Two Shia Muslims are scheduled to go on trial in a religious court this week over allegations that they possessed books that violate an edict that only the Sunni branch of Islam can be promoted in Malaysia.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Two Shia Muslims are scheduled to go on trial in a religious court this
week over allegations that they possessed books that violate an edict that only the Sunni branch of Islam can be promoted in Malaysia.
Nur Azah Abdul Halim, 41 years old, and Mohammad Ridzuan Yusof, 31, who were arrested in August, have pleaded not guilty to having books on Shia teachings. Ms. Nur, a homeopathic practitioner, and Mr. Mohammad, a restaurant owner, are from the state of Perak, about three hours' drive north of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
The case highlights a complaint of some Shia followers in Malaysia—that they are not allowed to freely practice their faith.
"We are treated very unfairly," Ms. Nur said. "We are treated like criminals just because we want to follow Shia Islam."
Mr. Mohammad couldn't be reached for comment.
Malaysia has two parallel legal tracks: traditional common law, applying to everyone, and Shariah law, Islamic codes on religious observance and family matters that apply only to Muslims.
Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people are Muslim, according to government statistics, the vast majority of whom are Sunnis. It is unclear how many Shia followers are in Malaysia. Shia leaders don't collect or estimate their numbers, while government officials offer widely differing estimates—from 2,000 to 250,000—with some of the huge discrepancy attributed to foreign tourists and students. All agree, however, that Shia followers are a small number compared with Sunnis.
Malaysia hopes to avoid violence between the two faiths that has sometimes broken out in other parts of the world by promoting only the Sunni faith, said Malaysian Muslim scholar Muhammad Asri Zainul Abidin.
Malaysia's inspector general of police, Khalid Abu Bakar, said at a news conference on Friday that if the Shia movement isn't monitored and controlled, it could lead to militant activities. "We do not want what happened in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to happen here, do we?" he said.
The government's home minister has the power to authorize individual state religious authorities to arrest Muslims, conduct raids and ban books when considered a national security threat.
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, at a news conference on Dec. 6, acknowledged authorizing actions against Shia followers, including banning their books and not registering their groups because it "will disunite the Muslims."
Shia followers are watching the trial—scheduled for Dec. 17 in Perak state—for signs of whether they will need to go deeper underground in practicing their faith, they said in interviews. More broadly, if the two Shia followers are convicted and sentenced, the case may suggest that Sunni leaders are going to actively enforce edicts to discourage any other followers of Islam from practicing or converting to Shia.
The trial comes amid other high-profile cases about religion in Malaysia. In the secular court, Christians in two cases are asking for the right to use the word "Allah" in their newspapers and religious publications in Bahasa Malaysia. In a religious court, a Muslim woman is being prosecuted over complaints she insulted other Muslims by washing a dog's feet in a video posted on YouTube.
The specific edict—or fatwa—Ms. Nur and Mr. Mohammad are accused of violating was set by Perak's local fatwa council last year. It echoed a decision by the National Fatwa Council in 1996 that said Muslims in Malaysia should only follow Sunni teachings and banned books contrary to Sunni teachings. Eleven of Malaysia's 14 states, including Perak, have adopted the fatwa.
"They had with them books that were banned. So if it is banned, you cannot keep them," Harussani Zakaria, Perak's mufti—or cleric—said of the accused pair.
A Muslim convicted of possessing non-Sunni religious materials faces a punishment of up to two years imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. But prison sentences aren't common because people usually plead guilty and judges take that into consideration.
Since the arrests in August, at least four others in Perak have been charged with possession of Shia publications as well as another person in the state of Pahang. Meanwhile, the minister in charge of Islam in the prime minister's department, Jamil Khir Baharom, told parliament in late September that 16 people had been arrested this year in an unspecified time period for propagating the teachings of the Shia denomination, while 120 anti-Shia raids had been carried out.
Mohd Faizal Musa, a research fellow at the National University of Malaysia who says two of his books were banned that touched on Shia, said Sunni leaders appear concerned that Shia is growing in popularity—Shia is the world's second-largest branch of Islam behind Sunni—as social media empowers its followers.
Mr. Faizal said Shia Islam appeals to some of Malaysia's younger generation as an alternative to Sunni Islam.
