PAS has criticised Muslims who showcased extreme fear of Islam following the recent intimidating march by its Terengganu youth wing members who took to the streets clad in medieval Islamic war costumes and armed with fake swords, spears and shields.
The Islamist party committee member Nasrudin Hassan was taken aback that Malaysians at large, including Muslims, have ridiculed the event which was part of the Himpunan Pemuda Islam Terengganu (HIMPIT) gathering on grounds that it disrupted public order and displayed violent and extreme elements when it was merely a themed parade a,k,a. cosplay.
“I see the emergence of an extreme fear of Islam. Unfortunately, there are some Muslims who are equally paranoid about the event,” he chastised in a column in PAS mouthpiece HarakahDaily.
“However, Malaysia is a country that has presented many similar parades every year. No issues arise. Armed parades by the national armed forces are often displayed in conjunction with the National Day or Heroes’ Day celebrations and even at certain official occasions.”
Added Nasrudin: “There are even shows of weapon fights using spears and swords in operas and cultural-cum-religious ceremonies of certain races in the country. This includes donning the costumes of past warrior and being fully armed.”
He also claimed the action as “selective prosecution” and made an issue of just because the participants were donning the attire of Muslim warriors of the past.
“If other parties did sot, maybe their action would be praised as interesting or exhibiting a legacy that needs to be remembered etc,” opined the Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (YADIM) president.
“It is difficult to treat if one is already a paranoid. By right, they (the authorities) should see the dumping of violent action films (in the country) as more dangerous for this will form both a violent mindset and an imitator society.”
As such, instead of taking a swipe at the cosplay march which is peaceful in nature, Nasrudin called on Minister on the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar to scrutinise movie “Pulau” (“Island”) which he described as “disturbing public order through semi-obscene action”.
“I hope the Minister of Religion can make a stronger criticism (of the movie) for it clearly contradicts the Shariah law,” he added. Feb 20, 2023
