Don't incite Muslims, warns Nazri
Pauline Puah
The government will not hesitate to use the Sedition Act against non-Muslims who “incite the sentiments” of Muslims, warned Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz. "We will not think twice about using this law against anyone who incites - that’s why we still need the Sedition Act and ISA (Internal Security Act)," he told reporters after receiving a memorandum in support of the amended Islamic Family Law (IFL) at the Parliament building today. He said Muslims have shown a high level of tolerance but this has its limits. “Because we are tolerant people, we would like (others) to respect our threshold. It’s not for them to interfere in our (Islamic) affairs," he said. However, Nazri, who is the de facto law minister, said the government has no plans to draft a law to prohibit non-Muslims from raising matters or questions related to Islam. "We don’t need to have a law to prohibit discussion on any issue. This is a harmonious country and we respect one another, especially on religious matters.... Non-Muslims should understand there are some matters that they cannot touch or utter," he said.
He argued that Muslim Malaysians have never interfered in or ridiculed other religions, and that non-Muslims should therefore apply similar principles in matters involving Islam. Nazri revealed that the IFL, which was gazetted last month, will be tabled again during the current parliamentary session for more amendments. He also expressed disappointment with those Muslim groups that have questioned the provisions of the IFL. "They are Muslims (but) do not have in-depth understanding of the law. ItÂ’s best that we refrain from making statements that can be interpreted as Islam being unfair to women and so on," he said. Sisters in Islam has been the most vocal of NGOs that have campaigned against the IFL amendments.
Among the 43 NGOs that inked the memorandum were the Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim), Jemaah Islah Malaysia, Persatuan Cina Muslim Malaysia, Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs, Darul Syifa' and Global Peace Mission Malaysia.
About seven of the 40 representatives, led by the Muslim Professional
Forum Bhd chairperson Dr Mazeni Alwi, stated their views in a discussion with Nazri. During the ministerÂ’s press conference that followed, a number of them flung remarks from the sidelines that made clear their dissatisfaction over media coverage of the IFL amendments. "The press is in love with nyamuk (mosquitoes). The press pick up nyamuk stories and flood the whole nation with (these) stories. When we write to correct the nyamuk, the press ignores our letters," said one NGO representative who could not be immediately identified.
The press-bashing theme was taken up in the memorandum, which read: "Media bias undermines journalistic standards and ethics and undermines your role as a fair institution. The media must acknowledge attempts to correct the distortion and confusion regarding Islam. Printed letters are truncated rendering them ineffective in response.”
The memorandum, among other points, denounced the “offensive and inflammatory” criticism registered. "Some non-Muslims understandably cannot relate to Muslims' reverence of the Islamic sacred text. The current trend of comments by non-Muslims on Islamic jurisprudence such as IFL has caused concern among Muslims," it said.
Meanwhile, Nazri earlier said the government has instructed the attorney-general to re-examine procedures pertaining to conversion of non-Muslims to Islam. This includes, informing family members, annulling marriages, providing for custodial rights, alimony, inheritance and confirming the religious status of a deceased person. The minister said the government is aware that such procedures must be improved to prevent controversies. However, he stressed that the government is not considering amending Article 121 (1A) which prohibits the civil courts from intervening in Islamic matters.
Calls for amendment were heard following the controversy that surrounded
the death of Everest hero M Moorthy last December. Commenting on this, Nazri said the issue was related to the fact that Moorthy had not informed his family about his conversion and had nothing to do with Article 121 (1A).
Anyone notices that his name minus a "r", spells "NAZI"?