‘Let religious dept finish probe first’

An Umno supreme council member says the Kota Tinggi Municipal Council should have waited for religious department to complete their investigations before issuing the demolition order.

PETALING JAYA: The Kota Tinggi Municipal Council’s notice to demolish a surau at a resort here is an attempt to pre-empt the investigation by the religious department, said Umno supreme council member Saifuddin Abdullah.

“The council should have waited for the Johor Islamic Religious Council to complete their investigations,” he said.

Saifuddin said in the past there were unused churches in Europe that had been bought by the Muslim community and converted into mosque.

“If former churches can be converted to mosque don’t tell me that because of one incident you have to bring down the entire building,” he said.

Saifuddin was responding to the council’s action of serving a demolition order to the Tanjung Sutera Resort in Sedili Besar, Kota Tinggi.

Council president Hasrin Kamal Hashim instructed the resort owner to demolish the surau after a group of Buddhists used it as a venue for meditation.

The council also threatened the resort with legal action if they failed to abide by demolition order.

According to Hasrin the construction of the surau violated Section 70 of the Street, Drainage and Building Act, 1970.

The section states that no person shall erect any building without the written permission of the local authority.

Former Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin said the surau could be demolished if it posed a structural threat to those who are using the building.

“If it is being demolished because a group of people used it to practise their own faith, then the action is ridiculous and unIslamic,” he said.

He cited as examples the Masjidil Haram mosque in Mekah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Aqsa in Palestine and Umawi mosque in Syria as places that had been used by other faiths before.

“The Masjidil Haram mosque was filled with idols before the arrival of Islam.

“The Al-Aqsa and Umawi mosque were former churches that were converted into mosque. All three were not demolished,” he said.

Sisters in Islam’s programme manager Suri Kempe questioned the rationale of the authorities to demolish the surau.

“Previously the authorities wanted to demolish the surau because it was used by the Buddhists and now they are talking about Section 70 of the Street, Drainage and Building Act, 1970. Why the flip-flop?” she asked.

She also questioned whether the same section was used against surau build by individuals on private land.