KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Excessive controls such as curbs on eateries serving Muslims during the Ramadan fasting month are among reasons driving the followers of Islam to become suicide bombers, a former minister said today.
Criticising Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom’s announcement yesterday that Muslim eateries are barred from selling food before 3pm, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim lambasted the bid to regulate the everyday lives of Muslims.
“Muslims are prone to becoming suicide bombers because they just hate this over-regulated world of theirs,” Zaid posted on Twitter this evening,
He went on to ask if the Department of Islamic Development in Malaysia (Jakim) would “refund part of the rental and licence fee” over the lost hours of business.
Zaid’s comment comes as news of Malaysian Muslims going to Syria to join militant activities recently dominated local headlines, sparking fears of growing extremism in a country that regularly touts its moderate image.
A Malaysian suspected of being a member of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group was believed to have been the suicide bomber who killed 25 members of an Iraqi police team in May.
Malay-Muslim youths in Malaysia are also succumbing to drug addiction out of boredom in a highly-regulated environment, but the local leaders have continued to pile up the rules, Zaid claimed.
“Those still here burn their lungs and their brains with chemicals / drugs; that’s why addiction among Malay youths high. It’s boredom.
“Yet their leaders say they need to stifle them some more; indoctrinate them and tell when to eat, when to open shops what to wear etc,” Zaid wrote using his Twitter handle @zaidibrahim.
“These leaders lack confidence in their own followers. If Muslims fast because no shops are open, then Jakim has failed,” he added.
Earlier, civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan questioned on Twitter how the government would define a “Muslim eatery” and also the law that was employed to enforce the rule.
“And under what law is the minister acting upon? Do they even have jurisdiction?
“Is the government going to compensate eatery operators when they are not allowed to operate before 3pm?” Syahredzan wrote as part of a series of tweets.
Syahredzan said that “small-time” eateries operated by Muslims will be the ones affected by this ruling, instead of “big businesses owned by Muslims” such as hotels and posh restaurants.
He also suggested the futility of such a measure to ensure Muslims observe the fasting month, saying: “Come on. People will not start fasting just because the mamak around the corner is not open before 3pm”.
In reply to Syahredzan, former deputy minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah weighed in on the topic by saying that “some people” wanted to exert control on every aspect of a Muslim’s life.
“Some ppl want to control everything: speaking, writing, researching, thinking, praying, fasting, eating…” Saifuddin wrote on Twitter without naming these groups or individuals, later adding the words “playing God” in another reply to Syahredzan.
In a report today by local daily New Straits Times, Jamil Khir said Muslim-operated eateries should not sell food before 3pm during the Muslim fasting month that begun last Sunday, saying that those who defied the rule would risk punishment.
“During Ramadan, Muslim operators are allowed to operate their businesses only after 3pm,” he was quoted saying yesterday, saying that this was despite most of them completing food preparations by noon time.
Eateries caught flouting the ban face a RM300 fine and seizure of their equipment, the report added.
During the fasting month, Muslims would eat before dawn and fast throughout the day, breaking their fast only after sunset.
