Why it is un-Islamic to arrest Ong Sing Yee

When I brought that poster back to Malaysia, my Tok Guru whispered to me that I should get rid of it because it is haram in Islam. I should not hang it up on the wall, said my Tok Guru. I should just burn it. Even if Khomeini is a revered religious leader it is still haram to hang his poster or photograph on the wall.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

From the Islamic viewpoint, there is nothing wrong in stepping on statues, paintings, posters and photographs of humans and animals. In fact, the Talibans in Afghanistan blew up such statues. Remember the Bamiyan statues of Buddha that were blown up back in March 2001?

Statues, paintings, posters and photographs of people and animals are forbidden in Islam. Some ulama’(scholars) say that ‘exemption’ can be given in certain instances such as when photographs are needed for passports, identity cards, driving licences, etc. However, if they are just for fun or for show, then, according to theulama’, they are forbidden.

Hence are we allowed to hang photographs of rulers, political leaders, pop stars, etc., on the wall? Not if it is meant to revere these people or to ‘honour’ them. This would expose people to the danger of idol worshipping like how some people idolise pop stars.

I know some kids will say that so-and-so is their idol. They idol worship these superstars. Well, in Islam that is wrong. Saudi Arabia would even confiscate photographs and posters of Imam Khomeini. I should know because I had to hide my poster to smuggle it out of the country. I was warned I might be arrested if I was caught but I took that risk (and got away with it).

When I brought that poster back to Malaysia, my Tok Guru whispered to me that I should get rid of it because it is haram in Islam. I should not hang it up on the wall, said my Tok Guru. I should just burn it. Even if Khomeini is a revered religious leader it is still haram to hang his poster or photograph on the wall.

I did what my Tok Guru advised although it pained me to do so because that was the poster I carried above my head in the Mekah demonstration that I participated in.

Hence what Ong Sing Yee did was actually very Islamic. The Talibans would probably approve of what she did. So would the Salafis. In fact, even many Sunnis, the sect that most Malaysian Muslims belong to, would feel the same way.

If Ong Sing Yee had stepped on a poster of Carlsberg beer or on a poster of Sports Toto, she would have been commended. Such things are haram in Islam. And so are posters of human beings, which are equally haram in Islam.

Let those politicians and fake Muslims continue to foam at the mouth and whine away. We true Muslims who know what Islam is all about should commend Ong Sing Yee. More people should do what Ong Sing Yee did. Revering politicians and placing their photographs on the wall is considered idol worshipping in Islam. All these should be pulled down just like what the Talibans did in Afghanistan.

Oh, and don’t worry about the Sedition Act. That is an old English law that was created so that the people would not criticise the King. You see, the King went against the Pope and the people were not happy about it. In those days, many people were papists and they believed that the Pope was God’s Wakil on earth and that what the Pops says is on behalf of God.

The Palace, however, wanted the people to believe that the new Wakil of God is the King and not the Pope. But they had to stop the people from contradicting the Palace. Hence they created the Sedition Act so that those who said the Pope and not the King is the Wakil of God could be arrested.

Basically, the Sedition Act was meant to defend the Church of England. Now, Malays use it to defend haramthings like hanging photographs and posters of people on the wall. Actually, these are sesat Muslims.