Wrong to ban SIS, allow different views, Anwar tells Muslim authorities
Zainah Anwar, Sisters in Islam
Sheridan Mahavera, The Malaysian Insider
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today that Muslim authorities should allow public space for divergent views promoted by groups like the Sisters In Islam (SIS)
The opposition leader said while it was the right of the National Fatwa Council to disagree with SIS, it should not have banned the group.
Anwar also defended Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali’s stance on the fatwa, saying that the latter merely said he respected it.
“My position is that there must be an avenue for people to agree to disagree and to continue to have discussions in a proper forum,” Anwar told reporters after giving a speech at the Muslim Democrats Conference dinner in Petaling Jaya tonight.
“I have reservations about the fatwa. It can express disagreements but I don’t think they should ban discourse in the first place.”
SIS is filing a judicial review on a fatwa gazetted in July which declared that SIS and any other similar organisations that promote religious liberalism and plurality as being deviant to the teachings of Islam.
Meanwhile, Azmin said that the Selangor Muslim Affairs Council (Mais) will meet SIS over the fatwa that declared the latter a deviant organisation.
Azmin said the meeting would allow Mais to listen to SIS’s point of view while the latter would also have the chance to learn the reasons behind the fatwa.
“This is positive development to enable SIS to discuss with MAIS and the Mufti’s office to look into the matter.”
