Shah Alam UMNO Claims Bar Council Article Insults Islam

Last week, Shah Alam UMNO lodged a report against Malaysian Bar Council for releasing an article that insults Islam in their May/June 2004 edition of Infoline. This was reported by Bernama on 4th August 2004

The article entitled “Local Authorities Ought To Be Sensitive To Individual Rights” described the azan prayer as “noise pollution and an annoyance to neighbours.” The report was lodged by Mohd Azhar Othman, a member of the Shah Alam Umno Division committee and also head of the Section 7 Shah Alam Utara Umno Branch. He said Shah Alam Umno regretted that the Bar Council as a body set up under the Legal Professions Act 1976 had not taken into account the feelings of the Muslim community and Malaysia’s status as a multiracial country when publishing the article.

Bar president Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari defends the Infoline article and said that “”The Bar will be the last to exercise censorship over articles sent to us for publication. Anything that appears on Insaf (KL Bar Committee newsletter) or Infoline does not necessarily reflect the views of the Malaysian Bar,” He added that it did not appear
to be insulting Islam “if it is read within the proper context”. He said it was quite clear that the writer did not intend to cause any insult to any religious practice.” Indeed, the central theme of the article is not on religion but on a call for the adoption of a moderate and tolerant approach by the relevant authorities in regulating people’s activities. Those who read the article in full will understand the context within which the writer had argued his points,” he said.

Do you think what the Bar Council did is correct? Read the article and judge for yourself Human Writes Pull Out (Issue 10) (Page 4)

11 thoughts on “Shah Alam UMNO Claims Bar Council Article Insults Islam”

  1. In a free country, the Bar Council isn’t wrong. But Malaysia isn’t 100% free is it? Freedom of speech, isn’t one of the things we have unfortunately.

  2. I think in a sense that The Muslim community and UMNO are descriminating against others as only their ‘views’ are right and just. And after years of this practice, even a little criticism like above would cause such a uproar.

  3. yeah … multiracial my a**, how come they don’t take into consideration of the other races … remember it is 5 times a day, the earliest one being the loudest … what a great way to be woken up when you still have 3 more hours to sleep …

  4. why was such an article written/published in the first place? 5 prayers a day in such manner has always been the norm. theres not much defence that such statement be made except under special circumstances, eg:erection of more mosque in that same area that increases the noise level. meanwhile, i absolutely agree to lioneL.

  5. criticism is good, why keep insisting on apologies?anyways, i must say I agree with the noise pollution part, i used to stay near a mosque and i frigging hated it….Don’t know much about the religion, but there had better be a DAMN good reason in their quran or whatever for them to blast their prayers so loudly.

  6. To think about it? Who DOESN’T live next to a mosque??I remember that everywhere I moved there would always be a mosque. It is annoying, but I think ‘Tolerant’ people like ourselves get used to their 5 times a day, loudspeaker blaring prayers.It’s just that they can’t be ‘tolerant’ themselves even when it comes to a lil bit of criticism. Its not like ‘we’ (non-muslim, non-government) can DO ANYTHING about it??

  7. frank, i know u are bored go to my room got 1 game, on top of my small drawer – war of the rings take and play… forgot to pass to u b4 i left.

  8. I remember my Indian Econs teacher once told us that his local council instructed his community temple, which has been around for probably more than 20-30 years, to cease making noise or having any celebratory functions after x hours ‘coz the local council wanted to build a new mosque at the same location and this would disrupt their 5-time-a-day prayers. How silly. Shouldn’t it be first come first serve? Seems to me like as if the local council’s prioritizing certain religion over the rest.

  9. wolfx: Ya man. If you say something stupid, you will be imprisoned under ISALionel: My house in my hometown is very far away from the mosques. When i first moved in to my apartment in KL, i almost went crazy because the low cost flats behind my apartment uses loudspeaker to broadcast the prayers everyday. but then, i am used to it now.hc: Thanks man. That will keep me “alive” for a few days lar.Lainie: Maybe they r trying to remind the lazy muslims to pray…hehehehefoevy & earl-ku: The article is published to educate the Malaysian on their basic human right. I bet most of you are not aware that the loud prayers from the mosque is infringing your right to enjoyment.littlemisstinkles: That is because our national religion is Islam and according to Tun Dr M, malaysia is an islamic country. Anyway, you are forbid to make loud noises after 11pm regardless of who you are. The last prayer is 9.30pm so the mosque is not infringing the rule. =)

  10. i dunno if this is real or not .. the “tin hau kong” near mid valley … they said they have to lower the main peak of the pagoda thing as it was higher than the national mosque ….

  11. yeah i guess you can say that it’s a nuisance (then again it does not directly infringe your right to use your land) but it still, is reasonable i guess. it has been going on for so long that everyone just seems to accept it. btw, back in kk, i remember there are only a couple of them separated by miles away. at least i never heard such noise in all my near 20 years there. muahaha

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