WHO MADE JAKIM THE ‘PRIVATE SECRETARY OF GOD’ – NAJIB’S HARDLINE STUNT BACKFIRES: WHAT JOHOR SULTAN WANTS IS THE LAST THING NAJIB NEEDS – THAT MUSLIMS LIVE ‘HARMONIOUSLY’ WITH OTHER RACES

Sultan Ibrahim of Kingdom of Johor has spoken against Islamic extremism – again. This time, however, the monarch takes his fight to a next higher level – over the “stupidity” of JAKIM (Malaysian Islamic Development Department). It appears that the sultan is fast losing his patience with his supposedly fellow Muslim intellectual.

Malaysia might have raised global eyebrows over its Prime Minister Najib Razak’s money laundering (to the tune of US$4.5 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Justice), but there’s a different type of laundering which raises blood pressure of Sultan Ibrahim. Islamic extremism spreads like wildfire, and it hits the backyard of Sultan Ibrahim’s kingdom recently.

About a fortnight ago, Sultan Ibrahim was both flabbergasted and disgusted when a launderette owner put up a sign saying that only Muslims were allowed to use its self-service washing machines. Long story short, the sultan lectured the owner, a fellow Malay Muslim Johorean, that Johor isn’t a Taliban state, and ordered the extremist to apologize, to which the owner obeyed.

In spite of having 10 monarchs (including Agong or King) out of 26 “real monarchies” in the world, Sultan Ibrahim was the only monarch in Malaysia with balls of steel who dares to speak publicly against Islamic extremism. The fiasco subsequently made its way to the meeting table at the Conference of Malay Rulers, and received the support against Muslim-only launderette.

Behind the closed doors, very few knew how Sultan Ibrahim took the trouble to educate, explain and lecture the other 9 monarchs on the seriousness of Islamic extremism in their respective backyard. The Sultanate of Johor has demonstrated that Islamic extremism which could breed radicalization and subsequently terrorism can be prevented if all the Malay Rulers perform their duties.

However, as PM Najib struggles to maintain his power, the last thing that his government wants is for the majority Muslims in the country to be tolerant and moderate in a multicultural society. The highly corrupt, incompetent and arrogant prime minister badly needs the Muslims to go against non-Muslims and vice-versa so that he can divide and rule (and plunder) the country.

Therefore, it doesn’t need a rocket scientist to see why JAKIM went against Sultan of Johor in the Muslim-only launderette controversy. Apparently, an employee of JAKIM, preacher Zamihan Mat Zin, gave a religious lecture in which he criticised a sultan – understood to be the Johor Sultan Ibrahim – for barring a Muslim-only launderette in the state.

In a video uploaded on YouTube, Zamihan clearly said – “There was a sultan who had said Muslim-friendly launderettes are not allowed in his state. It is not right for the sultan to say such things.” The preacher had also said that Chinese people were unhygienic and should patronise “normal” launderettes, suggesting that Chinese were dirty and belonged to a different lower class of human beings.

Preacher Zamihan, when caught with his pants down, put up an incredible stunt and denied that he was referring to Sultan Ibrahim, but the Johor ruler called the preacher a “liar” for the attempted denial. In fact, the sultan felt extremely insulted that Mr. Zamihan thought he could spin and twist the story as if the Sultanate of Johor is as dumb as a door knob (*grin*).

In a speech at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim said – “Several mufti and Islamic scholars have given their views on the issue of the (Muslim-friendly) launderette in Muar (Johor). Unfortunately, Zamihan has criticised me and undermined the views of the mufti and scholars. The way he said it was also arrogant, as if he is the only person who is right.”

The sultan continued – “If it is true that he is a JAKIM officer, then I don’t know where the department found him because, for me, he is like an empty can and ‘brainless’. After this, I have directed JAIJ not to waste time dealing with JAKIM, and JAKIM in turn does not need to give any views to Johor.”

At the same speech during the convocation of Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim said such practices would not only result in suspicion among non-Muslims, but would also wrongly portray Muslim life as extreme, intolerant and unjust. More importantly, he has voiced out what many non-Muslims have been whispering quietly behind the scene due to fear.

Using currency notes as an example, the sultan mocked and challenged the so-called JAKIM intellectuals – “The same money may have been touched by pork butchers, bartenders and may even have come into contact with heavy filth. Must the government then come up with Muslim-friendly notes? Think for yourselves, ladies and gentlemen”.

In essence, Sultan Ibrahim has declared a war against JAKIM, a federal agency which reports directly to the JPM (Prime Minister’s Department). This also means an “indirect war” between the Sultanate of Johor and Prime Minister Najib Razak. That’s because it’s hard to believe that a JAKIM officer dares to take on a powerful sultan without the necessary endorsement from Mr. Najib.

The educated guess is that the JAKIM officer Zamihan from the Prime Minister Department had gotten green-light from his boss to test water – determining how far would the Sultanate of Johor go defending the non-Muslims, a critical factor to Najib administration should he go full force using religious card to paint himself as the protector of the ethnic Malay-Muslims.

Unfortunately, the stunt backfires and now JAKIM’s director-general Othman Mustapha said he and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom will seek an audience with Sultan Ibrahim “as soon as possible” to resolve the issue. Considering Johor could fall to the opposition in the coming 14th general election, Najib’s boys are expected to apologize profusely to Sultan Ibrahim.

Sure, the extremist Zamihan was arrested last Wednesday for sedition and is out on bail. But the fact that the court rejected an application to extend his 2 days remand order, something which will absolutely be granted had he been an opposition leader or officer, speaks volumes that the JAKIM officer is “protected”, hence will eventually be given a slap on the wrist.

This is not the first time the Johor Sultan expresses his displeasure at JAKIM. The same sultan had previously questioned why JAKIM needed a whopping RM1 billion for its 2016 budget. He wasn’t convinced with JAKIM’s excuse that they needed to money to better combat “extremist” ideologies like the ISIS, liberalism, pluralism, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

In reality, Islamic affairs come under the purview of the individual states and not the federal agency. Thanks to Prime Minister Department, JAKIM has not only been empowered to usurp, but also to abuse, the authorities of Sultans, Raja and Yamtuan Besar as the highest authority on Islamic matters, when in fact JAKIM’s function was only advisory.

JAKIM now acts as if they are private secretary of God – giving orders, issuing fatwas or religious edicts – whenever they like in whichever manner they prefer and to whomever they wish to. Back in 2015, the Johor Sultan pointed out that such fatwas and edicts cannot be effective without his approval. And now he wants nothing to do with the brainless, corrupt and power-hungry federal agency JAKIM.

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