his footwear at three of the country's top judges as soon as they ruled that he had lost his appeal.

In the Wednesday incident that can be described as historic for the Malaysian judiciary, Hoslan first threw one of shoes towards a three-member panel comprised of Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, judges Suriyadi Halim Omar and Zaleha Zahari. Seconds later, he parted with another shoe.

The judges hurriedly left their seats and huddled behind a door to avoid Hoslan's handy missiles, but unlike the Iraqi original in which Bush managed to duct both shoes despite being superbly targeted, Hoslan's aim missed his target.

Yet, the message was clear, and as Hoslan has perhaps aptly put it, words could not have described his frustration.

Hoslan was appearing in the apex court over his appeal against an order issued by the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (MAIWP) in 2008 to evict him from his mosque quarters allegedly for disciplinary problems.

Misappropriation of funds

Met by Harakahdaily yesterday at the Ar-Rahimah Mosque in Kampung Pandan, Hoslan, who now earns income selling books and Islamic garments, said he was merely trying to uphold the Islamic principle by exposing wrongdoings.

“I told the judge, never in history an imam was brought to the court for trying to uphold Islam and its principles. I am here to set straight the mismanagement and return the money to the mosque,” he said.

Saying there had been misappropriation of the mosque funds amounting to hundreds of thousands of ringgit, Hoslan said he had lodged a report with the Inspector General of Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (then Anti-Corruption Agency) in 2007. A similar petition was made to then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he added.

“Some parties became uneasy over these continuous exposures, and so they began putting pressure on me until 2008, when MAIWP terminated my contract citing disciplinary problems and issued a notice demanding me to move out from the quarter I was staying,” he explained.

Following that, Hoslan said his RM450 monthly allowance for imam was terminated. But he insisted on staying at the quarters, but MAIWP would have none of those, and obtained a court order to evict him.

Impromptu prayer

Hoslan’s appeal was rejected by the Federal court. MAIWP lawyer Zulkifli Che Yong had complained that the imam filed his motion of appeal and affidavit out of time.

Hoslan said this was never pointed out during the case management stage. Representing himself, he then went on to tell the judge that he was there only to expose the misappropriation of the mosque's funds. Despite this, the judges accepted the protest by the MAIWP lawyer.

"The judges did not even bother to read the affidavit," recalled Hoslan.

“When the judge said that, I came to a boiling point," he continued. "So I removed my slipper and hurled it, I don’t know who was hit. Then the court police came trying to arrest me. I took another slipper and threw," he said.

The incident shocked those inside the court, including a group of law students who came as observers.

"The judges were hiding behind the doors, afraid that I would run amok and create another scene,” he said.

Amid the tensed situation, Hoslan said he spread out his shawl on the floor and performed the sunnah prayer (supererogatory), as is advisable in Islam whenever one finds it hard to control one's temper. After that, he was approached by court policemen who politely told him to leave.

FLASHBACK ... Bush ducking the flying shoe, December 2008

"I then went out, shoeless. They told me there would be no contempt of court. But I reminded them that the fact I was handcuffed inside the mosque at the time of my arrest is also a violation of rules," said Hoslan, adding that the people who abused the mosque's money were the ones who should be handcuffed.

Meanwhile, the court's deputy registrar has lodged a police report over the incident. The court had also issued a statement denying Hoslan's accusation that the judges were biased, and suggested that the incident was damaging to the integrity of the country's judiciary,.

At the moment, Hoslan's footwear has yet to get any offers from any rich businessman, such as was the case when a Saudi man had offered to buy the Iraqi journalist's shoes, a size 10 of the Ducati Model 27.

But for being barefooted in court, Hoslan has probably earned a unique 'footnote' in Malaysian legal history.

-Harakahdaily