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http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-a-religious-fascist-state-not-moderate-says-ex-minister

The Malaysian Insider

Malaysia a religious-fascist state, not a moderate one, says ex-minister

December 16, 2013

Malaysia's image as a so- called moderate nation

has been dismissed by a f ormer minister, who said

it was closer to being a religious- f ascist state.

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (pic) said the ongoing religious

persecut ion of PAS deputy president Mohamad

Sabu and others before him port ends a grave

f uture f or religious f reedom in Malaysia. Zaid said

it was up to Malaysians either to allow this trendto continue or t o defend religious f reedom.

We are not only denied political freedom (with the

media and the electoral process under

government cont rol), but also liberty in matters o f

personal belief .

We are already witness ing a new wave of attacks against Shias, which are more o f ten associated with the

Middle East and Pakist an.

The Sunni-Shia warf are has turned the Muslim world upside down with senseless killings and now it hasarrived on o ur shores, thanks to our home minister, he said, referring to charges against Mohamad Sabu,

bett er known as Mat Sabu, who is accused of being a Shia by the Home Ministry.

Zaid also cited the example of Kamariah Ali and her husband, followers of the Ayah Pin sect, who were

prosecuted f or f ollowing a version of Islam which was not acceptable to the state.

Years ago, when Kamariah Ali and her husband pleaded before the judges to allow them to be the kind of

Muslims that they understood God meant them to be, they were denied.

The judges ruled that the state had the right to def ine Islam and that o nly its version was acceptable.

They went on to say the state had the right to punish those who deviated f rom its version of Islam.

He said Kamariah Ali was jailed and when her husband died, the st ate denied him a proper burial.

The state obvious ly did not consider him to be a Muslim who deserved a proper burial, yet it believed it had

the power to punish him f or being a 'deviant' Muslim.

The state had its cake and ate it, to o: one day it declared a person a bad Muslim who needed to be

punished, and the next day, it declared that this perso n was not a Muslim. And the judges agreed!

Zaid said f ew cried fo ul over this development.

Zaid said what happened to Mat Sabu and others like him would never have come to pass if judges in the

country had been brave enough to base their decisions o n the law.

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When I f irst said Mat Sabu should not bother to defend himself when he was accused of being a Shia, my

Muslim f riends f elt he needed to , regardless o f the quality o f evidence his accusers could provide. They felt

that being a Shia was bad for his image.

If (Home Minist er Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi) and Jakim (Department o f Islamic Development)

think Shias are not Muslims, then why not petition the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) and the

United Nations to bar Iranians f rom doing the haj.

Take to the global stage if you t ruly want to be a Sunni warrior. Do not bully local Muslims like Mat Sabu,Zaid said.

Its up to Muslims in this country to decide for t hemselves what kind of Muslims they want to be.

I believe they have that right under the Constitution. I am a Muslim and thats all there is to it.

The state may def ine Islam as the Sunnah Wal Jumaah variety, but that def inition cannot supersede Art icle

8 in the Constitut ion on religious f reedom.

The state can advise on what variety is 'pure' but it cannot punish Muslims if they prefer a dif f erent variety.

Punishment is Gods work, not of f icials, and thats central to a country that has a secular Const itution

governing matters o f f aith. And Malaysia is secular.

Zaid warned that the country could eventually explode like Lebanon and Syria if the prime minister was only

interested in high-speed rail link to Singapore and trade agreements.

We have had many disturbing incidents such as Memali, the Al-Maunah movement and other 'deviant

groups'. So how do we manage this po tentially dif f icult and dangerous conf lict?

Zaid said the prime minister claimed to be a moderate and if that was the case, he should speak out a lot

more about the subject in Malaysia. He should also have ministers who are moderate and capable of

engaging with dif f icult subjects . December 16, 2013.