Download Islamic moral police in Malaysia kick started this year’s Valentine’s Day by arresting several Muslim couples for committing khalwat or “close proximity.”
Considered an immoral Western tradition, Islamic authorities say Muslims who observe Valentine’s Day will “invoke the wrath of Allah”.
In 2005, Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council issued a fatwa declaring Valentine’s Day Haram, or forbidden in Islam.
About 60 percent of Malaysians are Muslim and the Valentine’s Day ban is just one of several popular activities considered “unlawful in Islam”.
Our correspondent Clarence Chua heads to the heart of Kuala Lumpur to find out more.
It’s Valentine’s Day and the topic of love is all over the airwaves.
I ask some Malaysians in the capital how they normally celebrate the occasion.
30-year-old Mohd Saiful comes from Ipoh, Perak.
“As I understand, Valentine’s Day is a day that celebrates loves and affection. I don’t really celebrate it, only sometimes, not every year. Even if I do it’s usually just having dinner”.
But Islamic authorities believe that Muslims should avoid celebrations on February 14 altogether.
In a sermon prepared by the state and federal Islamic authority, Muslims were told that asking someone to be their Valentine could lead to ‘idol worship’.
Islamic NGO Sisters in Islam, well-known for its strong stand against the caning of women, says the authorities have their priorities all wrong.
Noor Akmal Zulkifli is the program officer.
“There are more pressing issues. For us the core issues that we fight for – the payment of alimony, wife and children who are abandoned by their husbands, the very regressive Islamic family laws that we are advocating for reform. These are more pressing issues as suppose to really channeling their energy and resources to issues like Valentine’s Day or banning yoga or banning poco poco. Sisters in Islam we have already make public position on the issue of moral policing because I think it violates personal dignity and privacy and again this is against the spirit of Islam”.
Over recent years, Islamic authorities in Malaysia have declared several popular activities Haram.
In 2008 the National Fatwa Council outlawed yoga, claiming it’s links to Hinduism could weaken the faith of Muslims that practise the exercise.
Last year the religious head of Perak state banned the Indonesian poco poco dance claiming it had elements of Christianity because its steps make the sign of the cross.
Now a protest memorandum calling for a stop to all Valentine’s Day promotions has been targeted at local media.
And the move does have its fair share of supporters. Mohd Saiful from Perak explains.
“Personally, from a religious perspective it goes against the teachings of Islam because it has elements of Christianity. And I do believe it will in some ways affect us, because for us Muslims we always fall back on the Quran and we believe these things have elements of other religions. I believe that the advice to refrain from celebrating is also good as it reduces sinful activities”.
But Akik Sanyol, an Iban Christian from the state of Sarawak, says that this is another example of religious conservatism that is harming pluralism in multi-racial Malaysia.
“These things have been celebrated many years ago by the Muslims, by the Chinese, by the Indians. There is never such thing where by this is a Christian thing you shouldn’t celebrate. Now everything that the Muslim does is wrong because it has something to do with the Christians. So whatever the Christians do is wrong because something that you do, something that you said is against the Muslims. This is a wrong idea. To me this is politics plain and simple”.
Instead of joining the fray, Malaysia’s Minister of Information has stressed the importance of multi-culturalism and respecting cultural differences.
Accusations against the non-Malays of trying to usurp the special status of Islam and the Malays have increased since the last general election in 2008 where the ruling government lost five states to the opposition.
In 2010, three churches in the capital Kuala Lumpur were fire bombed. The attack came after the Kuala Lumpur High Court struck down a three-year old ban on non-Muslims using the word Allah.
Last year a government-linked, right-wing, Malay group Perkasa, and a vernacular newspaper ‘Utusan Malaysia’, accused the opposition of conspiring to turn Malaysia into a Christian state. Then a church in Selangor was raided for an alleged attempt to convert Muslims en masse.
Noor Akmal from Sisters in Islam again.
“I think in the end it depends on the people who engage in such activities. What kind of intentions they have when they do it. Are you saying that when they start doing poco poco they start to think about Christianity? They will get swayed and convert to Christianity. I think that is a very shallow and very narrow minded way to look at things. For Malaysia to move ahead both for Muslims and non-Muslims I think such restrictions should be really reconsidered.”
So for Valentine’s Day there will be roses for some and jail time for others this year.
