On July 26 (Saturday), police estimated that around 18,000 people attended the “Turun Anwar” rally.
During the rally, a PAS member was seen reciting the Qunut Nazilah (a prayer traditionally recited in times of communal calamity) apparently directed at calling down misfortune upon Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“We must never become a disgrace to Islam”
The Federal Territories Mufti has stated that using the Qunut Nazilah against fellow Muslims goes against Islamic teachings.
In response to the incident, UMNO Youth Chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh spoke out, saying that while political disagreements are normal, Islam never teaches its followers to hurl insults.
In a Facebook post, he stressed that differences of opinion should be based on facts, not what he described as “immature emotional outbursts.”
“Some have recited the Qunut Nazilah to pray for his destruction, even though he (Anwar) shares the same faith. Some have gone as far as comparing him to a monkey and other foreign leaders to animals, despite the fact that the discussion was aimed at saving thousands of lives affected by war between two countries,” he wrote.
“Islam does not encourage praying for a fellow Muslim’s downfall”
Akmal went on to stress that regardless of the situation, Islam does not encourage its followers to pray for the downfall of fellow Muslims or to hurl insults at others.
“Having different views in politics is normal. Feeling anger toward political rivals is also normal. But Islam never teaches us to wish harm upon fellow Muslims or to degrade others,” he said.
He also emphasised that he was simply speaking from the heart, but acknowledged that when something is wrong, it must be called out.
“If someone says, ‘Well, the other side did it too,’ my response is simple: If those before us ate filth, does that mean we should do the same? Of course not, because we know it’s repulsive. I have no intention of being a bootlicker, and there are things I disagree with him on. But if something is wrong, it deserves to be called out, and if something is right, it deserves recognition.”
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