PUTRAJAYA, Sept 28 — A Malay Muslim preacher has accused the US of backing “liberal Muslims” in an attempt to colonise Malaysia and other Muslim-majority countries today.
Mohd Hazizi Ab Rahman told a thousand-strong crowd attending a symposium here on the “Malay Leadership Crisis” the world superpower is adopting a “soft power” approach to curb the rise of political Islam, which he said is posing a major threat to the US’ global influence.
“It’s not just the Shiah, there are many Islamic factions that is being used to make Muslims fight each other and bow down to them,” said the preacher who called himself an analyst on moderate Muslims and “Americanisation”.
Mohd Hazizi described “liberal Muslims” as those who support democracy, pluralism and human rights and do not see those values as opposed to Islamic ones.
He said such “liberal Muslims” also value a democratic government that ensures good governance, instead of insisting on an Islamic state, and would not mind if a non-Muslim were to one day take over the leadership of the country.
But in order to safeguard Islam’s interests and that of its followers nationwide, Malaysia’s leader must be a Muslim, Mohd Hazizi insisted.
The symposium is jointly organised by two Muslim non-government organisations, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) and Pembina, and is held at the Dewan Seri Siantan here.
In the first dialogue session this morning, several Malay Muslim researchers had spoken about five threats against their the country’s dominant racial and religious community, which it identified as the teachings of the Shiah school of Islam, an alleged “invasion” of the Chinese, free trade agreements including the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Americanisation, and Christianisation.
MORE TO COME.
