I'll not retract statement or apologise to DAP, says Pahang mufti

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Pahang mufti Abdul Rahman Osman today insisted that he would neither retract his statement nor apologise to DAP over his earlier remarks labelling DAP as 'kafir harbi'.

Abdul Rahman said what he had said was based on fatwa (edict) as well as religious rulings and was not political in nature, as he was speaking in his capacity as a state mufti appointed by the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah.

Furthermore, he said, his earlier statement was not referring specifically to DAP, as anyone who opposed Islam could be termed as kafir harbi or infidels who tried to fight the Muslims and the Islamic religion.

"I am not going to apologise and retract what I had said. What I said was not directed at the DAP only, but at all who are against Islam. What was written in the newspaper (Utusan) focused on DAP.

"But I did inform the newspaper, (it was) not necessarily the DAP but if they wanted to write it as such, it was up to them. I was saying it in general term, but if they meant it as DAP, it is not wrong, as long as it is referred to those who are against Islam," he told Bernama in Kuantan today.

Yesterday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is also Penang chief minister, described the statement by the Pahang mufti as outrageous and unacceptable because DAP was never against Islam.

As such, he wanted Abdul Rahman to withdraw the statement and apologise.

Abdul Rahman also questioned DAP's move of questioning and going against the tabling of the Private Member's Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 2016 or Act 355 in an effort to streamline Islamic law in the country.

"The bill does not involve the Chinese or the Indians, so why must DAP try to stop and question efforts to improve Islamic law and the Malays?" he said.

Abdul Rahman said any fatwa issued by a mufti individually or through the fatwa committee could not be challenged by a court of law under Section 40 of the Administration of Islamic Law (Pahang) Enactment 1991.

"Under Section 40, it says, 'Any written law to the contrary, the mufti cannot be summoned to any civil court or syariah court to give opinion or evidence relating to Islamic Law'.

"But if in any court other than the syariah court, when any Islamic law calls for a decision, that court may request the opinion of the mufti on the issue, and the mufti may give his opinion to the requesting court," he said.

- Bernama