As the clean up operations are still on-going, Malaysians of all races and religions have banded together to help clean various places of worship.
Although most Malaysians are in support, some have reminded Muslims who clean non-Muslim places of worship that it must be clear that they are only doing charity and social work and has nothing to do with worshiping other religions.
However, some believe that Muslims should refrain from helping to clean up other houses of worship all together.
In a TikTok video of a lecture by celebrity preacher Ustaz Azhar Idrus, he says that Muslims should refrain from cleaning up non-Muslims’ houses of worship that were affected by the floods.
He referenced the story Prophet Ibrahim, who went into a temple in his town to demolish their idols.
“Look at Prophet Ibrahim’s story. Did he clean up (the temple) or did he hit it?”
“We can’t ‘hit’, because we live in a multi-racial country. (If we said that) it’d be defamatory, do you understand,” he added.
“So, don’t interfere. It’s your own matter and your own religion. To idol worshipers, we don’t want (to interfere),” he continued.
In the video, Azhar also said that Muslims can only clean up mosques and surau, but not houses of worship of other religions.
“Can Muslims clean up Hindu temples that have been affected by the floods? There is nothing to be cleaned.”
“We have our own religion. We can clean up mosques and surau, but we do not wash idols. And through that, we can differentiate those who are faithful from those who are impious.”
Netizens slam him and his comments
The video has garnered plenty of attention on TikTok and other social media platforms. On TikTok, it amassed over 621,000 views and 35,900 likes. Malaysians took to the comments section to express their anger over the comments made by him.
One user said that they still hold on to the belief that Islam respects other religions.
“As much as the others help us to clean up mosques, I will help them to clean up temples. Respect.”
“It is evident that we are selfish and intolerant for refusing to help other races in clean-up work at their worship houses,” commented another user.
“Other religions have helped us clean up our mosques, but we show them extremist and radical attitudes.”
A user urged the preacher to go down to the ground and see for himself the problems that Muslims are facing.
“Alright, ustaz, I accept (your explanation). Don’t just give a lecture next time and try to see for yourself the problems faced by people of your own religion. Thank you,” they said.
Watch the full video below:
@ustazazharidrus00 ORANG ISLAM BASUH TOKONG #islam #uai #ustazazharidrus
♬ bunyi asal – Ustaz Azhar Idrus Official – Ustaz Azhar Idrus
Do you think it is right or wrong? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: Mufti: Muslims Cleaning Temple Should Make Clear They are Doing Social Work To Avoid Confusion
