If I was licensed to sell beer and if I want to promote sales of my product, whatās the fuss about, you may ask.
But
many, especially religious zealots and bigots donāt see it that way.
Because their religion forbids alcohol, it appears that they do not want others imbibing and enjoying themselves.
Itās a matter of āIf I canāt have it, I canāt bear seeing you have it.ā
In
2016, food outlets selling hot dogs in Malaysia were asked to rename
their products or risk being refused halal certification.
The Islamic Development Department (Jakim) said it adopted the ruling after complaints from Muslim tourists.
Its
then director Sirajuddin Suhaimee said the name might cause āconfusionā
saying: āIn Islam, dogs are considered unclean and the name cannot be
related to halal certification.ā
In 2022, PAS called on Muslims to stay away from the Bon Odori
Festival due to concerns of āreligious elementsā at the Japanese
cultural event despite Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah ordering the
Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) not to forbid Muslims from attending the festival.
As
an act of defiance, both the PAS ulama council and its womenās wing
issued statements to urge Muslims not to participate in the Bon Odori
festival.
Then came the security guards who decided to play the
role of guardians of faith refusing what people wore when entering
government offices or establishments.
What empowered them to do so
and under which law they sought to enforce dress standards remains a
mystery. Or were they empowered by little Napoleons in offices of power?
The Kuala Selangor District Council did one better. It provided sarongs to those it felt were inappropriately dressed to enter its building.
Icing on the cake
The
latest brouhaha about a cake shop ordering its staff not to write
āMerry Christmasā on cakes it sold to customers fearing losing its halal
certification.
Fortunately, Jakim clarified that all halal certificate holders face no such restrictions, including any celebratory greetings on cakes or similar items.
āOnce
again, we must inform that there are no restrictions for premises
holding the Malaysian Halal Certification to write anything related to a
festive greeting on cakes and other things,ā it said.
It
also reversed a previous directive that business premises that have the
halal certification not to display products containing non-Islamic
festive greetings.
Allās well that ends well? Not exactly. There
will still be isolated incidents of self-appointed guardians of the
religion or some men of cloth who will continue with their actions.
It
may not be the perfect way the Almighty would have wanted, but for
them, all their sins are cleansed in the name of doing good for the
religion.
How do you put an end to this? Two words stand out in
this issue ā āsensitiveā and āconfusedā. They are interchangeable and
most times misused and abused for self-interests.
If someone is drinking liquor, it is with his money and at his peril. Why does it bother or offend third parties?
