A gross distortion of facts in the name of Islam

Raja Petra Kamarudin

On Friday, 29 April 2005, HarakahDaily.net carried a news item on its website entitled ‘Penduduk Segambut Dalam bantah penjualan tapak surau’. (The full text of the news item in Bahasa Malaysia can be read below).

In its report, HarakahDaily quoted statements by Azmi Mahmood, Hamim Muhammad and Bakhtiar Adnan, local Umno ‘kingpins’ from that area. Bakhtiar, who claims to be the chairman of the ‘action committee’, is actually the Umno Youth leader for that area.

The news report is about a dispute with regards to 2,000 square feet of land that a surau (prayer hall) has been built on. The surau is actually on an adjacent piece of land with part of it infringing into the adjoining piece of land that is the subject of the dispute.

According to Bakhtiar, the grandfather of the present owners of the 2,000 square feet of land donated (wakaf) it to the surau in 1970. And the donation was done verbally with no legal transfer done. Seeing that the gentleman concerned died in 1968, how could be have ‘verbally’ donated the land to the surau?

Further to that, the size of the land is about 18,000 square feet or so, so the land would have to be partitioned or subdivided to enable the surau to legally own 2,000 square feet of the 18,000 square feet. This was never done.

Even if the dead owner had somehow risen from his grave to ‘verbally’ donate 2,000 square feet of his land to the surau, the surau has abused this ‘donation’ by building on 4,800 square feet instead of the 2,000 square feet which the surau committee claims legally belongs to them.

What did happen, say the landowners, is that the surau committee approached them in 1980 and asked for permission to extend their surau into their land. And the agreed area that the surau would use is 2,000 square feet, not 4,800 square feet. The surau committee does not dispute that the agreed area is 2,000 square feet.

Nevertheless, the surau comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Territory Religious Department (JAWI) and JAWI says that there is no record of the land ever being donated to them. And JAWI has stepped in to try to resolve the dispute. But even JAWI cannot reason with the surau committee and congregation who refuse to accept any form of compensation or agree to an alternative site for their surau.

The land has since been sold to a developer and the landowners — Siti Noraini bte Nahrawi, Mohd Firuz bte Nahrawi, Norli bte Nahrawi, Siti Norwani bte Nahwari, Mohd Firdauz bte Nahwari, Mohd Fawzi bin Nahwari and Mohd Fahmi bin Nahwari — have agreed to pay the surau RM102,000 as compensation for the 2,000 square feet of land based on the sales price of RM51 per square foot. Further to that, they have agreed to pay an additional RM30,000 as compensation to dismantle the old and ramshackle wooden surau. But this offer of compensation has been rejected by the surau committee. They do not want to accept the RM132,000, or any amount of money for that matter. They also disagree that the surau be relocated to another site. They just want to stay put on the present site.

But the land has already been sold and the original landowners no longer legally own it. A legally binding sales and purchase agreement has been signed and the land title has been transferred to the new owner. For all intents and purposes, the surau is an ‘illegal squatter’ on the land. Plus it is occupying 4,800 square feet and not 2,000 square feet which the surau committee and congregation claim a dead man donated to the surau years after he had died.

There is another unused piece of land nearby which is owned by the local mosque and JAWI has agreed that the surau be relocated to this piece of land which has been legally gazetted as a site for a mosque. But the surau committee and congregation — who other than being Umno members and office bearers are also Indonesian immigrants with PR status — do not agree to this site because all their houses are built on this land. If the surau is relocated to this site, then their squatter houses would have to make way for the surau.

The irony of this whole thing is; they want their surau to continue occupying the present site because they do not want to demolish or relocate their own houses that are illegally built on the piece of land owned by the mosque.

On 11 April 2005, JAWI wrote to the surau committee telling them that, according to the National Land Code, the 2,000 square feet piece of land cannot be legally registered as a site for the surau because of its size which is too small. JAWI then referred to the meeting it had with the landowners on 25 September 2004 whereby the landowners have agreed to pay compensation in lieu of the 2,000 square feet of land based on current market value. JAWI also explained that this is allowed under Islam and it advised the surau committee to dismantle the surau within 14 days.

But the day that the surau was supposed to be dismantled the locals came out in full force and threatened bloodshed. The landowners then approached the police who informed them that the police would not get involved and if any trouble were to erupt then the police would arrest those creating trouble plus all the landowners as well, never mind that the landowners had a legal right over the land and the order to dismantle and relocate the surau came from JAWI.

JAWI agrees that the surau is illegally squatting on a piece of land not gazetted or legally registered for usage as a site for a surau. JAWI has informed the surau committee of this and has suggested that the landowners pay compensation to move the surau to a nearby site, which the landowners have agreed to. JAWI even offered the surau another nearby piece of land owned by the mosque as this alternative site.

