Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email PUTRAJAYA: The Prime Minister wants the religious authorities to find out the grouses of Muslims who renounce Islam.
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had repeatedly told the religious officers to listen to their problems, to learn why they want to leave the faith, and in the case of converts, why they wish to return to their former religion.
"Find out what they are disappointed with, why a Muslim convert would return to her earlier religion after the death of her husband," he told newsmen after opening the 18th Conference of International Islamic FIQH Academy here yesterday.
The Prime Minister, who was asked to comment on the spate of court cases involving people seeking to leave the faith, admitted that he did not know why "suddenly these things seem to be coming out one after another."
He recognised, however, that there was a problem and wanted to know the reasons why Muslims were leaving Islam.
He also said he had not heard of people being tortured at religious rehabilitation centres, and brushed off such claims as wild allegations.
NST version: source
'Religious authorities should listen to grouses'
PUTRAJAYA: Religious authorities should be prepared to listen to Muslims who wanted to leave Islam, the prime minister said.
"I have always told our religious authorities that they should be ready to listen to these grouses and solve the problem," Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said at a press conference after opening the 18th Conference of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy here.
The prime minister was asked to comment on a number of highly publicised cases of Muslims wishing to renounce their religion, the latest of which was that of 29-year-old M. Revathi, born Siti Fatimah Abdul Karim, whose profession of the Hindu faith earned her a six-month detention at a rehabilitation centre in Selangor.
She was released into the care of her Muslim parents on Thursday.
Abdullah said he did not know why such cases were coming up one after another.
On allegations of torture at the Islamic rehabilitation centres, Abdullah said he had not heard of such claims.
"Rehabilitation centres are not for torturing, only counselling."
In his speech at the conference, the prime minister said the Muslim ummah needed to derive the necessary juristic approaches to enable it to engage in new developments in the field of sciences.
He called on Muslim scholars to be innovative, a premise upon which the principle of ijtihad stood.
"It is always easier to take the path of least resistance, to simply say 'no' but in doing so, we may rob the Muslim ummah of the opportunity for progress. Instead, Muslim scholars must have the courage to study and contemplate the great issues of the day with wisdom and sincerity."
Muslim scholars, Abdullah added, must always approach religious interpretation in the best interests of the ummah.
"The law does not exist in a vacuum, it is a product of the world's view and the ethics of society.
"We must walk away from senseless polemics in minor matters and instead focus on the priorities of the ummah."
Speaking to reporters, the prime minister said he had proposed Kuala Lumpur as a venue for ulama to find ways of ending conflict in the Middle East.
"I have discussed this with Fiqh Academy president (Dr Saleh Ibn Humaid) and secretary-general (Muhammad Al Habib Ibn Khuja). The ulama should be given the opportunity to express their views on the conflicts and whether there is a necessity to hold discussions between the factions, politicians and governments."
