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Malaysian Minister Warns Women Of Taliban's Islam
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (IslamOnline) - Malaysia's new women's affairs minister warned women of the danger of Malaysia becoming a conservative Islamic state in a speech to business people Thursday.
"Ladies, I don't mean to frighten you, but tomorrow you could wake up under a government like the Taliban in Afghanistan," said Minister of Women's Affairs and Family Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
"I'm worried that if we're not careful, if someone takes over, the group that suffers most would be women," she told about 100 business people.
The Minister was directing her attack towards the Party Islam Se Malaysia (PAS), currently propelled as the major opposition party in Malaysia.
These comments by the Minister came in the midst of a shaky proposal for Malay-Muslim unity talks between the two major Malay forces, the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and the PAS.
The PAS made inroads in the 1999 general elections, winning two states in the so-called Malay belt area and grabbing some seats in traditional UMNO territories.
The UMNO is trying to win back support of Malays in a bid to dethrone the PAS as the main Malay party in Malaysia. However, with speeches like that given by the Minister, a UMNO party member, Malays would not be easily swayed by a UMNO game, IslamOnline was told.
Malaysia is officially a Muslim country even though it has a multitude of ethnicities and Muslims forms less than 60% percent of the country's 22 million.
UMNO leaders have been taken aback by PAS successes preaching a strict brand of Islam.
Shahrizat has emerged as a critic of the PAS, attacking its leaders over issues of women's representation in the Islamic party and comments by PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Kelantan Chief Minister.
In a statement to IslamOnline, Ustaz Nazaruddin, an active member of the PAS in Selangor said the Minister's statement could not be given any credit "due to her obvious lack of knowledge of Islam."
"The minister also shows her lack of political experience when she ignored that the PAS, since its formation in 1961, respects and acknowledges the democratic system in place in Malaysia."
"Minister Shahrizat should see the model of Islamic governance in Kelantan and Terrenganu. Our system of governance based on the principles of Islam are producing results and are applicable in Malaysia. This is the type of Islam we are proposing. There is extremism here.
"In regards to the Taliban, even though I have some reserves on the press reports coming from there, I would say that the social situation in Malaysia does not vouch a stricter model of Islam as those prescribed by the PAS in the states it is running," Ustaz Nazaruddin said.
The PAS member lambasted the Minister for attacking the Islamic party over women's dress code and the Sharia'h. He said it was not wrong to promote Sharia'h in Malaysia, adding that this was not extremism.
"Shahrizat calls our stance on women's role in politics and other activities as a form of Jahiliya. Yet I can say she has very poor knowledge of Islam."
In a separate matter related to the Taliban, the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) issued a statement regarding the destruction of all statues, including two ancient Buddha statues in Afghanistan, calling it a transgression of Islamic values and principles.
Its president, Chandra Muzaffar, a member of the opposition National Justice Party (NJP) said Afghanistan's Taliban leaders appeared to have forgotten that Muslim rulers in the past had protected the religious rights and abodes of worship of Jews, Christians and Hindus.
"The hostility and antagonism towards Buddhism and other religions displayed by the Taliban reveals not only its ignorance of Islam but also its arrogance and bigotry,'' he said.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism echoed Chandra's sentiments on the destruction.
Its secretary, R. Thiagaraja, said the Taliban's acts were a violation of human rights.
However, another PAS member, who did not want to be named, said both Chandra Muzaffar and Thiagaraja were mistaken in their attacks of the Taliban since in Islam, there is no room to keep these statues.
He said Prophet Ibrahim (AS) defied his own father and destroyed the statues his tribe adored. The PAS member asked the Taliban critics whether the Prophet of Islam committed the same arrogance and bigotry?
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