A protestor walks over a picture of Khalid Samad, during last week’s protest at the Shah Alam state mosque. — file pic
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — Ever since Shah Alam PAS MP Khalid Samad officially supported the High Court’s decision to allow the Herald to use the word “Allah”, an active campaign has been set up to discredit him.
Many pro-Umno blogs online have resorted to accusing him of being un-Islamic, with some even calling him “Khalid Gereja”, a fact that he himself is fully aware of.
“Dragging me into the picture only makes the picture even clearer that the situation is politically-motivated. They want to wrest Shah Alam from Pakatan Rakyat, something which they are in need of. I suppose they are trying to start a rallying call against me for that purpose,” said Khalid in a phone interview with The Malaysian Insider.
Last Thursday, during a gathering outside the Selangor Sultan’s palace gates, protestors shouted and demanded that the Shah Alam MP be kicked out of Selangor for “supporting the High Court’s decision.”
A day after that, during a protest after Friday prayers at the Shah Alam state mosque, a group of men stomped all over Khalid’s picture and urged him to change his stand over the issue.
However, he seems unfazed by the actions of protestors and instead affirmed that his position on the matter of the usage of “Allah” among non-Muslims was similar to the PAS leadership’s stand.
“It is unfortunate for these individuals that the PAS leadership has already taken a stand and my stand is in line with that.”
According to Khalid, the issue was not about his personal views but more of how one understood Islam and its application to everyday life.
“The answer for Muslims is to refer to the teachings of the Holy Al-Quran.”
He also blamed the mainstream media for failing to provide a balanced and accurate representation of views and opinions regarding the matter.
“Obviously the issue needs clarification, it is overwhelmed by the fact that the mainstream media does not give coverage... there is a blackout in terms of our (the opposition) side of the argument.
“People can read between the lines,” quipped Khalid.
One of the arguments presented by groups challenging the High Court’s decision was that the guidelines on the usage of the word “Allah” was clearly stated under the Selangor State Enactment for non-Muslims 1988 (Enakmen Ugama Bukan Islam).
According to the booklet, Section 9 of the enactment specifies words that cannot be used in reference to anything non-Islamic. The first word on the long list is “Allah.”
“What they are doing is trying to create a conflict with members of society. Look at the year of the enactment: 1988. Umno, in all its time in Selangor did not exercise this ruling because they knew that something was wrong with it, but now because Selangor is under Pakatan, they want to refer to this enactment, which is outdated,” explained Khalid.
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