The Malaysian state of Malacca will review and tighten procedures for foreign preachers to prevent the spread of radical teaching. "We will review, revisit and tighten up all our procedures and ...
- Posted 02 Feb 2017 13:38
- Updated 03 Feb 2017 00:32
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian state of Malacca will review and tighten procedures for foreign preachers to prevent the spread of radical teaching.
"We will review, revisit and tighten up all our procedures and guidelines for foreign preachers to give sermons here, to prevent radical teachings. Prevention is better than cure," Malacca's Chief Minister Idris Haron told Channel NewsAsia.
Mr Idris also questioned the need to have foreign preachers from war-torn countries coming to Malacca to teach people how to live in harmony.
"For example, we have Syrian preachers coming here to teach us how to live peacefully. Their country is in chaos ... and they want to teach us how to live peacefully? By right, our preachers should be going there to teach them how to live in peace and stability," said Mr Idris.
The six-year civil war in Syria has claimed more than 300,000 lives and displaced an estimated four million people from the country.
According to the minister, 157 foreign preachers held sermons and talks in Malacca from 2015 to 2016. Most of them were from Indonesia, while the others were from Pakistan, Thailand, India, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
“We have in our state quite a number of good preachers who can preach well and are well-understood by the people. They are knowledgeable, experienced and well-recognised by certain quarters in society, but we still want external preachers," said Mr Idris.
“My worry is that they (foreign preachers) don’t respect the law of the state. For example, we have the requirement that there must be no insult against any of the different beliefs in our country where we have been living in unity, solidarity and harmony for the past 60 years."
“There is a possibility they (foreign preachers) could talk bad about other people’s beliefs and way of life,” Mr Idris added.
Last year, Malacca banned controversial Mumbai-based preacher Zakir Naik from preaching. The televangelist with millions of followers is banned in the UK and Canada for openly expressing support for Al-Qaeda.
MALAYSIANS WHO WERE RADICALISED BY FOREIGNERS
Malaysia has a recent history of foreign preachers radicalising its citizens.
The most prominent case was that of Malaysian mathematician Azahari Husin, the bomb-maker of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.
The moderate Azahari became a radical when he fell under the influence of Indonesian preacher, Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiyah which is blamed for the Bali bombings. Bashir had lived in exile in Malaysia from 1985 to 1999.
Azahari inflicted carnage on Indonesia from 2002 to 2005. Apart from the Bali bombings, he also assembled explosive devices for the 2003 Jakarta Marriott Hotel car bombing and the 2004 Australian Embassy blast. He was killed in a shootout with Indonesian police in 2005 in Batu, Malang, East Java.
In 2010, Malaysia deported Syrian preacher Aiman al-Dakak, an alleged senior leader of Al-Qaeda who recruited university students. He was also said to have plotted to attack Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, a popular tourist attraction housing Hindu temples.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malacca-tightens-entry-requirements-for-foreign-preachers/3486332.html
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