Tatkala menghimbau peristiwa Hijrah, kita sewajarnya menginsafi iltizam dan tekad Rasulullah SAW yang tetap istiqamah dalam memacu dakwah dan proses perubahan ummah. Meski pun dihadapkan dengan pelbagai rintangan dan mehnah, namun umat Islam di bawah kepimpinan Rasulullah SAW tetap teguh berpegang kepada prinsip dan keimanan kepada Allah SWT.
Peristiwa Hijrah sememangnya telah membuka dimensi baru dalam sejarah ketamadunan Islam. Sentimen dan faham perkauman berteras semangat kabilah dan suku yang menebal di kalangan masyarakat Arab ketika itu telah berjaya dirobek dan dipecahkan.
Kezaliman yang terus mencengkam dari pihak musyrikin Makkah terhadap umat Islam dari Makkah memaksa penghijrahan ke Madinah. Perpindahan umat Islam dari Makkah ke Madinah menyaksikan bermulanya era baru dalam perkembangan dakwah Islam. Penyatuan kaum Ansar dan Muhajirin merupakan titik tolak kepada pembinaan sebuah masyarakat madani dan pemerintahan negara yang berteraskan prinsip al-adli wal ihsan.
Justeru penghayatan Hijrah seharusnya disemai menerusi pemahaman terhadap falsafah pembaharuan yang digagaskan oleh baginda Rasulullah SAW. Lompang besar dalam persoalan tatakelola yang mengabaikan prinsip kebertanggungjawaban dan ketelusan sewajarnya diatasi dan diperbaiki. Pada masa yang sama menolak kezaliman dan penyeksaan terhadap ummat Islam. Sejajar dengan firman Allah swt yang menyeru kepada keadilan dan menolak kezaliman:
"Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, hendaklah kamu semua sentiasa menjadi orang-orang yang menegakkan keadilan kerana Allah lagi menerangkan kebenaran dan jangan sekali-kali kebencian kamu terhadap sesuatu kaum itu mendorong kamu kepada tidak melakukan keadilan. Hendaklah kamu berlaku adil (kepada sesiapa jua) kerana sikap adil itu lebih hampir kepada taqwa. Dan bertaqwalah kepada Allah, sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui dengan mendalam akan apa yang kamu lakukan." (Surah Al-Maidah: Ayat 5)
Saya mengucapkan Salam Ma'al Hijrah 1436 kepada seluruh umat Islam di Malaysia. Semoga Allah SWT terus melimpahkan rahmat dan hidayah untuk kita semua serta memberikan kita kekuatan untuk meneruskan perjuangan membawa perubahan di negara Malaysia yang tercinta ini.
The 67-year-old’s conviction has been slammed by human rights groups as “politically motivated”
On Tuesday, Malaysia's Federal Court will hear Anwar's appeal of his March conviction for engaging in homosexual acts, charges both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say amount to "politically motivated persecution."
Speaking to TIME on Friday, Anwar said his chances "didn't look good."
"Most of Malaysia does not believe that I will get a fair trial or a decision based on the facts of the law," he said. "But I want to show young people that [my conviction] is a small price to pay in the struggle for freedom and justice."
Anwar was originally arrested on July 16, 2008, after a former male aide alleged the pair had engaged in consensual sexual relations — criminalized under Malaysia's colonial-era "sodomy law." The High Court then acquitted Anwar on Jan. 9, 2012, ruling that DNA samples vital to the prosecution case could have been contaminated.
On March 7, 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and sentenced Anwar to five years imprisonment. The hearing was originally scheduled for April but was curiously moved forward a month. This meant Anwar was disqualified from running in the Kajang district state assembly election on March 23.
Phil Robertson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, has urged the Malaysian authorities to drop the case or risk making a "travesty of the country's criminal justice system."
"Prosecuting Anwar for something that should never be considered a crime shows how far the government is prepared to go to remove a political opponent," he said.
Anwar's imprisonment has been stayed during his appeal, but if convicted he faces five years in prison plus a mandatory five-year prohibition on running for office, effectively ending the 67-year-old's political career.
Malaysia's May 5, 2013, general elections saw the Pakatan Rakyat (People's Alliance) coalition led by Anwar win 50% of the popular vote. However, this only translated to 89 parliamentary seats due to the "first past the post" electoral system. (The incumbent National Front coalition government of Prime Minister Najib Razak gained 47% of the vote but 133 seats.)
