What the Fuss about?

Harakahdaily

KOTA BHARU, August 29: Drawing parallels from Prophet Muhammad's practice, PAS Murshidul Am has demolished the argument that non-Muslims were forbidden from entering Muslim prayer houses. Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said as such, the recent controversy sparked by Serdang member of parliament Teo Nie Ching's presence inside a surau last Sunday stemmed from ignorance of Islam among those who condemned her. “Because we have grown so much apart from Islam, let alone to learn the religion, these issues can turn into controversies. “If we care to study the history of Islam, we will find that the Arab non-believers used to meet the Prophet in the mosque. They even slept and had their meals in the mosque," said Nik Aziz commenting on condemnations from UMNO over Teo's presence. Teo, expressing  disappointment that the issue had been politicised, had explained that she was there to brief members of the surau about the Selangor state government's education initiative as well as to hand over contributions to the surau committee. Nik Aziz explained that to invite a non-Muslim to a mosque had been one of the Prophet's methodologies in propagating Islam. "This is not wrong in Islam. In fact, it was one of the Prophet's ways to disseminate the message of Islam," he said, adding that the polemics caused by the Teo's visit only underlined how Islam's noble values had been eclipsed by racial and partisan sentiments. “What's the fuss? Non-Muslims can enter mosques, they can also give speeches. It's not a problem," he added. He said politicising the issue not only went against the spirit of the Prophetic Sunnah (examples), but could also push non-Muslims in Malaysia further away from Islam. “Prohibiting non-Muslims from entering the mosques is a part of our tradition, not that of the Prophet." Nik Aziz also clarified that the term mu'alaf, usually used in Malaysia to refer to new converts to Islam, consisted of three groups of people: those who had recently embraced Islam, those who have yet to convert but interested in learning about the religion, and those non-Muslims who respects Islam and do not wage war against Muslims. “In our case, we only use one of these three aspects of the term. The result is a wedge between our (Muslim) society and the non-Muslims," said Nik Aziz. On criticisms that Teo was not wearing proper Islamic attire, Nik Aziz said it related to the surau caretaker's responsibility to ensure such rules were followed.