We, the members of G25, join our friends and colleagues in SUHAKAM and the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), as well as the lawyers and academicians, who have spoken out criticizing the detention of Mustafa Akyol at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 25 September, as he was leaving the country after completing his speaking engagements in K.L. He was accused by Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (JAWI) of violating Section 11 of the 1997 Federal Territories Syariah Offences Act which requires that a person teaching Islam must get the prior approval of JAWI. We consider the action by JAWI as heavy handed, extreme, and arbitrary. Mustafa Akyol was here for the fifth time and has deve

I am writing this column from an airplane, on my way from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to my new home, Wellesley, Mass. I’m in a comfortable seat, and I’m looking forward to getting back to my family. About 12 hours ago, though, I was miserable, locked in a holding cell by Malaysia’s “religious police.” The story began a few months ago, when the Islamic Renaissance Front, a reformist, progressive Muslim organization in Malaysia, invited me to give a series of lectures on Islam, reason and freedom. The group had hosted me three times before in the past five years for similar events and also published the Malay version of my book “Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.” I was glad for t

JOHOR BARU: The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, has ordered the controversial Muslim-only launderette in Muar to immediately stop its discriminatory practice or risk being shut down by him. “I cannot accept this nonsense. This is Johor, which belongs to Bangsa Johor and it belongs to all races and faiths. This is a progressive, modern and moderate state. “This is not a Taliban state and as the Head of Islam in Johor, I find this action to be totally unacceptable as this is extremist in nature,” he said. His Majesty said he also ordered the state Islamic religious affairs committee chairman Abdul Mutalip Abd Rahim, the religious council and the district council

I refer to the news report on the police explanation that the reason for the ban by DBKL on the beer festival is that there was a security risk that extremists were planning a terror attack on the event. Congratulations to the police for apprehending the alleged attackers. Its a great comfort to know that our police intelligence is efficient in keeping the public safe from terror attacks. Terror threats and attacks have also become a major problem in many cities in Europe and America where mentally deranged individuals, social drop-outs, radical groups and fanatics take their personal frustration, political and religious ideology to the streets, hoping to catch the prime time T

JAWAPAN​ ​BALAS​ ​BAGI​ ​KRITIKAN-KRITIKAN​ ​TERHADAP​ ​G25 G25 seringkali dilabelkan sebagai liberal oleh kebanyakan pengkritiknya, dan istilah ini telah diputarkan sebagai suatu yang menghina bagi menjelaskan Muslim yang percaya dengan nilai-nilai universal seperti demokrasi, hak asasi manusia, kesamarataan gender, dan menghormati multibudaya dan kepelbagaian. Ianya merupakan satu perkataan yang disalahgunakan oleh autoriti dan ekstrimis agama untuk mengecam sesiapa yang berbeza pandangan terhadap hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan bangsa, agama, dan politik. Kami sebagai ahli G25 ingin mengingatkan para pengkritik kami bahawa, dalam Rukun Negara, perkataan liberal telah diberikan kedudukan yan

G25's Johan Ariffin says PAS should look at Indonesia, which has a large Muslim population and is very tolerant of other races or religions. PETALING JAYA: A member of the G25 group of prominent Malays today questioned PAS’ assurances that the enforcement of Islamic laws would not affect non-Muslims, following the party’s objection to the Better Beer Festival 2017. Johan Ariffin, who is the former deputy director of the Sabah Foundation, pointed out that when promoting PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill to strengthen the shariah courts, the party leaders had told the public that the legislation would only affect Muslims. “PAS and other Islamist leaders have assured the pu

One of the truly rare individuals in Kedah’s history, a man of character with a personality of his own, was my eldest brother, Tunku Ibrahim, who became the Regent of the State when my father, the late Sultan, having suffered a stroke, became paralysed from head to foot.” This is the opening paragraph of an article entitled “Kedah’s Wise Regent: Bringing Up State Under Colonial Rule” written by Tunku Abdul Rahman. Tunku Ibrahim was the regent of Kedah from 1912 to 1934 and was instrumental in developing and modernising the “Rice Bowl of Malaysia”, which prospered under him.Though his education was in Malay written in Jawi, Tunku Ibrahim was truly visionary in the way he ruled the state. He e

G25 welcomes the announcement from the Deputy Prime Minister for an immediate inquiry into the tragedy at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school in Kampung Datuk Keramat and hopes that a special committee will be formed to investigate into the matter without delay. G25 has among its members retired senior judges, civil servants and diplomats who can volunteer to sit as members of the committee. They are willing to sacrifice their time to assist in finding out how and why the tragedy happened and the lessons that can be learnt so that the religious department in all states can exercise proper regulatory control over these private religious schools. The religious authorities should not resi

Keterbukaan umat Islam lampau menghasilkan kebangkitan mereka kuasa besar. G25 menjawab tuduhan ia mendukung fahaman yang membelakangkan ajaran Islam. Publisiti yang dihebahkan kalangan tertentu kepada masyarakat umum adalah G25 merupakan pakatan liberal dan musuh kepada Islam. Butir-butir biasanya sebagaimana berikut: G25 suatu pakatan yang mendukung fahaman liberalisme, pluralisme, LGBT, Kristianisasi, dan meletakkan Islam setaraf dengan agama-agama lain; Secara implikasi dan tersiratnya ini menbawa maksud anggota pakatan G25 tidak beriman kepada Allah; G25 tidak menghormati ulama dan membuat pentafsiran hukum fiqh dan teks tanpa sempadan dalam menghidupkan debat dalam agama; G25 suka meng

Mohd Sheriff Kassim says trend among religious departments taking action against 'personal sins', is a direct result of growing politicisation of Islam. PETALING JAYA: The faith of Muslims in Malaysia should not be the responsibility of the federal or state governments, says a former senior civil servant and adviser to the G25 group of prominent Malays. Mohd Sheriff Kassim, who is chairman of toll highway operator PLUS, said Muslims should be left to decide for themselves how they want to live their lives, TODAY reported. “The main problem is religious officers don’t see it this way, they see it as their right to introduce laws to criminalise certain kinds of behaviour. “But lawyers have arg

PETALING JAYA, Sept 3 — The University of Malaya old boys network worked wonders in keeping the wheels of administration well-oiled and running in a young Malaya. Located in Singapore, it saw friendships made and developed at the only tertiary institution in the peninsula and the island. And when Merdeka came in 1957, it saw the young graduates of that august citadel enter public service in droves. Former Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Alwi Jantan, who joined the Malayan civil service in 1958, said several friends from varsity days joined the government about that time. They included Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and Tun Musa Hitam who rode up the ladder fast as well. Other ba