Religious preacher defends himself over 'insulting' video

Religious preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin has defended himself over a video in which he was shown discussing the possibility of Malaysia becoming a state without a monarch, which has been alleged by certain quarters as being “insulting” to the sultans.

Wan Ji said that the statements were made figuratively as part of a discussion which is called ‘fiqh tawwaqu’, a branch of Islamic jurisprudence that discusses issues that may come up in the foreseeable future.

“I was giving examples as to how Prophet Muhammad always made plans for the future. I was giving many examples, the sultan example is one of them,” said Wan Ji.

Earlier today, an Islamic Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) activist had lodged a police report about the video at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters at 3.55pm, and urged the police to take action against Wan Ji for allegedly “insulting the sultans”.

The report was lodged by PPIM member Muhammad Zharif Johor Nadim Johor, who also alleged that Wan Ji had allegedly been “planning” to abolish the monarchy since 2011.

Wan Ji said that the video was not uploaded in full and that it was taken about one year ago.

In the three-minute video, Wan Ji is heard addressing a small audience while figuratively discussing Malaysia becoming a “republican country” by 2030 without the monarchy.

There is also a small snippet at the end of the video where Wan Ji delivered his own personal opinion of the monarchy, in which he says the presence of a monarchy has more negatives than positives for the country and policy-making.

Wan Ji, who is a PAS member, said that the video could have been uploaded as an act of “sabotage”.

“This could have been done because I disagreed with a few views of the PAS ulama wing, so people see me as being anti-ulama,” he said.

“But in fact, I am not anti-ulama at all,” he said, while also clarifying that he is not eyeing any position in the party’s Muktamar elections which are scheduled for this November.