Prayers for Non-Muslims: Harussani Shows His Great Ignorance
By Farouk A Peru
Harussani Zakaria, the infamous mufti of Perak, seems to be on a roll these days. It’s not been a month since he gave out the now retracted opinion on football jerseys, claiming that crosses and devils on them were haram. The response to that showed that the Malays are not so easy to control after all. I guess the Malays do have a threshold of how much of Harussani they can take. Today, Harussani displayed not only his mean spiritedness but an utter ignorance for the spirit of Islam. It is almost like he completely undermines what Islam stands for.
It all began with the accusations in Penang about how during a Friday prayer sermon, Lim Guan Eng’s name was mentioned instead of the King. Of course the emotions of those with nothing better to do ran high. Oh my God, how can we possibly mention the name of this non-Muslim who is certainly condemned to hell while we the chosen people get a first class ticket to heaven, right?!
Of course, political opportunist extraordinaire Harussani had to step in. It was a perfect opportunity for him to cement some Malay unity (or perhaps Muslim unity, depending on the hour I suppose). He then said that it is haram or forbidden for a Muslim to pray for the well-being of a non-Muslim. He should instead pray that a non-Muslim converts to Islam instead.
Of course this statement is dripping with bigotry and laced with mean-spiritedness so unbecoming of one trusted with the high office of muftiship. What is however more saddening is the sheer ignorance of the Quran displayed by Harussani in making this statement. I have compiled a few points from the Quran to show how much Harussani contradicts it.
Read more at: http://originalislam.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/prayers-for-non-muslims-harussani-shows-his-great-ignorance/
