Shoe-throwing imam: Corruption rife in mosque

Imam Hoslan Hussain, who gained instant notoriety when he threw his shoes at three judges in the Federal Court on Feb 22 in Kuala Lumpur, said he had been fighting corruption in a mosque all this while.

He might have been a bad boy in his youth, but the 46-year-old has been faithful to his religion the moment he started wearing robe and turban.

Hence, upon his appointment as imam rawatib of Ar Ramidah mosque, Kg Pandan in 2005, he could not stomach the alleged corrupt practices prevalent among the mosque committee members.

The talkative man claimed in 2006, some RM200,000 in donations raised by the mosque, ended up in the pockets of certain former committee members.

"I found that the amount we had in the bank was significantly different from what we had raised," he claimed.

Hoslan (right) also alleged that committee members had marked up costs of the activities they organised and as well as construction work for the mosque for personal gain.

"Once they told everybody they had purchased a grade B cow forkorban (sacrifice), but in the end what we got was a grade C one," he claimed.

A former committee member, he alleged further, had allowed an operator to run a restaurant on land belonging to the mosque, only to embezzle the RM3000 monthly rental.

He claimed his persistent pursuit on the issue had caused Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) to investigate the committee on May 22, 2006, and all 11 members were dismissed en masse.

It is also learnt that the Federal Territories Islamic Council (MAIWP) had also formed a four-member committee to inspect the mosque committee in Feb 2006, followed by an internal audit the next month.
Thorny relationship

Hoslan, who is a staunch PAS supporter, also admitted that he could not get along well with the mosque committee which has been dominated by Umno members.

After the late PAS member Dr Lo'lo' Mohd Gazali was voted in as parliamentarian of the area in 2008, their relationship became even thorny.

"The new batch of committee members were equally bad. When I questioned them, they ask me to shut up and said the imam should not meddle in operation affairs," he claimed.

He said numerous reports over the irregularities had been lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, police and Federal Territories Ministry, but to no avail.

"We even had a meeting with prime minister's office in 2009, but there was no progress," he said.

Racer boy imam

The father of seven said it was hard for him to accept that the mosque, in which his father had also served as a imam before, was rife with corruption.

Growing up in the area, Hoslan was a ‘racer boy' and started smoking since secondary school.

"At that time I was a student imam. But every time after I led the Friday prayers in school, I would be caned in the headmaster's office for smoking after prayers," he chuckled.

His passion for motorcycle racing was facilitated by his job as a despatch rider.

"My life only changed when I saw two of my rider friends lose their lives in a crash in 1999," he recounted.

In 2000, in the fasting month of Ramadan he quit smoking.
"In 2001, I used my savings from not smoking cigarettes to perform the haj in Mecca; and I turned a new leaf after that," he said.

He was appointed as bilal in Ar Rahimah mosque in 2001 and was certified as imam by Jawi in 2005.

Meanwhile, attempts to contact the current mosque committee chairman to verify the allegations by Hoslan have been futile while the current imam has declined comment.