Day: October 9, 2017

Ex-judge criticises Jawi over action against Turkish writer, IRF founder

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

Former Court of Appeal Judge, Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Yunus. Pic from the Star Online.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — The Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) was hurting free speech by pursuing two scholars for preaching without credentials, said former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Yunus.

He said he and the G25 group were saddened by the treatment of Turkish journalist and writer Mustafa Akyol and Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) founder Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa.

“With the greatest respect to Jawi, I am at a loss to understand as to how a public discourse on Islam could be taken to be ‘teaching’ within section 11 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act.

“Such action by Jawi undermines our freedom of speech as guaranteed by Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and the Rule of Law as decreed by our Rukun Negara,” he said in a statement. Read more →

Parents at wits’ end ‘dump’ problem children at tahfiz schools

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Source: The Malaysian Insight

Parents at wits’ end ‘dump’ problem children at tahfiz schools

Nur Suhaizah Jumaat lives next door to the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school in Kg Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, where a fire claimed 23 lives on September 14. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, October 9, 2017.

MUSLIM parents are turning to tahfiz schools as a last-ditch attempt to rehabilitate their children, who are either struggling academically or having behavioural problems, said an administrator at a religious school in the Klang Valley.

Anwar Awang, the deputy director of a tahfiz school in Rawang, Selangor, said three-quarters of the 46 pupils in his school faced disciplinary problems and have failed academically at national schools.

“For me, tahfiz schools are just below government schools for juvenile delinquents,” said Anwar.

Their parents, at a loss, usually turn to religious schools which, in principle, cannot turn away pupils, he said.

“When parents feel they can no longer look after their own children, they send them here with the hope that we can rehabilitate them.

“Yes, we cannot reject anyone who wants to learn the Quran. That is the dilemma,”  Anwar said. Read more →