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A Remark On Allah By Islamic Leader Sparks Controversy In Malaysia
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Nik Aziz Nik Mat under fire for comments |
By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Asia Correspondent
KUALA
LUMPUR, July 10 (IslamOnline)- Party Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) spiritual
adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who is also the Chief Minister of Kelantan
said his inference that 'Allah is Terror' was not to reflect the
traits of a thug in God but to explain that those who acts like thugs
cannot match the Almighty, news agencies said on Wednesday.
His
remarks, he said, had been taken out of context, which is not the
first time that local papers creates a controversy over what Nik Aziz
Nik Mat says about Islam, women and the Almighty.
'What
I meant was there are all kinds of terror in this world. There are
politician who acts like mafia and government that are mafias. But for
all the terror’s in the world, Allah reminds us that He is more
terrifying than them,' the Kelantan Chief Minister said in an
interview published in a Malay daily paper in Malaysia.
Several
people has criticized the Chief Minister for this comment and has even
urged the local Muslim authorities to investigate his statements for
possible actions to be taken against the respected PAS leader.
However,
an Ustazah (Muslim woman who teaches Islam) told IslamOnline that she
believed Nik Aziz Nik Mat was referring to one of the attributes of
Allah, which is “Ya Qahhar”.
“The
meaning of this word has some resonance with what the Chief Minister
said. It could mean the destroyer, and gangsters or mafias are
destroyers. However Allah is the Almighty destroyer,” Riz Mahmood
said in a phone conversation from Alor Star, Kedah.
She
added that many people would not know in what context the Chief
Minister used the word, that would appear offensive when it comes to
the Almighty. She urged the Malaysians should refer to the Names of
Allah to understand the context.
This
is not the first time that comments by the Chief Minister has defrayed
the chronicles in Malaysia and Singapore, where his comments about
women were widely criticized and interpreted freely by a not so
friendly press.
More
than a year ago, he was criticized both in Singapore and Malaysia for
saying that his government in Kelantan would offer employment to not
so good looking ladies, since the employers in the private sectors
seemed to favor pretty ladies.
His
comments were termed racist and inhuman by female groups in the
country and by journalists in Singapore.
Another
comment by Nik Aziz Nik Mat who is well into his sixties and who is
dressed like a Muslim religious leader, raised the anger of several
non-governmental organizations as well political parties in Malaysia
was about women’s dressings in his state.
Kelantan
is supposed to be a purely Islamic state, run by an Islamic party,
which is full of Muslim clergymen. Yet Nik Aziz Nik Mat complained
during one of his Friday sermons that young women in Kelantan were
dressed skimpily.
Nik
Aziz had been criticized heavily for making a string of other remarks,
which were seen as uncouth and derogatory to Islam. However, he
insisted that he meant every word attributed to him, news agencies
said.
'Should
we praise people who deride Islam and who also accuse us of
violence?’ he said adding that derogatory words could be used
against those who derided Islam.
Nik
Aziz Nik Mat, respected for his qualities as a Muslim chief, has in
more than one occasion urged his party not to deride the United Malay
National Organization (UMNO) and its leaders who are also Muslims.
He
however does participate in escalation of war of words between both
parties time and again when the situation vouched for it, he once
said.
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