Quran not removed from surau before demolition - Kg Sri Makmur villager

 

A Kampung Sri Makmur villager whose house was demolished by the Gombak District and Land Office last week has lodged a police report, accusing the land authority of “lying” to the public.

Zani Ismail, 47, claimed that the land office was not being truthful when it said it had removed all religious books and items properly from a surau before demolishing the Islamic place of worship.

According to the villager, he saw a group of foreigners digging out copies of the Quran from under the rubble of the surau when the group was scavenging for scrap metal.

This then prompted him to seek assistance from Gombak Setia assemblyperson Hilman Idham, who rented machinery to clear the rubble before villagers found some 20 more copies of the holy book, Zani said.

When met by Malaysiakini, he alleged that a statement by the land office published via the office of the Selangor state secretary was misleading as it had used wrong photographs to show enforcement officers carrying copies of the holy book away.

Zani claimed that the books taken were actually from a Quran learning centre at his house.

“That was not the surau. That was the Quran learning centre located at the rear end of my house.

“The books they (were photographed) carrying were also mine,” he said.

‘Surau demolished on first day’

According to Zani, villagers could not remove the Quran and other religious books from the surau in time as they were all focusing on their respective houses on the day of the incident.

He claimed that enforcement officers had told villagers that the surau and a community hall would be demolished last, but this was not true.

What remains of the demolished surau

“The officers demolished the surau on the very first day (May 27), before they demolished my house and the Quranic learning centre the next day.

“It’s true that the authority has removed the Quran as stated in their press release, but the Quran they took away was not from the demolished surau,” he said.

On May 30, Hulu Kelang assemblyperson Azmin Ali posted on Facebook accusing the land authority of booting out Kampung Sri Makmur villagers in a “forced and inhumane manner”.

“Tens of Quran books were either damaged or destroyed under the rubble of a demolished surau,” he claimed.

For Muslims, the Quran is a holy book that must be handled with deepest respect and care. There are special rules in handling the Quran, including prohibition from placing it on the floor or in a bathroom.

When a Quran is not read, it must be stored in a clean and respectable place, with nothing placed on top of it. - Mkini