"The younger generation of Shia followers are using Facebook, Twitter, blogs to express their identities, thus demanding their rights," Mr. Faizal said.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Two Shia Muslims are scheduled to go on trial in a religious court this week over allegations that they possessed books that violate an edict that only the Sunni branch of Islam can be promoted in Malaysia.
Nur Azah Abdul Halim, 41 years old, and Mohammad Ridzuan Yusof, 31, who were arrested in August, have pleaded not guilty to having books on Shia teachings. Ms. Nur, a homeopathic practitioner, and Mr. Mohammad, a restaurant owner, are from the state of Perak, about three hours' drive north of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
The case highlights a complaint of some Shia followers in Malaysia—that they are not allowed to freely practice their faith.
"We are treated very unfairly," Ms. Nur said. "We are treated like criminals just because we want to follow Shia Islam."
Mr. Mohammad couldn't be reached for comment.
Malaysia has two parallel legal tracks: traditional common law, applying to everyone, and Shariah law, Islamic codes on religious observance and family matters that apply only to Muslims.
Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people are Muslim, according to government statistics, the vast majority of whom are Sunnis. It is unclear how many Shia followers are in Malaysia. Shia leaders don't collect or estimate their numbers, while government officials offer widely differing estimates—from 2,000 to 250,000—with some of the huge discrepancy attributed to foreign tourists and students. All agree, however, that Shia followers are a small number compared with Sunnis.
Malaysia hopes to avoid violence between the two faiths that has sometimes broken out in other parts of the world by promoting only the Sunni faith, said Malaysian Muslim scholar Muhammad Asri Zainul Abidin.
Malaysia's inspector general of police, Khalid Abu Bakar, said at a news conference on Friday that if the Shia movement isn't monitored and controlled, it could lead to militant activities. "We do not want what happened in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to happen here, do we?" he said.
The government's home minister has the power to authorize individual state religious authorities to arrest Muslims, conduct raids and ban books when considered a national security threat.
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, at a news conference on Dec. 6, acknowledged authorizing actions against Shia followers, including banning their books and not registering their groups because it "will disunite the Muslims."
Shia followers are watching the trial—scheduled for Dec. 17 in Perak state—for signs of whether they will need to go deeper underground in practicing their faith, they said in interviews. More broadly, if the two Shia followers are convicted and sentenced, the case may suggest that Sunni leaders are going to actively enforce edicts to discourage any other followers of Islam from practicing or converting to Shia.
The trial comes amid other high-profile cases about religion in Malaysia. In the secular court, Christians in two cases are asking for the right to use the word "Allah" in their newspapers and religious publications in Bahasa Malaysia. In a religious court, a Muslim woman is being prosecuted over complaints she insulted other Muslims by washing a dog's feet in a video posted on YouTube.
The specific edict—or fatwa—Ms. Nur and Mr. Mohammad are accused of violating was set by Perak's local fatwa council last year. It echoed a decision by the National Fatwa Council in 1996 that said Muslims in Malaysia should only follow Sunni teachings and banned books contrary to Sunni teachings. Eleven of Malaysia's 14 states, including Perak, have adopted the fatwa.
"They had with them books that were banned. So if it is banned, you cannot keep them," Harussani Zakaria, Perak's mufti—or cleric—said of the accused pair.
A Muslim convicted of possessing non-Sunni religious materials faces a punishment of up to two years imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. But prison sentences aren't common because people usually plead guilty and judges take that into consideration.
Since the arrests in August, at least four others in Perak have been charged with possession of Shia publications as well as another person in the state of Pahang. Meanwhile, the minister in charge of Islam in the prime minister's department, Jamil Khir Baharom, told parliament in late September that 16 people had been arrested this year in an unspecified time period for propagating the teachings of the Shia denomination, while 120 anti-Shia raids had been carried out.
Mohd Faizal Musa, a research fellow at the National University of Malaysia who says two of his books were banned that touched on Shia, said Sunni leaders appear concerned that Shia is growing in popularity—Shia is the world's second-largest branch of Islam behind Sunni—as social media empowers its followers.
Mr. Faizal said Shia Islam appeals to some of Malaysia's younger generation as an alternative to Sunni Islam.
"The younger generation of Shia followers are using Facebook, Twitter, blogs to express their identities, thus demanding their rights," Mr. Faizal said.
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