Mais bars Teo from visiting suraus, mosques without its nod

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 – The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) has warned Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching not to enter the prayer areas of any suraus or mosques in Selangor without its permission, she revealed today.

It is understood that the warning letter had been issued upon orders of the Sultan of Selangor after an uproar over her August 22 visit to Surau Al-Huda in Kajang Sentral which was highlighted by Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia.

Teo (picture) said that she had received the letter via fax and that the letter stated that she needed to obtain permission from Mais beforehand if she wanted to visit any suraus in the future.

“Yes, I have received the letter at 1.30pm today. The letter stated that I was barred from entering the the prayer areas of mosques and suraus in Selangor without the permission of Mais,” Teo told The Malaysian Insider.

The DAP lawmaker said that she would abide by Mais’ warning, and would in the future refer to Mais before visiting any suraus or mosques.

“Of course I will heed this advice, this is the decree of the Sultan of Selangor. What else can I do?

“I have to abide by this because in the letter Mais says it is an order from the Sultan of Selangor himself,” said Teo.

Teo’s visit to a Kajang surau drew the ire of Umno as well as Malay rights pressure group Perkasa, with the latter calling for a ban on non-Muslims from entering mosques and suraus. Mais also claimed that the visit had displeased the Selangor Sultan.

The National Fatwa Council, however, had decided on March 1 that non-Muslim tourists may enter mosques and prayer rooms with the condition that they receive permission from the respective management and ensure that their actions do not violate the sanctity of the mosque.

Perkasa has demanded that syariah laws be created to ban non-Muslims from entering mosques and suraus.

The group’s call comes in the wake of controversy surrounding Teo’s visit to the surau in her constituency to deliver aid to the surau.

PR leaders including Nik Aziz have defended Teo over her mosque visit.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali also accused Nik Aziz of failure to defend Islamic principles by backing Teo.

Meanwhile, former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has advised Muslims not to use the non-Muslims in mosques issue to win political points.

Asri said such an action would only tarnish Islam’s image.

Another PR lawmaker William Leong has also come under fire from Utusan Malaysia for visiting a mosque in his parliamentary constituency, Selayang.