The Malay Mail Online – Fri, Oct 31, 2014RELATED CONTENT
- Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin spoke at the ‘Openness vs Sensitive disclosure’ …
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 ― Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday criticised the threats of violence aimed at organisers of the controversial “I Want To Touch A Dog” event, saying such delicate subjects should instead be resolved through discourse.
While noting the controversy surrounding event in which some Muslims touched dogs considered unclean by followers of Islam here, Khairy said those against it should have argue their positions instead of immediately becoming offended and offensive.
“Do not conclude that the programme was wrong, don’t say we don’t need to listen to him further. Don’t say you want to slap him. To me that’s not the solution.”
“What kind of society do we have today? When an issue arises, I think we should discuss it and in Islam we know that disagreements are a normal thing,” said Khairy in the forum titled “Openness vs Sensitive disclosure”, in Kelana Jaya.
Also present at the forum was Syed Azmi Al-Habshi, one of those behind the dog-petting event who was threatened with death and violence for organising the affair.
Syed Azmi said that it was important for followers of all religions to acknowledge the need to be mindful of others if they wished others to be understanding of their own religious norms.
“Sensitivity goes both ways, for Muslims and non-Muslims,” Syed Azmi said.
Umno Youth exco member and Islamic scholar Dr Fathul Bari Mat Jahya, who was also on the discussion panel, said it was important to approach sensitive matters with caution in order to understand them and arrive at the correct conclusions.
He also said that while Islam permitted the free expression of ideas, this did not extend to menacing others with death threats and violence.
“In order to educate the people on a sensitive issue, you got to do it in steps. With these small discussions, we can learn to understand one another,” Fathul explained
The “I Want to Touch a Dog” event at the Central Park in Bandar Utama, Selangor a fortnight ago drew nearly 200 volunteers and dog owners and gave Malay-Muslims the opportunity to pet canines, an animal that many in the community regard as culturally taboo.
According to organisers, they had only prepared 500 flyers on the correct Islamic teachings on handling dogs as they had not expected the crowd to balloon to the size of 1000 persons.
On Sunday, Syed Azmi made a public apology for any discomfort caused by the event.
He was earlier targeted with messages threatening to injure or kill him, forcing him to report to the police and online regulators Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for assistance.
Detractors have also spread rumours and allegations saying that Syed Azmi is a covert Christian or a Shiah Muslim out to spread liberalism or deviant teachings.
