A group that represents the Malaysian wing of a global charity organisation “Who is Hussain”, has lodged a police report after receiving multiple threats online.
The group's head representative, who wished to be known only as Natasha, told Malaysiakini that it received violent messages on its Facebook page “Who is Hussain – Malaysia”.
This came after its volunteers distributed hundreds of flyers, prayer beads, dates and juice boxes around Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Malaysia on Sunday.
The following day, the Facebook page was flooded by messages threatening the group for promoting Shia Islam. The messages indicated that “Who is Hussain – Malaysia” members would be tracked down and “dealt with”.
According to Natasha, her group went to see Jawi (Federal Territories Religious Department) first to clarify its status before making a police report.
“We met Jawi for them to take our statement, to clear the air. We also called them last year to meet up, but they never got back to us. After meeting Jawi, we went to the police station in Dang Wangi to lodge a police report,” she said.
Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador told reporters that the police would work with religious authorities to stop the “Who is Hussain – Malaysia” group from distributing leaflets seen as promoting Shia Islam.
“This is irresponsible and goes against Sunni Islam,” he was reported as saying.
However, Natasha claims that her group has been misrepresented by the “fakir ilmu” (poor in knowledge) online community.
“There is a misconception that the public has because of 'fakir ilmu' articles. They say that we are Shia, that we are not Muslims, that we are a nuisance, that we are killing Muslims in Syria.... but the thing is we are not Shia,” she added.
Natasha said that “Who is Hussain” is a charity organisation founded in London in 2012.
“To date, we have 70 plus chapters all over the world including in Malaysia. It's a non-political, a non-religious organisation that is dedicated to bringing positive changes within the community.
“We are focusing on homelessness, poverty, natural disasters reliefs, environmental, sanitary and water access and gender equality within each community,” she added.
While members of the group are of many faiths, the group is named after Hussain ibn Ali, who is the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.
Because of his prominent role in Shia Islam, critics claim that “Who is Hussain” has the thinly disguised aim of spreading this religious belief. - Mkini
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