Protesters burn effigy of azan complainant

Regina Lee

About 100 noisy protesters gathered outside Masjid Al-Ihkhlasias in Kampung Kerinchi this afternoon, demonstrating against a non-Muslim lawyer who had allegedly complained about the volume of the azan (call for prayer) from loudspeakers.

Unfurling banners and shouting Allahu Akbar (God is great), the angry crowd also burned an effigy of the complainant.

The protesters, mobilised by the mosque's congregation association, Majlis Ayahanda Wilayah Persekutuan and other Muslim NGOs, also had banners displaying the details of the complainant, down to his name, address, phone number and email address.

With about 20 police personnel keeping a close watch nearby, some of the protestors also unfurled flags bearing the three colours of a Islamic proselytisation group Pekida.

“Don't you dare challenge our religion,” shouted Fauzi Che Ahmad, claiming to represent the mosque's congregation association.

He also said that non-Muslims should be constantly reminded of the sensitivities of Islam.

Other protestors were overheard saying that they intend to go to the address to “drag the complainant out and beat him up” while others shouted that the complainant is a “traitor”.

'Leave Malaysia'

In a press statement distributed by the organisers, they urged the government to charge the complainant under the Sedition Act as well as imposing the Internal Security Act for “threatening racial harmony”.

“As a lesson to him and people like him, the government should also advise the complainant to move out to another neighbourhood or even change his citizenship to countries that suits his taste,” said the statement.

The organizers also demanded a public apology from him to all the Muslims in the country.

The controversy erupted when the complainant, believed to be a lawyer, sent a complaint directly to the prime minister's office, that in turn passed it to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Islamic affairs, Jamil Khir Baharom, and the Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi).

Jawi then met the mosque committee late December last year, where the committee was allegedly instructed to lower the volume of their dawn azan.

Since then, the mosque committee had claimed that they have complied but they are distancing themselves from the protestors.

In recent years, there has been increasing conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims over the volume of the azan.

In 2008, Selangor exco Teresa Kok was detained without trial after several pro-Umno blogs and Utusan Malaysia alleged that she had campaigned for the lowering of the azan volume at a mosque in Puchong.

She had since filed a RM30 million defamation suit against former Selangor MB Dr Khir Toyo and the daily over the controversy while the mosque officials have cleared her of the allegation.