Religious authorities turned my family against me, says Muslim charged with blasphemy

(Malay Mail Online) – Wan Sulaiman Wan Ismail said day he has lost everything, including his wife and family who have turned against him, after the Perak Islamic Affairs Department (JAIP) charged him with blasphemy simply for asking questions about Islam.

The 54 year-old father of four said after his house was raided and he was brought to the Shariah Court to face prosecution, he was immediately ostracised by his loved ones while his businesses also suffered as more people learned of JAIP’s charge against him.

“I lost everything… even my wife. They even turned my family against me,” the soft-spoken man told a press conference here.

His eyes were teary but he held back from crying.

“My businesses went down the drain… they started boycotting my businesses. And because of that, I can’t make any money and I was forced to sell my only home in Ipoh,” he added.

Wan Sulaiman, an engineer by training, runs his own small businesses in Ipoh.

He said after his businesses “collapsed”, he was forced to rely on a federal government lifeline programme for non-performing enterprises.

“So you can imagine… this is very unjust,” he lamented.

Earlier today, Malay Mail Online reported that Wan Sulaiman was prosecuted for purportedly after asking several religious teachers, including scholars in the Ipoh mufti office, the Perak religious authorities and even state mosque imams for the origin of the shahadah, among others.

In 2014, Wan Sulaiman said Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIP) had summoned him several times and tried to dissuade him from asking such questions.

But on January 21 this year, the state religious enforcers raided his home in Ipoh and confiscated his handwritten personal notes, besides screening his personal computer and mobile phone.

On the same day, Wan Sulaiman was charged in the Ipoh Shariah High Court under Section 15 of the Perak Shariah Criminal Enactment 1992 with “mocking, deriding, ridiculing or insulting Quranic or hadith texts”.

Wan Sulaiman’s case was initially to be heard on May 21 but has been postponed to July 2.

If found guilty, Wan Sulaiman can be fined not more than RM5,000, jailed not more than three years, or both.

His lawyer, Mansoor Saat, said today they will decide on the next course of action after the trial in the Shariah Court commence.