Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today called on the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) to read the Quran again, as its stopping of a wedding was a misguided move.
Mahathir said the Quran respects the rights of non-Muslims and religion should not be used to police others.
“This all comes from not adhering to the teachings of the Quran, but they are following the teachings of somebody.
“I suggest that they (Jais) go back to the Quran to find out what is the way to break such a situation,” Mahathir told reporters after a lecture on ‘Contemporary Muslim lifestyles’ at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) in Gombak.
Mahathir was commenting on Jais’ action last Sunday in taking away a Hindu bride from her wedding ceremony, after it was learned that she had a Muslim name.
After Mahathir was told that the bride was a 32-year-old woman, Mahathir said Jais was wrong.
“You can investigate but you don’t have to stop people getting married,” Mahathir said.
The bride, Zarena Abdul Majid, was about to marry a Hindu man when Jais officers, with police waiting outside, moved into a Hindu temple in Petaling Jaya and took Zarena away to their office in Shah Alam for questioning.
It was later revealed that Zarena and her siblings were registered as Muslims in their identity card by their father, who is said to have abandoned them more than 20 years ago.
Zarena has said that she has been brought up as a Hindu by her mother, and that she had been trying to change her erroneous MyKad since seven years ago.
Jais action widely condemned
However, Jais officers were said to have intervened to prevent apostasy or an insult to Islam from taking place.
The move has recently been condemned by those who wanted to see a more secular Malaysia such as Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia, MCA, Sisters in Islam but it was lauded by others in PAS, who argued that Islamic laws rule above all else.
Mahathir said the Quran clearly states that "to you your religion, to me my religion."
He added: "You respect the other religions... you pray in your own way, we pray in our own way.
"The Quran does give full guidance as to how to conduct our lives... so go to the Quran and find out whether you are right or wrong or whether you follow the interpretation of some people and become fanatical."
Mahathir said such folly usually comes about when Islam is used as a political tool and when "people want to show that they are very Islamic."
"And if you say that what they do is non-Islamic, then they say that you are non-Muslim and that you have forsaken Islam so that makes people afraid of making any comment... including me," said Mahathir, who is considered a model Islamic leader by many Muslim-dominated developing countries.
'I am the brother of Nik Aziz'
Earlier, Mahathir also expressed disagreement with Islamist party PAS over hudud, repeating the same argument that he made 20 years ago.
He was responding to a UIA lecturer from Singapore, who proclaimed that he was neither PAS nor an Umno member.
The academic pointed out that after also meeting a PAS leader recently, he found Mahathir and PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to be very similar.
"As a Muslim, I am the brother of Nik Aziz, but beyond that, when you do something wrong, I can't accept," Mahathir said.
"I believe religion should not be made use of in politics. You are bound to make mistakes," he added.
Mahathir then pointed out that the PAS move for hudud would pervert justice in Malaysia by creating two very different punishment regimes for Muslims and non-Muslims.
In its desire to see the hudud type of punishment for crime, PAS has missed this point, Mahathir said.
"If it is not justice, it is not Islamic. The stress is on justice and not punishment, but they like punishment," he added.
"On that, I differ with Nik Aziz - my brother."
Mahathir said the Quran respects the rights of non-Muslims and religion should not be used to police others.
“This all comes from not adhering to the teachings of the Quran, but they are following the teachings of somebody.“I suggest that they (Jais) go back to the Quran to find out what is the way to break such a situation,” Mahathir told reporters after a lecture on ‘Contemporary Muslim lifestyles’ at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) in Gombak.
Mahathir was commenting on Jais’ action last Sunday in taking away a Hindu bride from her wedding ceremony, after it was learned that she had a Muslim name.
After Mahathir was told that the bride was a 32-year-old woman, Mahathir said Jais was wrong.
“You can investigate but you don’t have to stop people getting married,” Mahathir said.
The bride, Zarena Abdul Majid, was about to marry a Hindu man when Jais officers, with police waiting outside, moved into a Hindu temple in Petaling Jaya and took Zarena away to their office in Shah Alam for questioning.
It was later revealed that Zarena and her siblings were registered as Muslims in their identity card by their father, who is said to have abandoned them more than 20 years ago.
Zarena has said that she has been brought up as a Hindu by her mother, and that she had been trying to change her erroneous MyKad since seven years ago.
Jais action widely condemned
However, Jais officers were said to have intervened to prevent apostasy or an insult to Islam from taking place.
The move has recently been condemned by those who wanted to see a more secular Malaysia such as Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia, MCA, Sisters in Islam but it was lauded by others in PAS, who argued that Islamic laws rule above all else.
Mahathir said the Quran clearly states that "to you your religion, to me my religion."
He added: "You respect the other religions... you pray in your own way, we pray in our own way.
"The Quran does give full guidance as to how to conduct our lives... so go to the Quran and find out whether you are right or wrong or whether you follow the interpretation of some people and become fanatical."
Mahathir said such folly usually comes about when Islam is used as a political tool and when "people want to show that they are very Islamic."
"And if you say that what they do is non-Islamic, then they say that you are non-Muslim and that you have forsaken Islam so that makes people afraid of making any comment... including me," said Mahathir, who is considered a model Islamic leader by many Muslim-dominated developing countries.
'I am the brother of Nik Aziz'
Earlier, Mahathir also expressed disagreement with Islamist party PAS over hudud, repeating the same argument that he made 20 years ago.
He was responding to a UIA lecturer from Singapore, who proclaimed that he was neither PAS nor an Umno member.The academic pointed out that after also meeting a PAS leader recently, he found Mahathir and PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to be very similar.
"As a Muslim, I am the brother of Nik Aziz, but beyond that, when you do something wrong, I can't accept," Mahathir said.
"I believe religion should not be made use of in politics. You are bound to make mistakes," he added.
Mahathir then pointed out that the PAS move for hudud would pervert justice in Malaysia by creating two very different punishment regimes for Muslims and non-Muslims.
In its desire to see the hudud type of punishment for crime, PAS has missed this point, Mahathir said.
"If it is not justice, it is not Islamic. The stress is on justice and not punishment, but they like punishment," he added.
"On that, I differ with Nik Aziz - my brother."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.