KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — The public should not spread untrue stories about the commotion where a man was assaulted in front of a Johor surau after a Friday prayers session last week, its imam or worship leader said.
Muhammad Hamka Saidan said false stories will cause a murky situation when the issue has already been resolved, also asserting that the surau had never had such problems since it first started operations.
“Don’t embellish or create untrue stories, especially in social media. We want everyone to respect one another and return to living in love.
“This case is the first time it happened since this surau started having Friday prayers in 2012. Since this surau started operations in 2009 and has a capacity for 1,000 members, we don’t have any problems,” the imam was quoted saying yesterday by local daily Utusan Malaysia.
Muhammad Hamka also said those who go to the surau in Taman Austin Perdana for Friday prayers will have to ensure that their vehicles do not obstruct traffic and urged non-Muslim local residents to respect the Friday prayer times.
According to the paper, the Taman Setia Indah police, the surau’s committee members, the Johor Islamic Religious Council and Tebrau’s Tiong Hwa Community Association had met the previous night to resolve the matter.
According to news reports, a group of men had allegedly assaulted a 28-year-old man after he purportedly honked repeatedly outside the surau during Friday prayers last week, leaving him with head and body injuries and his car damaged.
The man was said to have honked his car as he was obstructed in front of the surau by vehicles parked on both sides of the road.
