Govt to appoint religious leaders to counter distorted Islamic views, says Fahmi

 

Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said some opposition members are spreading ‘distorted Islamic views and teachings’.

PETALING JAYA: The government plans to appoint “asatizah” (religious leaders) as spokespersons to counter the distorted Islamic views and teachings perpetuated by some opposition members, says communications minister Fahmi Fadzil.

Speaking on BFM’s The Breakfast Brief today, Fahmi said these spokespersons will travel nationwide and speak to different communities.

“They will engage with different groups of people to show them that Islam is not what some of these people (opposition MPs) espouse,” he said.

Fahmi was asked by host Keith Kam about the effectiveness of the unity government in championing the economy, good governance, and inclusivity in the face of an opposition bloc that underscores monoethnic and mono-religious ideals.

The Lembah Pantai MP acknowledged that some opposition members can have extreme Islamic views, drawing parallels to the historical Kharijites, who held a “holier-than-thou” attitude and criticised those who did not share their beliefs.

He said the opposition has been claiming that Islam is being threatened and that the Malays are losing their rights, often using DAP as a boogeyman.

As such, he said, the government needs to show that “Islamic teachings do not necessarily have to be exactly as how some of these political leaders from the other side show them to be”.

Fahmi recounted instances in Parliament where the opposition would use religious scripture to justify what he termed as “vitriol or nonsensical” arguments.

Pointing to the eradication of extreme poverty, he said it is a noble objective and one which the government would like to achieve, “yet they could use scripture to say, look, if there’s no poverty, what will happen to zakat”? - FMT