KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Malaysians, including non-Muslims, should not fear creeping Islamisation of the country as Islam is a beautiful religion, Muslim women’s rights group Sisters in Islam (SIS) said today.

Despite that, the NGO claimed that Islam in Malaysia has allegedly been “hijacked” by conservatives and fundamentalists leading to fears against the spread of the religion.

“I hate it when people say we have to fear the Islamisation of Malaysia,” SIS executive director Ratna Osman told a forum organised by lobby group G25 here on Islam in a constitutional democracy.

“Actually, we should not fear because Islam is so beautiful and if we Islamise Malaysia, even non-Muslims should not fear because of justice [in] maqasid shariah,” she said, using the Arabic term that means “the true intentions of Shariah”.

“Unfortunately, it’s been hijacked by conservatives and fundamentalists to say this is Islam, this is mainstream Islam, whatever diverse opinion is un-Islamic, it’s sinful, it’s a Western product.”

She pointed out a case of three Muslim women who were charged and fined within two weeks in 1997 in Selangor for indecent dressing after taking part in a beauty pageant, while the Shariah courts were slow in resolving divorce and maintenance cases.

“We have cases in Telenisa, [where] we give free legal advice, 12 years, the husband goes in and out of jail, she still hasn’t gotten a divorce. Why are we going against the real principles of fairness and justice and equality in Islam?” she questioned.

Ratna also criticised raids by religious authorities against khalwat, or the offence of
Muslim men and women in close proximity, noting that such raids have resulted in deaths, and did not even target five-star hotels or at upper-class neighbourhoods.

“Selective prosecution on the weak and marginalised is what is not Islamic. There’s nothing Islamic about it,” she said.

Critics have expressed concern about the growing trend of Islamisation in Malaysia that has seen interfaith child custody tussles and arrests of Muslim transwomen for cross-dressing.