KUALA LUMPUR: Academics believe Malaysia is fast becoming an intolerant Muslim nations and are urging Malaysian Muslims to speak up. This comes in the wake of the ongoing persecution against the minority Syiah Muslims in the country. Prof Dr Syed Farid Alatas, a professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore, says Syiah Muslims were banned in Malaysia as they were seen as deviant, adding that such perceptions should be changed. "We have to go against the tide. I wish he (Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof) would (voice) out more against the persecution of the Syiah Muslims. "He made it seem like it was okay (to conduct the raid). Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Jika pemegang amalan Sunni negara ini, bersama-sama membantah penganiayaan terhadap pengamal Syiah, nescaya UMNO dan Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan akan turut memastikan keadilan untuk mereka, kata ahli akademik Prof Dr Syed Farid Alatas. Beliau berkata, jika itu berlaku, ia dapat mengurangkan jurang pemisahan antara dua kumpulan itu, dan dapat membantu masyarakat Islam Malaysia menjadi lebih maju. Selain itu, pakar sosiologi dari National University of Singapore (NUS) itu berkata, ia juga dapat memastikan tiada lagi tindakan sewenang-wenangnya ke atas pengamal Syiah, termasuk serbuan yang dilakukan di Gombak baru-baru ini, yang beliau sifatkan sebagai 'barbaric'. “Kalau rakyat S

KUALA LUMPUR: A sociology professor has warned that Malaysia is slipping into extremist tendencies following the crackdown on Shia Muslims by Johor and Selangor religious authorities last month. Syed Farid Alatas of the National University of Singapore said Malaysia is becoming one of the most extremist Muslim nations in the world, stressing that Sunni Muslims in the nation need to quickly realise and understand the implications. “In the 1980s, when I was a student in the US, whenever I met Muslim students from other countries they would look up to Malaysia, saying we were the model to follow because, in those days, Malaysia was able to combine religiosity with modernisation. “Recently, in t

We, the members of G25, wish to express our deep disappointment with the current government for being secretive on the reports produced by the several independent committees of inquiry and special committees appointed by the government to investigate into and deliberate on matters of public interest to Malaysians. Two of our members were involved in serving on such committees and they are highly frustrated that the reports of their respective committees, which have been submitted to the respective ministries or Cabinet months ago, are still in cold storage. Having discussed with them, we decided that it is in the public interest that G25 issues this statement. One such report that has not

G25 is not only deeply disappointed but terribly alarmed by the recent decision of the High Court of Kuala Lumpur regarding the application of Sisters in Islam (SIS) to challenge a fatwa (gazetted as Sel. P.U. 28 dated 31 July 2014) against them by the Selangor religious authority. The fatwa states that SIS subscribes to “liberalism” and religious “pluralism” and deviates from the teachings of Islam. There are serious negative implications of such a decision. Not only is it a major blow for Muslim women, but it is also a regressive step away from racial and religious harmony. Having celebrated Merdeka Day only a few days ago, the rejection of SIS’ application is akin to rejecting the fundame