Stop the Shi'ite holocaust in Malaysia

Shia representative in Malaysia sent an open letter to the MalaysiaKini newspaper (Note: MalaysiaKini is the opposition media) on May 28th. I am reproducing the entire letter here.

The Letter:

Harassment against members of the Muslim Shi'ite sect by Selangor's Islamic Council (Jais) by its new director Marzuki Husin, are becoming more common lately.

Ar-Ridha, a non-government organisation suspects the raid on a function in Gombak by Jais, that comes after relentless attacks from the local media, is planned and malicious.

Recently a group of Jais enforcement officers in collaboration with the police and Selayang Municipal Council raided the event that included a luncheon and cultural and art activities at Dataran Rakyat, Taman Sri Gombak, near Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the commemoration of the birth anniversary of Sayyidatina Fatimah Az-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

We suspect this is a concerted plan to cripple the luncheon organised by Ahlul Bayt Community (Shi'ite sect), following of two newspaper articles published in Berita Harian and Kosmo on May 25.

Numerous articles have been published such as deviationist religious leader arrested', 'Threat of the Shi'ite sect' and so on, along with interviews with Jais assistant director Rais Rasid.

Allegations that the Shi'ite group has a hidden motive to spread its beliefs through the luncheon in Gombak are untrue, as the function were attended by various races and religions.

We are stunned by Jai's statement describing the Shi'ite doctrine as a dangerous. Jais looks to be dividing the unity of Muslims as opposed to Prime Minister Najib Razak's 1Malaysia.

Instead, Jais should devote their efforts to tackling the social problems faced by Muslims more seriously, and stop inhibiting the freedom of speech and the rights to religious freedom of the minority sect, who are also protected under article 11 of the constitution.

Jais' actions looks like an attempt to divert public attention from the increasingly serious social problems such as crime that increases by the day, that the religious authorities have failed to address.

Jais should better focus on curbing social ills such as cohabitation without marriage, adultery and incidence of illegitimate children, who number over 250,000 and increasing.

And they should deal with widespread alcoholism, as Malaysia with its small population is reported to be amongst the top 10 countries in the world with most the most alcoholics.

Therefore we urge Jais to stop persecuting and denying the constitutional rights of the Shi'ite minority in Malaysia in line with the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) resolution and the Amman Message 2008 that recognise the Shi'ite sect in 88 member countries.

The UN assembly of 1948 also acknowledged the rights of the Shi'ite sect, and the UN resolutions of that year also define the crimes of genocide Act that outlaws ethnic and religious cleansing and language and cultural elimination, that holds countries, authorities as well as individuals liable.

Written by: Kamilzuhairi Abdul Aziz May 28, 11 6:31pm Published on MalaysiaKini website

The writer is a member of the local NGO Ar Ridha.