A never ending plight for the so-called ‘oppressed ex Muslims’ as they are still unable to reform Malaysian laws and change local norms & perceptions from the early 90s until today.
The trend of ‘self-removing hidayah’ is getting pretty hyped since the past decades which has then attracted a lot of false & unfair criticisms from the global members. They accuse us of depriving human rights by abusing freedom of religion for Muslims and making it hard for those who want to leave Islam to commit sins.
Lest we forget how the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (COMANGO) has demanded for freedom of murtad way back in 2013 by calling Malaysia to sign the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR) whereby the right to freedom of religion in its Article 18 includes one’s right to change one’s religion.
This has indirectly shifts to another problematic issue – Islamophobia. Nowadays those who renounce Islam or commit ridda (in Arabic) are being far too ridiculous in the sense that they disallow freedom of religion by dehumanizing fellow Muslim friends and family members once becoming an apostate.
From now, ‘they’ here refers to pro-apostasy (extreme liberals), ex Muslims, supporters of atheism & atheists.
Quite an oxymoron, isn’t? They shout for freedom of religion (or no religion) but they don’t allow Muslims to freely profess and practice Islam in accordance to the divine revelation & other sources of Syariah. They absolutely hate it when Muslims tell them what is right & wrong in the eyes of Allah & Rasulullah ﷺ while at the same time, preach for #LoveForAll. How hypocrite!
If you’re able to seek through & read at least few postings in these online Murtad groups, you will notice that they are playing the all time favorite anti-Muslim and anti-Islam sentiments.
They are not just advocating for religious freedom per se, they deliberately want to establish fear of Islam and provoke sensitivities of Muslims worldwide. Many issues like the application of Hudud, child & polygamous marriage as well as prohibition of alcohol & same sex relationship are lambasted with no basis, even the physical figure of an average Muslim man is blatantly cartoon-ed / ridiculed by them.
They also argue that as the Malays are not allowed to convert to other religion or delete the word ‘Islam’ from their ID cards, they will be subjected to ‘daily religious persecution’ namely Syariah criminal charges if one day they decide not to fast during Ramadan, drink liqours, marry a Non Muslim or submit to the obligatory Jumaat prayer each week.
They try to frame our Federal Constitution & state Syariah as a set of prejudiced & draconian laws in an attempt to legalise and make apostasy acceptable for all Muslims.
Keep this straight in our mind that Islam is the religion of the Federation and it is under the control of the state as per Article 11 (4) of Federal Constitution & Article 74 clause (2) referred to together in the Second List of the Ninth Schedule.
Almost each state has a law that restricts the dissemination of any religious doctrines or beliefs other than Islam (including heresy) to Muslims. The Federal Court has ruled, as in the case of Sulaiman Takrib against the Terengganu Islamic Religious Council, that the State Assembly has legislative powers to criminalise any offense which violates Islamic religious orders.
The Federal Court also held that the meaning of ‘precepts of Islam’ is not just a pillar of Islam but any order of Islam. Hence, those who commit apostasy are clearly bound under this law.
As a concerned member of the public, I urge everyone to start reporting these FB pages and mark them as either offensive or inapproriate as such it violates the Facebook’s community standards. Once that is done, please make your way to the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)’s official website portal to submit any report against the admin or creator of the pages or any relevant postings.
These online groups were initiated 3-4 years ago but I think they hardly received any bad reporting from the netizen. It is time to start the banning of all online Murtad and Deviant groups and report them to the authorities, for the police to hunt them down.
As a Muslim, I humbly ask everyone out there who follows the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to reflect and think how would his most beloved Companion, Sayyidina Abu Bakar as Siddiq رحمه الله react and respond to this kind of situation, if he was here today.
وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَلَا الْمُسِيءُ قَلِيلاً مَّا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ
“Not equal are the blind and the seeing, nor (are equal) those who believe and do good, righteous deeds, and the doers of evil. Little do you reflect and be mindful!” (Ghafir: 58)
Nur Farihah Meor Mazli
Youth & Media Exco
International Women’s Alliance for Family Institution & Quality Education (WAFIQ)
