KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali clarified
yesterday that the directive by the Kota Baru Municipal Council in Kelantan for
businesses to close during Friday prayers was only limited to supermarkets and
hypermarkets.
PAS organ Harakah Daily reported Mustafa as saying that news reports by local
dailies The Star and the New Straits Times claiming that the ruling targeted all
businesses were inaccurate.
“After I referred to the Kota Baru Municipal Council Islamic City (MPKB-BRI),
I found that the reports were inaccurate and confusing,” Mustafa was quoted saying.
The PAS official said only supermarkets and hypermarkets were ordered to close
during Friday prayers because Muslim men who skipped their religious obligations were
found to loiter there.
The Star reported last Sunday non-Muslim businessmen in Kota Baru as saying that they should be exempted from the purported ruling ordering business premises to close from 12.30pm to 2pm every Friday.