GEORGE TOWN, Oct 19 ― The Penang State Islamic Religious Department will investigate controversial preacher Shahul Hamid Seeni Muhammad to check on his accreditation as a religious preacher.
State Islamic religious affairs committee chairman Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said Shahul will be investigated under the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Penang) Enactment 2004.
“Under the enactment, an Islamic religious preacher must be accredited to be able to preach and those who are accredited are subjected to six conditions,” he told a news conference in Komtar here today.
Among the conditions listed is that the preacher must not offend other races, religions and cultures that may cause racial tension amongst the community, he added.
He said if Shahul is found not to be accredited, he could be charged in the Shariah Court for preaching without accreditation.
“If he is accredited, we will investigate if what he said had broken any of the conditions and if proven he had went against the conditions, his accreditation will be revoked,” Abdul Malik said.
He said the Penang Islamic Religious Council will then decide on the next action to take against Shahul Hamid.
Abdul Malik was responding to criticisms against Shahul Hamid who allegedly said it was wrong for Muslim women to have their hair cut by non-Muslim female hairdresser and that it is forbidden for Muslim parents to send their children to schools managed by non-Muslims.
Earlier today, Penang MCA lodged a police report against Shahul Hamid for making such controversial statements that they believe could cause racial tension.
In the police report, Abdul Malik was also mentioned for not taking action against Shahul Hamid.
State MCA secretary Tan Chuan Hong had accused Abdul Malik of “supporting” Shahul Hamid with his statement that the preacher has a right to express his opinion.
The whole issue surfaced when two-year old videos of Shahul Hamid making those statements resurfaced a few days ago.
One of the videos on hair salons has since been taken down.
