Harussani: Poco-poco has elements of Christianity and spirit worship
By Roshidi Abu Samah and Isabelle Lai, The Star
IPOH: “Poco-poco” originates from a ritual dance often practised in Jamaica and contains elements of Christianity as well as spirit worship, insists Perak mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria.
Harussani said the word “poco” in some dictionaries also referred to a kind of wild dance performed while possessed by “ancestral spirits”.
“I requested some cultural officers to do research and they came out with the findings. The cross-shaped movement, normally associated with Christianity, can be seen clearly in the dance but this was not realised by most Muslims.
“Therefore, it is unacceptable to say that the dance is just another form of exercise. That is why it is haram for Muslims,” he said here yesterday.
Harussani, who had recently announced that the dance would be banned in Perak, said he had also received a call from a Christian in France disputing the edict by the Perak Fatwa Committee.
“When I asked him if it was all right for him to perform a dance depicting the Muslims’ prayer movements, he said No’,” Harussani said, adding that Muslims could perform zapin or joget for exercise instead.
“They can dance and exercise as long as they want, provided that the men and women are separated,” he said.
A source from the Perak Culture and Arts Department said it had informed Harussani that the word “poco-poco” was found in the Jamaican dictionary.
“We also told him of the two theories concerning the origin of the dance, which many think is from either the Philippines or Indonesia.
“We described how it is performed, which is through a sequence of steps from right to left and back to front,” he said, adding however that it did not offer any religious opinion about the dance.
The second edition of the Dictionary of Jamaican English notes that although the word “poco” did not carry much meaning on its own, it is “probably an abbreviation of the word pocomania”.
“Pocomania”, it says, is probably derived from an African word, featuring dances wildly performed while possessed by “ancestral spirits” and induced catalepsy, and could also mean “to shake or tremble, or dance wildly in a state of frenzy”.
The word “poco-poco” could also be used in reply to the question “How are you?” to mean “fairly well, not too good but not too bad.”
In Kota Baru, Kelantan mufti Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad urged the National Fatwa Council to study the dance, adding that the matter had to be discussed at the federal level.
He also advised Muslims to leave it to the authorities to make a decision and not discuss the issue to the extent of allowing their differences in opinion to cause disunity.
