Beware “enemies of Islam”, Jakim warns in Friday sermon

The country's top Islamic authority warned Malaysian Muslims against the "enemies of the faith" who are using new innovations such as the mass media, Internet, Facebook, emails and text messages to spread lies and poison their faith.

"The insults towards Muslims are continuous, like mocking the exclusive right of the community over the use of the word 'Allah'," said the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) in its Friday sermon today.

The sermon also touched on the recent furore caused by the sex blogger couple Alvin Tan and Vivien Lee who posted a photograph on Facebook allegedly having a pork dish with the greeting "Selamat berbuka puasa" together with the halal logo on the photo.

The recent spotlight on Islamic decrees by Malaysian authorities on its followers as well as on non-Muslims has led to heated debate over their enforcement here, with some groups deeming certain provisions under religious law to be regressive while others have voiced concern over a worrying trend of overt Islamisation in a multicultural country.

In view of all these attacks against Islam, Jakim called on all Malaysian Muslims to be aware of the attempts by irresponsible parties to weaken their faith.

Jakim said these parties were attempting to make Muslims lose direction and zeal until they are unable to tell what is right, what is wrong, what is true and what is false.

The sermon, titled "Jati Diri Asas Kermerdekaan Negara" (Self-belief is the foundation of independence), said the conquering of minds was done through the use of sophisticated innovations.

"The social media has no boundaries and irresponsible information can flood the Internet without the proper control and monitoring," Jakim said.

"The process of democratising information happens very fast and the mass media plays a vital role in influencing the thoughts of the public.

"The attack by enemies of Islam has almost succeeded, until today we are still wavering in society. We don't know what is the cause and Muslims are being challenged mentally and spiritually."

The sermon also touched on the repeated insults suffered by Muslims, from having their special rights challenged, to the fasting month being desecrated with the serving of pork.

Muslims were reminded that it was their responsibility to place the interests and importance of the religion at the top, with everything else secondary.

"Muslims must possess strong willpower and a passion for their religion, race and a united country in tackling these threats," Jakim said.

"A loss of faith due to narrow-mindedness will weaken a Muslim and also cause a loss of respect from non-Muslims.

"Debates about which political party is good and which leader is clean should stop because there is no end to the debate.

"Currently, unity among the people must be the main agenda as well as ensuring that Islam remains the country's official religion."