Category Archives: News / Announcements

Al-Marhum Al-Hafiz Dr Fadi M.R. AlBatsh (24/6/1983–21/4/2018)

We in Viva Palestine Malaysia (VPM) and Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF) have known al-Hafiz Dr Fadi since he began his PhD studies in University Malaya in 2011.

He is undoubtedly an academic scholar of distinction, a genius really. He won the Ivy League, Yayasan Khazanah-VPM scholarship for his PhD studies in 2013. Three years later in August 2016, he received both the Special Mention Award and High Achiever Award, at the Yaysan Khazanah Scholarship, 10th Anniversary, presented by the Prime Minister of Malaysia. This is apart from the many other honours and prizes for his scholastic excellence.

And within a year of working as a senior electrical engineering lecturer in UNIKL, he won a research grant from the Malaysian government and was supervising 3 postgraduate engineering students. His work and research in electrical engineering and power electronics have been widely published in the top tier engineering journals.

He has memorized the Quran since childhood and is distinguished among the few who holds the Sanad Riwayat Shu’bah and Hafs from Aasim. He has taught the recitation rules of the Holy Quran with Tajweed for the past 13 years.

He has led Terawih prayers in Palestine for 6 years and in Malaysia for the past 5 years. He was awarded first place in the Sixth International Postgraduate Al-Quran Competition, Malaysia, 2015. His Quranic prowess has been duly recognized world wide and in Malaysia he holds the “Tauliah Mengajar & Berceramah” Wilayah Persekutuan.”

Despite his brilliance and multiple achievements, Fadi remained a very humble person, soft spoken, thoughtful and contemplative. He has always led our Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF) & Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) annual Terawih prayer for the past few years. He has been very active in various platforms, including VPM, Boycott Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) and Palestinian Students Organisations in Malaysia to advance the cause for justice and peace for Palestine.

His wife, Enas F. has similarly obtained her Masters in Islamic Studies from University Malaya and they are blessed with 3 children, Doaa Fadi, Aseel Fadi and Muhammad Fadi.

It has been a short 35 years, with a tragic demise but an unequivocally blessed life in the service of Allah and His Deen. May he be blessed bountifully with His Highest Gardens of Paradise in Jannatul Firdaus. And may Allah confer patience and forbearance to his family and the Palestinian community upon this great loss of their Palestinian son.

Dato’ Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
Chairman, Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM)

Tuan Haji Yuzaidi Yusoff
Chairman, Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF)

Yayasan Khazanah Scholarship Special Mention & High Achiever Awards, August 2016

With Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri

Joint Declaration of the International Consortium for Rohingya (ICR)

The Rohingya Muslims, who comprise 5% of the population in Burma, are the innocent victims of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The UN Human Rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that “the situation seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Despite constituting a considerable percentage of the Burmese population, they are deprived of citizenship, let alone to live as Muslims and raise their children according to the rules of Islam.

They do not possess any weapons, yet they are attacked by soldiers equipped with fatal weapons employing disproportionate force.

Unfortunately, children, girls, mothers, women, the old and infirmed are not spared of this inhuman massacre.

The Rohingyas have been deprived of their basic human rights and freedom which is enshrined in the “Universal Human Rights Declaration” signed by all UN member states.

We, the participant NGOs of the Consultation Meeting co-hosted by AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, Turkey), UNIW (Union of NGOs in the Muslim World) and AKFP (Al-Khidmat Foundation, Pakistan), hereby pledge to help the oppressed Rohingya people, towards ending the atrocities perpetrated by the Burmese government, racist and religious elements in the Burmese society.

We, the participants of the Rohingya Consultation Meeting hereby: 1. Urge the Burmese government to protect the human lives on their soils, whether citizens or otherwise and to accept the right of return of the Rohingya people to Burma.

2. Urge the Burmese government to allow aid and relief workers to be immediately dispatched to the areas affected by the conflict, to assume their work without fear of violence.

