Kongsi Raya - Can We Or Can't We

By Kilamxx

Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria, the Ulama Conference 2006 working committee chairman, last Tuesday said the ulamas wanted the government to review practices such as Kongsi Raya and open house to ensure they do not contradict Islam.

Datuk Seri Harussani said this was necessary because the National Fatwa Committee had decided that celebrating the festivals of other religions could erode the faith of Muslims and could lead to blasphemy.

Harussani's statements have set off a wave of responses from laymen as well as government Ministers as reported in the media in the last few days.

The Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister last Thursday asked that the ulamas present their argument with facts backed by the law.

Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the ulamas should make an official statement to the Government on the matter and substantiate their views with concrete findings.

“I want it in black and white, substantiated by an official statement from the ulamas to the Government. You cannot simply say it is wrong and not in accordance with the religious tenets and not substantiate your claims.”

Dr Rais added that the Government would not simply do away with the celebrations “simply because such comments were made without being tabled for the Government to analyse”.

“As such, the celebrations will go on as usual,” he said.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, has gone a step further by handing out his own fatwa on the matter by saying:

“They (the ulamas) are wrong.

“First, as Muslims we must have faith in Islam and things like (kongsi raya) will not erode our belief.

“Second, the purpose of the celebrations is to bring together people from all backgrounds, which Islam encourages, and not to isolate the Muslims.

“This is the opinion of a few people and we are not bound by it. We also have our advisers on Islam.”

With the current widespread publicity given to the topic, the writer feels that Datuk Seri Harussani or any of the other prominent ulamas should grab the opportunity to explain in detail to the Malaysian public the reasons for their concerns and illustrate the circumstances where these concerns might be trampled on.

The ears are already waiting. This might be the best time to educate the public on an aspect of socializing of which quite a number of Muslims themselves are ignorant.

It might be useful to be reminded that being a government appointed officer of the state the Mufti might be subjected to pressure from his employers or appointers to not make any comments or stand which might be contradictory to the official stand.

Therefore, we implore that the ulamas be allowed to freely express the Islamic viewpoint for the sake of the Muslims of this country.