Anwar and independent observers have alleged electoral irregularities and widespread gerrymandering, and thousands took to the streets to demand an investigation. Najib's administration strenuously denies any impropriety.
The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) presidential council is to meet on the eve of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s final sodomy appeal next week to prepare for the possibility that their leader will be jailed.
Despite the gravity of the situation, questions abound as to whether PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang will be there.
The president of the Islamist party has shunned the public eye since the end of the Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) crisis last month, and has also been missing from the council's meetings for over a year.
According to a PR secretariat member, the meeting is to be held while the current Parliament session is on, to ensure all leaders of the opposition pact are able to attend.
"We've informed everyone of the meeting, we hope that everyone can make it this time," said the source.
However, according to the source, Hadi will likely be absent from the October 27 meeting as he will be in Kuala Terengganu the following day for a court hearing.
Hadi has to testify in a suit against him at the Kuala Terengganu High Court on October 28, the first day of Anwar’s appeal in Kuala Lumpur.
PKR’s former Bukit Besi candidate Mohd Shamsul Mat Amin had sued him for saying that there was a drug dealer among PKR candidates in the last general election, an excuse PAS had used to nominate their own candidates in seats allocated to PKR.
This resulted in a three-cornered fight in Bukit Besi.
Hadi is now in London, having departed for the UK capital on October 14 with other religious teachers for a programme there.
He was also absent from Parliament when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tabled the 2015 budget on October 10.
His failure to attend what is seen as the most important Parliament sitting of the year drew heavy flak from many quarters, especially social media users.
Many described him as a "truant" for not carrying out his duties as a parliamentarian elected by the people of Marang.
Anwar will appear at the Federal Court on October 28 and 29 for his final appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision to sentence him to five years imprisonment on a charge of sodomising his aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
PKR has begun mobilising its supporters to pressure the courts not to imprison Anwar, who was granted a stay of execution on March 7 pending the Federal Court's decision.
Anwar's supporters intend to gather across the country as well as make use of international diplomacy to ensure he is not thrown behind bars again.
They have taken advantage of Anwar's personal ties with US President Barack Obama's administration, Turkish President Raccip Tayyib Erdogan and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Anwar has been telling Malaysian media he was confident the Federal Court would overturn the sodomy verdict.
Hadi's leadership of PAS has reached a crisis point, with many now openly criticising his decisions.
A prominent ex-PAS member, Tamrin Ghafar, had blamed the president as the cause of the problems faced by PAS now.
Tamrin (pic, right), the son of Umno veteran, the late Tun Ghafar Baba, recently quit PAS after joining the party two years ago, and has blamed Hadi and his supporters – the clerical faction he labelled the “Taliban” – for the reason behind his departure.
He has expressed disappointment with PAS’s move to suspend two of its Selangor assemblymen who had supported PKR and DAP’s positions on the choice of the MB ahead of a decision by PAS.
Tamrin had told the Mole.my that he was unhappy with Hadi’s leadership.
"Of course. Hadi and his Taliban group is controlling the party," Tamrin said in an interview on the news portal.
Accusations of PAS turning “Taliban” in its outlook and approach in cooperating with its PR allies issues have also been leveled by Shah Alam MP and PAS central committee member, Khalid Samad, who said the party’s conservatives were out to remove leaders from the professional class.
"After declaring themselves to be clerics or the defenders of the ulama, this new group has begun attacking the leaders of old, especially those from the professional class who are pro-PR," Khalid wrote on his blog.
Sodomy Prosecution of Opposition Leader Violates Rights
(New York) – Malaysian authorities should end their politically motivated prosecution of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 28, 2014, the Federal Court – the country's highest court – will hear Anwar's appeal of his March conviction for violating Malaysia's abusive colonial-era "sodomy law" that criminalizes same-sex relations.
"Malaysian authorities should drop their case against Anwar Ibrahim or risk making a travesty of the country's criminal justice system," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. "This drawn-out political theater has long been exposed as an attempt by the government to take Malaysia's most senior opposition leader out of political contention."
Police arrested Anwar on July 16, 2008, based on a complaint from a former aide that Anwar had engaged in consensual sexual relations with him. Serious fair trial concerns arose throughout the original trial, including the prosecutors' unwillingness to provide defense lawyers with access to evidence against their client. Nevertheless, the High Court acquitted Anwar on January 9, 2012, ruling that DNA samples that were central to the prosecution's case had not been handled or maintained properly and thus possibly contaminated.
