Ibrahim Ali didn’t really want to burn bibles, Perak mufti says
(TMM) – The police’s decision not to take action against Datuk Ibrahim Ali for threatening to burn Malay language bibles was justified as the Perkasa chief had no real intention to torch the holy books, Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria said.
The Islamic scholar claimed Ibrahim’s so-called threat was merely a figurative response to previous suggestions made by some Christians to burn the Quran.
“He didn’t really burn the bibles. He only asked what would the Christians feel if I burn the bibles… he only asked what would they feel because they said they wanted to burn the Quran.
“I believe Datuk Ibrahim Ali will never burn the bibles (even if he had the chance),” Harussani told Malay Mail Online when contacted last week.
The Perak Mufti did not, however, explain how he had come to know of the motive behind Ibrahim’s statement.
Ibrahim allegedly threatened to burn bibles that contained the Arab word for god “Allah” in 2012 amid heightened tension sparked by the Catholic church’s legal bid to defend its use of the term for its weekly paper the Herald.
In 2010, a church in the United States caused global uproar when it suggested organising an “International Burn A Koran Day” to commemorate the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre.
Malaysian leaders had condemned the proposal then, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak saying in a speech on September 10 that it was an “uncivilised” and “deplorable” threat.
Harussani, when asked if Islam condones the act of issuing such threats, neither agreed nor disagreed but repeated his belief that Ibrahim had not meant to burn any bible.
He went on to say that Christians have never condemned those among its followers who were found to have insulted Islam, saying only Muslims would do so.
“When they insulted Hari Raya and other things, did the Christians condemn them? No. Only the Malays would do so,” he said.
“The Christians only think about their sensitivity. The sensitivity of the Muslims, they never seem to care about,” he said.
Despite calls for stern action against Ibrahim, de facto law minister Nancy Shukri said on Tuesday that the Perkasa chief will not be prosecuted over his alleged threat as the police had concluded that he was merely defending Islam.
In a written parliamentary reply to DAP’s Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng last week, Nancy said that a police probe had found that Ibrahim’s statement was directed at individuals who had purportedly distributed bibles containing the word “Allah” to students, including the Malays, at Penang’s Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jelutong.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) expressed outrage over Putrajaya’s refusal to pursue Ibrahim, saying a threat or call to violent action, desecration of another Malaysian citizen’s sacred text can never be considered defensive “by no logic or rationalisation” and “under no circumstances whatsoever”.
Although Nancy had replied on behalf of the prime minister, CFM insisted last Thursday that the public should call for action to be taken against her.
