KUALA LUMPUR, November 6 (IslamOnline) - Imams delivering Friday Khutbah sermons and criticizing the government of Mahathir Mohamad risk being sued, fined, jailed or sacked as cameras will be fixed in the mosques to catch them red-handed.

The state government of Kedah, controlled by the National Front (NF) of Prime Minister Mahathir, has issued the warning to six mosques allegedly spreading anti-government messages to their congregation, news agencies reported Tuesday, November 5.

Kedah is the state where Mahathir was born and elected Prime Minister. The state has seen a strong push by the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) that made serious inroads by winning a majority of national parliamentary seats and losing the local government election by a very slim margin in 1999.

A circular from the state government sent to the mosques said as from this month cameras will be fixed in these mosques where there is regular anti-government propagation.

Sermons in the remaining 540 mosques in the northern state, where so-called "abuses" are believed to have happened sporadically, will be audio-taped, said Kedah Chief Minister Syed Razak Zain in a report published Tuesday by local newspaper New Straits Times.

Imams found guilty of "abusing their positions and disseminating anti-government messages through their sermons" would be stripped of their posts, the statement said. The Imams will also be brought to court to face lawsuits by the ruling coalition in the state and they risk fines or jail sentences.

“After Islamic schools, [now] mosques, this is clearly a decision tainted with political motives,” a PAS member in Kedah said.

Having already targeted schools, “Big Brother” is now invading mosques, he said, reminding hs party members of 1984, a novel by George Orwell depicting an era where a fictitious country is ruled by the “Party”, which is led by a figure called “Big Brother”.

In 2000, the government of Mahathir banned all political rallies and discussions all over Malaysia, citing a deterioration of the security situation in the country. The opposition grouped under the Alternative Front (AF) violated the police ban and proceeded with several “ceramah’s” or speeches in private homes.

Several of their leaders were arrested and remanded to jail for violating the police order, but since this year the ban has seen less enforcement as rallies and other speeches by the opposition are held regularly all over the country.

The Islamic Law Enforcement Department (JAIS) has also announced that it has targeted 10 mosques in the state of Selangor that they believe has turned into a “political forum” where the PAS in particular is very active.

These mosques were warned earlier for not reading the official state government’s Khutbah during Friday prayers and for criticizing the regime of Mahathir, which they say is not Islamic enough and has failed to uphold Islam.

The JAIS insisted that mosques should be used for prayer, not for political proliferation or criticism against the government - a policy the opposition disagrees with.

The JAIS has been under fire from the PAS and several Muslim-based organizations in Malaysia for dismissing Imams who are seen as anti-government and imposing “pro-government” Imams in mosques that has a strong opposition showing.

Anti-government sentiments are still strong in Malay-Muslim majority states and villages across Malaysia, the PAS said, adding that the government’s move to force mosques to toe to their line was enough proof of the success obtained by the major opposition party in Malay areas.

The PAS is campaigning for the creation of an Islamic state in the multi-religious country that has a majority Muslim population of 60 percent.