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November 23, 2006

Malaysia: Muslim Woman Arrested For SMS Incitement

Since Thursday, November 2, phone text messages began circulating in the Malaysian state of Perak. These SMS messages stated that there would be mass conversions of 600 Muslims to Christianity at a church in Ipoh, the main city of Perak.

A crowd of several hundred Muslims had gathered outside Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Silibin, Ipoh, protesting at the supposed "mass conversion". It transpired that the event was a mass baptism of 98 children of Indian ethnic origin.

The messages had claimed that "several Malays will be baptised by Datuk Azhar Mansor". Azhar Mansor is the name of a man who sailed solo around the world in 1999. Azhar's elder brother, Azham, denied claims that the yachtsman had become an apostate.

Abdul Aziz Bulat, head of Perak police, said a week after the messages began circulating that he wanted to interview Harussani Zakaria, the Mufti of Perak. Bulat said: The Perak mufti might shed some light over the matter and assist in police investigations."

The mufti was at that time out of the country, visiting Syria. It had been alleged via SMS messages that on November 4 at the STate Mosque in Perak, the Mufti had made the announcement on the fictitious "conversions". Bulat also said he wanted to question Azhar Mansor.

The issue of race and religion in Malaysia has been made increasingly volatile, with the ruling UMNO party following a policy of ketuanan Melayu, the "Malay agenda" which dishonestly afirms that the Malays, who only arrived in the 14th century are the original and defining populace of Malaya, and thus should have special status and privileges.

Conversions from Islam are forbidden by law in the country. Those who have chosen to go to the courts to proclaim their desire to convert from Islam to Christianity, such as Lina Joy, have been threatened with death.

Even though the prime minister and head of UMNO, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has promoted his Malays-first policies (despite Malays comprising only 50.8% of the population) and thereby increased racial and religious tensions in the nation, the SMS messages caused him to make a statement. On November 6, he said: "I spoke to the IGP (Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan) yesterday and he told me what was in the SMS. Actually, there were no Malays about to be baptised at the church. Police are investigating and those responsible must be severely punished because they did it with the intent to provoke anger and reactions that lead to racial tension."

"I have said all along that religion is a sensitive issue and cannot be made fun of. It cannot be used to scare or shock people or for fun. This is not a joke."

Badawi reiterated his condemnation of these SMS messages at the 57th annual conference of the UMNO party on November 15.

The implication of the famous yachtsman, Azhar Mansor, in the SMS messages has now proved to be false. This did not stop the Bernama news agency on November 9 headlining an article "Original Sender of 'Baptism SMS' Traced", referring to the innocent Azhar Mansor.

The case of the SMS messaging was being investigated under the Sedition Act of 1947, which had been introduced when the nation was British Malaya. The maximum penalty under the Sedition Act can be three years in prison, with an additional fine of up to 5,000 ringit or $1,350.

The Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIP) held a meeting, and after this, the Menteri Besar (governor) of Perak state said that JAIP had been investigating apostasy among Muslims for some time, following a recommendation by the Mufti of Perak, Harussani Zakaria. The meeting concluded that the allegations that some Malay students of the Ungku Omar Polytechnic at Ipoh had converted to Christianity were false.

On November 10, the Mufti of Perak returned from Syria. On that date, the Menteri Besar of Perak, Seri Shahidan Kassim, announced that he had spoken personally with the round-the-world yachtsman, Azhar Mansor. Kassim said: "He still performs his daily prayers and also performed the Tarawih prayers the whole of last Ramadan and follows the teachings of Islam. How can it be said that he has changed his religion?"

49-year old Azhar also called a press conference in which he said that he had not changed his faith. He now resides in Australia. A week later, Azhar Mansor appeared at UMNO's 57th annual conference on November 17, in which he yet again was pressured to affirm that he and his wife had never changed their faith. Prime minister Badawi pointed out Azhar, sitting in the auditorium.

Badawi said: "Azhar Mansor has come to the assembly to declare that he still is a Muslim."

However, Azhar refused to state his "mengucap" (statement of Islamic faith, called the shahada or bismallah) for the benefit of the press. He protested: "You, you, you, did your mother ask you to "mengucap"? My father did not ask me to do so because we "mengucap" everytime we pray. I will not do it (mengucap). It is not doomsday when I will be questioned. We will not know where we will end up on doomsday."

"I live my life in Malaysia according to syarak (Sharia) laws and the laws of this country. I have never done anything wrong. If you want to ask whether a man is a Muslim or not ask those who commit rape. I only do my job and do not disturb anybody."

On Wednesday November 22, Perak state's police chief, Aziz Bulat announced that the person who had originally sent the text messages which caused such natonal concern had finally been found and arrested.

He said that the woman, in her 40s, and her 38-year old husband had been apprehended in the evening of Monday outside the Alor Star Hospital. Bulat said that the woman had become hysterical when approached by police officers, and had to be treated at the hospital before being brought in for questioning.

The information of the woman's identity had been revealed by the Mufti of Perak, following his return from Syria. Harussani Zakaria had said to the media that the woman had told him about the fictitious baptism of Muslims at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Silibin, Ipoh. She had first made the allegations to the Mufti on October 22.

On Tuesday, the police had circulated a photograph of the woman (pictured), after she had failed to turn up to answer questions as requested. She has been identified as Raja Sherina, a woman who has been well-educated within Islamic colleges. She is a graduate of the International Islamic University of Malaysia and the Al-Azhar University in Cairo.

Bulat said that Raja Sherina's statement would be recorded after a remand order had been obtained. Magistrate Syamsul Rezal Mohammed Ariff ordered the woman and her husband to be remanded in custody for three days.

Yesterday, she was to be brought before the court, and once again became hysterical. Once again, she was sent by police to the Alor Star hospital to be tranquilized, and then driven back.

She has a son, and he was placed in the care of a relative at Alor Star. Raja Sherina has two houses, one at Sungai Petani near Ipoh, and another 50 miles away at Sitiawan. Raja Sherina is unemployed.

The results of this case will be interesting. Sherina seems well-educated in Islam, but her wearing of the burka (called a tudung in Malaysia) suggests that she is a fundamentalist. As such, it would be easy to imagine her wanting to stir up conflict between Christians and Muslims. Her bouts of hysteria, if authentic, could be from fear of being punished, or signs of being mentally unstable. If she is mentally unstable, her illness would almost certainly have manifested itself early in her life, and would have hindered her ability to complete studies at Al-Azhar in Cairo.

So far, until more details are known, any reasonings for her disseminating the texts, and initially making claims against a reputable yachtsman and national hero, can only be speculations.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 23, 2006 9:23 PM

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