3. Urge the world community and its international human rights agencies to intervene urgently to protect the lives and properties of the Rohingyas in Burma and elsewhere.

4. Applaud the Bangladesh and Malaysian governments for providing much needed refuge to the Rohingya refugees and to the Turkish government for financial and humanitarian support.

5. Appeal to the government of Bangladesh to permit and facilitate humanitarian and relief NGOs to operate in Bangladesh until the crisis is stabilized or solved.

6. Request all members of the OIC to lobby for the right of return of the Rohingyas on the various international political platforms and actively support and fund the livelihood of the Rohingyas in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

7. Appeal to all international agencies of the UN, relief and humanitarian NGOs to provide humanitarian relief to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, inside the Rakhine State and elsewhere in Burma.

8. Urge the mainstream and alternative media create awareness of the massacre in Burma and the plight of the Rohingya people as a humanitarian issue and not a religious one.

9. Urge the educational institutions to undertake awareness campaigns and empower the youth to raise their voices on the Rohingya issue on social media.

10. Urge all participating NGOs to cooperate, coordinate and synergize their resources to ensure optimal outcomes to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis and continue to raise funds at the national and international level.

11. Urge all participating NGOs to strengthen their relationship with local NGOs currently working in Bangladesh and Burma.

Endorsed by member organisations of the International Consortium for Rohingya (ICR):
1) Al-Khidmat Foundation Pakistan (AKFP)
2) Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA)
3) Union of the NGOS of the Islamic World (UNIW)
4) Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA)
5) British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA)
6) PKPU Indonesia
7) Charity Australia International (CAI)
8) ICNA Relief Canada (IRC)
9) Islamic Aid Bangladesh (IAB)
10) Small Kindness Bangladesh (SKB)
11) Sarendeb Foundation for Relief & Development Sri Lanka (SFRD)
12) AMAL Malaysia
13) Cansuyu Turkey
14) UK Islamic Mission London (UKIM)
15) Helping Hand for Relief & Development (HHRD) USA
16) Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) Turkey
17) Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) Turkey
18) Besir Foundation Turkey
19) Deniz Feneri Turkey
20) IHH Turkey
21) Doctors Worldwide (DWW) Turkey
22) Bangladesh Doctors Forum (BDF)
23) Islamic Medical Association Lebanon (IMALB)
24) Islamic Medical Association Malaysia (IMAM)
25) Rohingya Federation of Arakan (RFA)
26) Hayrat Aid Turkey
27) Diyanet Foundation Turke

Amendment to Sedition Act makes independence hollows and must be withdrawn

gbm logo w tamil CLEAN

Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) calls upon the Federal Government to withdraw the Amendment Bill to Sedition Act rather than table it in Dewan Negara. If the Government is adamant to table it, all patriots in Dewan Negara must be present and vote against it.

Standing firm with various civil society groups opposing the bill, GBM condemns in the strongest term the bill which severely curbs civil and political liberties of Malaysians, making our nation’s independence hollow.

GBM asks, how do we celebrate Merdeka if our forefathers and mothers enjoyed more civil and political liberties under the British colonial government than we do today?

The Sedition Act was enacted in 1948 in response to the communist insurgency but was made harsher first by the 1970 amendment and would be even draconian if the 2015 amendment comes to force.

The 2015 amendment poses a grave threat to Malaysians’ freedom in two main ways.

Firstly, the net is cast much wider:

    (a)   the amendment to Section 10  and the addition of Section 10A, impose restrictions on online publication which may include social media
    (b)   the amendment to Section 3(1)(e) and  3(2)(c)(ii) inserts the word “hatred” in addition to the word “ill will” or “hostility” in the original Act and also an additional reference to religion in addition to the reference of race and class in the original Act.
    (c)    The addition of Section 4(1A) which criminalises seditious publications“[leading] to bodily injury and damage to property”, disregarding if such acts of violence are carried out by parties who agree or disagree to the opinion expressed.

