Mahathir: I did not label muftis as kafir

Former PM writes to Utusan Malaysia to clarify what he meant.

PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denied calling the country’s muftis as “kafir” (apostates or infidels).

This was over their silence on a claim made by current PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang 37 years ago that those who did not join the Islamist party are kafir.

The PPBM chairman, in a letter to Utusan Malaysia yesterday, said the Malay language daily had misinterpreted his assertion on the matter made during his speech at the PPBM annual general meeting in Shah Alam on Dec 30.

“What I had said was that if the muftis did not reject PAS’ allegation and the ‘Amanat Haji Hadi’ that Muslims who cooperated with kafirs would become kafir, the muftis would then also be kafir for not stating their rejection to this.

“A mufti is not just any person. Muftis are responsible for advising the royalty and the people on the Islamic religion,” he said in the letter made available to the media today.

“It is their responsibility to give their opinion on whether the allegation by PAS and Hadi was true or not,” he added, claiming that Hadi’s speech had distorted the facts among Muslims.

“The fact is if non-PAS people, including me, can be considered to be kafir, then the muftis also can be said to be kafir for not joining PAS.”

On Dec 30, Utusan had reported Mahathir’s speech with the headline “Tragedi Memali: Dr Mahathir gelar mufti kafir” (“Memali tragedy: Dr Mahathir labels muftis as kafir”).

Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003, had said that if the muftis had stood up and intervened, the violent clash which saw 18 people being killed in the village of Memali in Kedah in 1985 could have been averted.

The violence had erupted when the villagers tried to protect religious preacher and local PAS leader Ibrahim Mahmud, also known as Ibrahim Libya, from arrest under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for alleged deviant teachings.

In October, Mahathir, 92, had claimed that the “Amanat Hadi”, the speech delivered by Hadi in Kampung Banggol, Kuala Terengganu, on April 7, 1981, had contributed to the Memali incident, leading to 14 villagers and four police officers losing their lives.

Mahathir had asked what right Hadi and PAS had to denounce (“mengkafirkan”) those who did not join their party as infidels.

Hadi’s speech had among other things questioned Muslims who joined Umno. He had said that anyone who died opposing the Umno government would be considered a martyr.

In his letter yesterday, Mahathir said the muftis had failed to make their stand on what Hadi had said although they were willing to refute deviant teachings of other personalities like Arqam Ashaari and Ayah Pin.

He said many Muslims had become so obsessed with the claim by Hadi and PAS that some accused their parents of being kafir.

Mahathir said Hadi’s diatribe against Umno and condemnation of Umno Malays as kafir had resulted in PAS members rejecting Umno imam during prayers. They would then hold separate prayers with their own imam.

PAS members even built their own mosques, refused to eat meat slaughtered by Umno supporters, rejected the validity of marriages officiated by Umno kadi and buried their dead in separate burial grounds.

Members of the same family who are Umno followers were shunned by those who supported PAS.

Mahathir, 92, said although muftis should not be involved in politics, it was their responsibility to clarify if a politician’s views, such as that expressed by Hadi, was actually based on Islam.

“Till today, there has been no opinion or clarification made by the muftis,” he said. -FMT