Syiah practices allowed under Pak Lah

Malaysia is a signatory of the Amman Messages, which gives recognition to Sunni, Syiah, Ibadi and Thahiri schools of jurisprudence.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi allowed the Syiah minority to practice their religion in Malaysia by signing an agreement called the Amman Messages in November 2004 in Jordan.

He was one of 552 signatories representing 84 countries.

Other Malaysian leaders who endorsed the Amman Messages were opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, former minister in the prime minister’s department Abdul Hamid Othman and current ministers Shahidan Kassim and Khairy Jamaluddin.

The first point in the Amman Messages gives recognition to schools of jurisprudence within the Sunni, Syiah, Ibadi and Thahiri sects.

“Whosoever is an adherent to one of the four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi‘i and Hanbali ), the two Shi‘i schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Ja‘fari and Zaydi), the Ibadi school of Islamic jurisprudence and the Thahiri school of Islamic jurisprudence, is a Muslim. Declaring that person an apostate is impossible and impermissible,” the agreement stated.

Signatories to the agreement are also not allowed to declare practitioners of Sufism and Salafism as apostates.

This contradicts Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom’s statement last week that any individual propagating the Syiah ideology could be prosecuted in a civil court under the Control and Restriction of the Propagation of Non-Islamic Religions Enactment.

Action also can be taken under the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment on Contravening Fatwa.

“The country adopts the Ahli Sunnah Wal-Jamaah ideology and stern action will be taken against those propagating the Syiah ideology,” Jamil Khir was reported as saying.

Human rights violations
The second point of the Amman Messages highlights the similarities among the various schools of jurisprudence.

The third point pertains to the issuance and limitation of fatwas.

“No one may issue a fatwa without the requisite personal qualifications which each school of Islamic jurisprudence determines [for its own adherents]. No one may issue a fatwa without adhering to the methodology of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

“No one may claim to do absolute Ijtihad (reasoning) and create a new school of Islamic jurisprudence or to issue unacceptable fatwas that take Muslims out of the principles and certainties of the Shariah law and what has been established in respect of its schools of jurisprudence.”

A US-based Syiah organisation, Shia Rights Watch (SRW), has raised concerns over recent developments in Malaysia.

“SRW has sent out official letters to minister Jamil Khir Bin Baharom, Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to reconsider the ban on the Syiah Muslims’ teachings and publications,” said the group on its website last week.

“It is very unfortunate to know that the government not only permits such violations but also does not view them as human rights violation. Under the International Bill of Human Rights, Asean Human Rights Declaration, and the Islamabad Declaration, Malaysia must protect the right of Shia Muslims to practice their faith.”

Despite Putrajaya’s stand of not recognising Syiah Islam, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today attended the swearing-in of Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani.