KUALA LUMPUR - PAS information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan
Man has reminded Selangor religious authorities not to create unnecessary
controversies that could sully Islam, the state government and its own name.
The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) sparked a
nationwide uproar after raiding a multi-racial dinner at a church in Petaling
Jaya — together with the police — last Wednesday night without a warrant, based
on an allegation that the Christian-majority crowd was proselytising to Muslim
guests.
“Any action must not be seen
as meddling in other religion(s),” Tuan Ibrahim (picture) was quoted
as saying in PAS newsletter Harakah Dailytoday.
“Jais should also ensure that investigation is carried out in
a transparent manner and every action must be according to procedures, even
after confirming the reliability of the information it received,” added the
Pahang PAS commissioner.
He pointed out that the tendency to believe in an accusation
and the tendency to arouse suspicions could now be seen in the brouhaha over
the raid.
Hence, Jais should not
create unnecessary controversies, although it may want to justify its actions
in the name of defending Islam, Harakah Daily quoted Tuan
Ibrahim as saying.
PAS’s Selangor executive councillor Datuk Hasan Ali has
defended the raid, claiming that Christians had used the words “Quran” and
“pray” in front of Muslims, which he noted was a breach of Islamic law.
Tuan Ibrahim, however, said the two lessons that could be
learned from the controversial raid were that one should not believe slanders
without investigations, and that one should not act in a way that attracts
undue suspicion.
The PAS ulama explained his view using an anecdote from his
teaching days at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), where he recalled that he
was uncomfortable when he was served juice at a Malay restaurant in a glass
with a beer label.
He had asked the restaurant owner to replace the glass,
telling him that although the juice was halal, “the sight of the glass could
invite suspicion and slander among my students about me and your shop”.
“The lesson learnt here is that humans tend to have negative
assumption. Some students seeing me drinking from such a glass would conclude
that I was consuming beer, never mind the juice in it was orange in colour and
never mind that it was in a Muslim outlet,” said Tuan Ibrahim.
“The first lesson here is one should not quickly be taken in
by slanders without any investigation,” he added.
He also said people should avoid attracting slander.
When asked what Jais should do if its action was proven
wrong, Tuan Ibrahim said: “Do apologise if you are wrong.”
Source : MI
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