Secondly, the punishments are made harsher:

(a)   the amendment to Section 4(1) imposes minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment upon conviction and eliminates the alternative of fine, with no consideration for young offenders, first time offenders or nature of the offence;

(b)   the addition of Section 5A obliges the judge to allow the prosecution’s application for restriction on travel for the accused on bail;

(c)   the deletion of Section 6 which currently provides for reasonable ground for acquittal of the accused and demands larger effort by the prosecution to prove their case.

The fundamental flaw of the Sedition Act is it disregards intention and hence does not differentiate between agitation of violence and provocation of violence. As the accusation of provocation can be easily made, violence may be effectively encouraged by parties who want to blame others for provocation.

A teenager may be jailed for three years three years for sharing a Facebook posting and or retweeting a tweet if another party who causes bodily injury or property damage and accuses her of provoking.

Instead of promoting social harmony, the Sedition Act risks fostering impunity of violence and encouraging “politics of amok”.

GBM sees the hasty passing of the Amendment to Sedition Act at the wee hours of 2.30 am of 10 April as an utterly irresponsible act of arrogance and tyranny by the Executive.

GBM condemns in the strongest words the 108 parliamentarians who could not wait to destroy our constitutional freedom, censures the 35 absentee parliamentarians who could not be bothered to vote against the bill and 79 real patriots who stand firm to defend the meaning of our independence.

MPF Press Release: Taman Medan Church Incident (English & BM)

20 April 2015

Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF)
Press Release

We refer to the protest by some 50 residents in Taman Medan over the display of a cross on a newly minted church.

This mindless act of hatred and incitement against another religion’s place of worship has no place in Islam and deserves unreserved condemnation.

Islam is rich with examples of respect for other faiths, their adherents and protection of their places of worship.

Let us take heed from the best of examples, the prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. In a well documented incident, the Prophet received a delegation of sixty Christians from Yemen at his mosque in Madina. They were led by a bishop, Abu Haritha ibn Alqamam, a well respected authority on Christianity. When the time for their prayer came, they faced the direction of east and prayed. Some Muslims out of ignorance protested but the Prophet ordered that they be left in their state and not harmed.

Yet another famed example is that of Umar ibn Al-Khattabb, the second righteous caliph. During his reign the religious freedom of the citizens of Ilya (Jerusalem) and the sanctity of their synagogues and places of worship were confirmed: “This is the protection which the slave-servant of Allah, Umar, the Commander of the Believers, extends to the people of Ilya: The safeguarding of their lives, properties, churches, crosses, and of their entire community. Their churches cannot be occupied, demolished, or damaged, nor are their crosses or anything belonging to them to be touched. They will never be forced to abandon their religion, nor will they be oppressed …” (At-Tabari, Tarikh, Vol III, p. 609, ed. Dar Al-Ma`arif, Egypt.)

It is evident that there is no room in Islam for intolerance towards other faiths and their places of worship and any form of disrespect and desecration is antithetical to the essence of Islam. We urge the authorities to take firm action against the said protestors.

Malaysia is a beautifully plural and diverse nation and we call on all to enforce our respect for one another and their beliefs.

We end with the following all embracing verse.

O mankind! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female and We made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Al Hujurat 49:13

Let us put an end to all enmity and hatred and get to know one another.

Board of Directors
MPF

20hb April 2015

Kenyataan Akhbar Forum Profesional Muslim (MPF)

Kami rujuk kepada tunjuk perasaan yang diadakan oleh sejumlah kira-kira 50 orang penduduk Taman Medan yang membantah paparan tanda salib di sebuah gereja yang baru sahaja ditubuhkan secara rasmi.

Tindakan yang merupakan cubaan sengaja menimbulkan kebencian dan tentangan terhadap rumah suci sebuah agama lain sedemikian sama sekali tidak wajar dan tiada tempat dalam agama Islam, malah wajar dikecam sekeras-kerasnya.

