PENANG MCA today lodged a police report against a tahfiz school headmaster caught on video urging Muslims not to patronise non-Muslim hairdressers, barbers or schools.
The party also wants police to look into remarks made by the Penang religious exco Abdul Malik Abul Kassim, who reportedly said the state did not regulate comments made by individuals from tahfiz schools.
Penang MCA secretary Dr Tan Chuan Hong said as a religious school head, Shahul Hamid Seeni Muhammad should be teaching the children about mutual respect.
He said Shahul should not be delivering controversial statements, such as urging Muslim parents not to send their children to Chinese schools and urging Muslims to boycott the Baba’s and Alagappa curry powder brands.
Shahul reportedly urged Muslims to boycott an Indian brand in 2014 and later apologised for the remark on his Facebook page.
“There are no rulings in Islam banning Muslims from having their hair cut by non-Muslims and as a head of a religious school, Shahul should in a better position to know all these (rulings),” Tan told reporters outside the Jalan Patani police station today.
Penang MCA Youth secretary Ooi Teik Liang also lodged a report.
Tan also said Penang MCA disagreed with the statement made by Malik, who said people have a right to their own opinions and others the freedom to interpret.
WHAT TYPE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS THIS?
Tan asked if Malik supported Shahul since he respected the freedom of speech.
“What do you understand by freedom of speech? Can someone say sensitive issues publicly and making lots of controversy?
“More importantly, Penang MCA would like to know the stand of Penang government in this issue. Does the state government agree that Muslims should not get haircuts by non-Muslims? Could it be made a fatwa in Penang?”
When contacted, Malik said he did not say that the state government could not regulate such matters.
“I didn’t say (the) state cannot regulate. We can bar them (from) speaking at public places,” he replied via WhatsApp when told about the police report.
When asked how the state could deal with videos of people making inappropriate remarks concerning religion, Malik said there were federal laws in place to deal with such matters.
Shahul’s remarks on haircut were uploaded on YouTube two years ago.
He has since reportedly denied using the word “haram” in relation to the matter, defending this stand that Muslims should patronise other Muslim businesses.
THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.