But the imam of the surau, a firebrand Indonesian, plus the local Umno Youth leader and chairman of the ‘action committee’, Bakhtiar, are not backing down. And Bakhtiar has threatened to bring this matter to the attention of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi if JAWI presses the issue and refuses to allow the surau to stay put on this piece of land. And JAWI does not know where to go from here other than advice the landowners to demolish the surau by force and to get police protection when they do so.

But the police say they are not getting involved and if trouble does break out then the landowners are going to jail.

Over to you Pak Lah! Is this what Islam Hadhari is all about? Let us see how Islam demonstrates its fairness to rightful landowners. Or does Islam allow Muslims to take someone else’s land by force as long as it is to build a prayer hall and as long as those behind it are Umno Youth leaders?

Not a nice demonstration of Islamic justice is it?

KUALA LUMPUR, 29 April (Hrkh) – Penduduk Kampung Segambut Dalam membantah tindakan waris kepada pewakaf sekeping tanah yang menempatkan sebuah surau di kampung mereka, menjual tanah tersebut kepada pemaju.

Harakah difahamkan, pewaris yang juga cucu kepada pewakaf mahu menjual tanah tersebut kepada sebuah syarikat daripada Korea yang akan membangunkan satu blok pangsapuri di situ.

Timbalan Ketua kampung di situ, Azmi Mahmood 53, ketika ditemui berkata, tanah tersebut tidak boleh dijual kerana ia telah diwakafkan dan syarat untuk menarik semula tanah wakaf tersebut tidak terdapat dalam kes berkaitan tapak surau tersebut.

“Setahu saya syarat untuk menarik balik hanyalah apabila Surau tidak lagi digunakan, berkedudukan dalam keadaan bahaya atau diambil oleh kerajaan.”

“Tetapi semuanya tidak berlaku, malahan surau ini sangat aktif digunakan oleh penduduk dengan pelbagai aktiviti ibadah, pengajian dan kemasyarakatan,” kata beliau.

Kata Azmi, beliau beserta penduduk kampung kecewa dengan sikap pewaris kepada pewakaf tersebut kerana mereka memang tahu datuknya telah mewakafkan tanah itu dan sebelum ini pewaris itu juga telah menandatangani surat pengakuan wakaf.

Seorang lagi penduduk yang ditemui, Hamim Muhammad 45, berkata penduduk kampung juga bimbang sekiranya surau tersebut dirobohkan akan mengundang pelbagai masalah sosial dalam masyarakat.

“Surau ini banyak menjalankan aktiviti seperti kuliah-kuliah agama yang mendidik masyarakat termasuk golongan remaja supaya berpegang dengan ajaran agama.”

“Malahan surau ini jugalah menjadi tempat yang menyatukan penduduk kampung hidup dengan rukun dan damai,” kata beliau.

Kata Hamim, beliau sangat terharu apabila surau tersebut hendak dirobohkan, lebih-lebih lagi ia adalah wakaf daripada orang yang telah meninggal dunia.

Katanya, apabila surau tersebut tiada, pahala kepada arwah pewakaf akan terputus.

Sementara itu Harakah telah menemui Pengerusi jawatan kuasa bertindak kampung Segambut Dalam, Bakhtiar Adnan, untuk mendapatkan gambaran lebih jelas mengenai kontroversi surau tersebut.

Kata Bakhtiar, pada tahun 1970 datuk kepada pewaris tanah tersebut telah mewakafkan tanah mereka (tapak surau) secara lisan dan penduduk telah membangunkan surau di tanah itu pada tahun 1980.

Kata beliau, Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP) secara rasmi menerima wakaf tersebut sebagai wakaf am hanya pada tahun 1984 dimana para pewaris telah mengesahkannya dengan menurunkan tandatangan di atas surat penyerahan.

Bagaimanapun kata beliau, pada 21 Jun 2004 Ahli Jawatankuasa Surau telah menerima notis daripada peguam pihak pewakaf supaya mengosongkan surau tersebut kerana tanah yang menjadi tapak surau akan dijual kepada sebuah syarikat pemaju.

Masalah ini menjadi semakin rumit kata beliau apabila tanah yang diwakafkan itu sebenarnya tidak dipindahmilik kepada nama MAIWP kerana menyalahi Kanun Tanah Negara.

“Bahagian tanah yang diwakafkan itu hanya 2000 kaki persegi, keluasan ini tidak membolehkan tanah dipindah milik daripada pemilik asal kepada pihak yang diwakafkan.”

“Sekiranya dibawa ke mahkamah tidak mungkin keputusan akan memihak kepada MAIWP,” kata beliau.

Bagaimanapun kata Bakhtiar, pihaknya tidak akan berputus asa untuk memastikan tanah tersebut tidak dijual dan surau dirobohkan seperti mana yang hendak dilakukan oleh waris pewakaf.

“Kami akan cuba membawa perkara ini ke mahkamah Syariah,” kata beliau.