Agama Islam cukup kaya dengan pelbagai contoh teladan yang jelas dalam menghormati agama-agama lain, penganut-penganutnya, malah tuntutan untuk bertanggungjawab dalam melindungi tempat-tempat ibadat mereka.

Pengajaran yang terbaik dan paling jelas tentulah daripada junjungan Nabi Muhammad SAW sendiri. Dalam riwayat yang tercatit luas, baginda Rasulullah SAW pada suatu ketika telah menerima kehadiran rombongan 60 orang Kristian dari Yemen di Masjid Nabawi di Madinah. Rombongan terbabit diketuai seorang biskop, Abu Haritha ibn Alqamam, seorang alim yang disegani oleh masyarakat Kristian pada waktu itu. Tibanya waktu solat, mereka bersembahyang dengan berkiblatkan arah timur. Beberapa orang Islam ketika itu bangkit menunjukkan rasa tidak puas hati namun telah ditegah oleh baginda Rasulullah SAW. Mereka diarahkan oleh Baginda untuk membiarkan golongan Kristian terbabit dalam keadaan sedemikian dan tidak diancam.

Satu lagi contoh jelas merupakan khalifah agung Islam yang kedua Sayyidina Umar ibn Al-Khattab RA di mana kebebasan beragama penduduk-penduduk di Ilya (Jerusalem) dan kesucian sinagoga beserta rumah-rumah ibadat mereka cukup jelas terpelihara di bawah pemerintahannya; “Inilah perlindungan yang dipanjangkan oleh hamba Allah, Umar, Khalifah kepada orang-orang beriman, kepada penduduk-penduduk Ilya: yakni perlindungan terhadap nyawa-nyawa, harta-harta, gereja-gereja, salib-salib, dan seluruh kabilah mereka. Gereja-gereja mereka tidak boleh dirampas, dijatuhkan, mahupun dibinasakan, juga tidak ada salib-salib mereka mahupun apa sahaja barangan kepunyaan mereka yang boleh disentuh. Mereka tidak akan sama sekali dipaksa meninggalkan kepercayaan mereka atau pun ditindas…” (At-Tabari, Tarikh, Jilid III, ms. 609, ed. Dar Al-Ma`arif, Mesir.)

Hal ini menjadi bukti bahawa tiada tempat dalam Islam untuk ketidaktoleransian terhadap agama-agama lain dan rumah-rumah ibadat mereka. Sebarang bentuk kebiadapan atau penghinaan terhadap mereka begitu bertentangan sekali dengan initipati ajaran Islam. Kami mendesak pihak berkuasa untuk mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap penunjuk-penunjuk perasaan ini.

Malaysia merupakan sebuah negara yang cukup cantik dalam kemajmukan dan kepelbagaiannya. Kami menggesa semua pihak untuk meneguhkan lagi sifat hormat-menghormati di antara yang berlainan kepercayaan dengan kita.

Kami sudahkan dengan kalimah daripada Al Quran yang cukup meluas dan mendalam maksudnya, seperti berikut:

Wahai umat manusia! Sesungguhnya Kami telah menciptakan kamu dari lelaki dan perempuan, dan Kami telah menjadikan kamu berbagai bangsa dan bersuku puak, supaya kamu berkenal-kenalan (dan beramah mesra antara satu dengan yang lain). Sesungguhnya semulia-mulia kamu di sisi Allah ialah orang yang lebih taqwanya di antara kamu, (bukan yang lebih keturunan atau bangsanya). Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Mendalam PengetahuanNya (akan keadaan dan amalan kamu). (Al Hujurat 49:13)

Marilah sama-sama kita menoktahkan segala bentuk permusuhan sesama kita dan berusaha untuk lebih kenal-mengenali di antara satu sama lain.

Lembaga Pengarah

MPF