What are your contributions to the nation, says Isma to non-Muslims

BY JENNIFER GOMEZ

Source: The Malaysian Insider

Abdullah Zaik speaking at the International Muslim Thinkers Conference in Kuala Lumpur today. He believes that the country is still not ready for hudud laws to be implemented. - The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, May 1, 2014.

Muslim rights group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has warned non-Muslims in the country that they have no right to oppose the plan to implement hudud, and said non-Muslims should understand that there are limitations to what they can say.

Its president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman said non-Muslims “should be thankful that they have more than what they need in this country”.

“I don't see what their contributions are for them to be given so many privileges in the first place,” he said on the sidelines of a two-day International Muslim Thinkers Conference organised by the group in Kuala Lumpur today.

"Their strong stand against hudud gives the impression that they are in a dream world; they must realise that they have no say in determining the future of Muslims in this country," he added, in a comment on PKR and DAP opposing the plan by their Pakatan Rakyat coalition partner PAS to implement hudud in Kelantan.

Abdullah also said that while Isma felt that Malaysia was not ready for hudud, they were supportive of it since it was a meeting point for two Malay parties - PAS and ruling party Umno.

"To us, the more important factor is the sanctity of Islam and putting power in the hands of the Muslim people.

"We need to strengthen our position to secure our hold in this country," Abdullah said.

Abdullah added that his only concern over the implementation of hudud was that the current situation was not ideal for the law to be introduced, but added that Isma supported Umno’s and PAS’s plan to implement the Shariah criminal law in stages.

He also said the only reason former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was against the implementation of hudud was because he was not properly briefed on it.

"I don't see him as being against hudud, it is just that perhaps those who presented the idea to him in the past did not give a clear and accurate picture," Abdullah ssid.

The controversial hudud issue flared up again when PAS announced plans last month to introduce two private members’ bills in Parliament to allow it to enforce the Islamic law in Kelantan.

This triggered an exchange of words between Kelantan deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah and DAP’s national organising secretary Anthony Loke.

Nik Amar told PAS's Pakatan partners that they had "no right to interfere" in the Islamist party's plan to implement hudud in the east coast state, prompting Loke to tell PAS to leave Pakatan if the party was adamant on going ahead with its plan.

DAP has always been against the implementation of hudud in Malaysia, with its late chairman Karpal Singh arguing that it was against the Federal Constitution and national interest.

Meanwhile, Abdullah told a press conference today that he will lead a delegation of 30 Muslim scholars to meet Dr Mahathir tomorrow to present the findings of the two-day conference and get the former PM's feedback on how the Muslim community the world over can move forward.

Abdullah said they also wanted to secure Dr Mahathir's support for an even bigger conference bringing together thinkers from Muslim countries in November.

Among the speakers at the conference was Jamal Isa, chairman of Hamas political bureau from Palestine, who thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for sponsoring the conference.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, who was to have addressed the conference attended by 40 Islamic thinkers from 14 Muslim countries, was unable to attend at the last minute.

Among the issues raised by the international Muslim speakers were the destruction and bloodbath faced by Muslim nations due to outside interference and the need to unite for the Palestinian cause.