On March 7, 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and sentenced Anwar to five years in prison. The appeal, originally scheduled for April, had been moved up to March, and the verdict and sentencing hearing, most unusually, came after a one-hour recess on the day of the hearing. As a result, Anwar was disqualified from running in the Kajang district state assembly election on March 23.
The prosecution is cross-appealing Anwar's five-year prison term, which could result in a sentence of up to 20 years. Furthermore, should the Federal Court uphold Anwar's conviction, he will be stripped of his seat in the federal parliament. Malaysia election law also provides that any person who is imprisoned for as little as one day or fined 2,000 ringgit (US$625) is forbidden from running for office for five years. The 10-year hiatus could effectively end Anwar's political career.
This is the fourth time Anwar has been charged under the sodomy law, article 377 of the penal code. Article 377 has been invoked only seven times since 1938, according to research by the Women's Candidacy Initiative. The willingness of the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak to use the law repeatedly against one high-profile political opponent highlights the danger posed by this law as long as it remains on the books.
"Malaysia's sodomy law seems to exist chiefly to persecute Anwar Ibrahim," Robertson said. "Prime Minister Najib should seek the law's immediate revocation before it can be used to harass and imprison others."
Background on Malaysia's archaic sodomy law Article 377 makes it a criminal offense to commit "carnal intercourse against the order of nature." The law effectively criminalizes same-sex sexuality, and does not distinguish between consensual and non-consensual sex, contrary to international human rights standards. The law should be replaced with a modern, gender-neutral rape law.
So-called sodomy laws, such as article 377, contravene broadly accepted international legal standards. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that monitors civil and political rights, held in 1994 that sodomy laws violate rights to privacy and non-discrimination. The 2007 Yogyakarta Principles, which apply international law to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, call on governments to "repeal all laws that criminalize consensual sexual activity among persons of the same sex who are over the age of consent." In 2011, leading members of the Commonwealth of Nations, to which Malaysia belongs, called for the abolition of sodomy laws.
A November 2011 report by the UN high commissioner for human rights recommended that UN member countries "repeal laws used to criminalize individuals on grounds of homosexuality for engaging in consensual same-sex sexual conduct." The high commissioner's report, commissioned under a landmark resolution on "human rights, sexual orientation, and gender identity" that was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on June 17, 2011, made numerous other recommendations, including several directly relevant to Malaysia. They include: "enact comprehensive antidiscrimination legislation that includes discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity"; and "ensure that individuals can exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in safety without discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity."
"Prosecuting Anwar for something that should never be considered a crime shows how far the government is prepared to go to remove a political opponent," Robertson said. "By using this law, the government is also putting the rights and freedoms of Malaysia's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community at risk."
As Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy appeal nears, Universiti Malaya’s (UM) student council urged students nationwide to join them in a new phase of reformasi, saying Malaysia has been under Barisan Nasional's rule for too long.
Universiti Malaya Undergraduates Association (PMUM) leader Fahmi Zainol (pic, right) said the voice of the youths had in the past brought change to Malaysia, as well as in Indonesia and Hong Kong.
"I am sure Putrajaya has been controlled by the same power for too long, perhaps it is time Putrajaya needs new powers and energy (to control it)," said Fahmi in a statement.
"I am sure the students can make a change. Taking into account the spirit of solidarity in the case against Anwar on October 28 and 29, I am confident that October 27, 2014, will see the rise of the students."
He urged students to begin the "reformasi" on the eve of Anwar’s appeal hearing on October 28 by attending a talk by the parliamentary opposition leader on the UM campus at 9pm.
The UM administration has already declared the programme, "40 years: from University of Malaya to prison" illegal.
"From UM, we will go to Putrajaya to bring about reformasi, which has become the dream of Malaysians. Come, from UM to Putrajaya," said Fahmi.
Reformasi was the battle cry of street protesters who rallied for Anwar in 1998, following his sacking from the Cabinet.
Anwar's sacking, his beating while in police custody and subsequent sodomy charges angered many and saw the birth Parti Keadilan Nasional, now known as PKR.
Sixteen years later, PKR Youth is now attempting to mobilise support for the opposition leader through their #RakyatHakimNegara campaign, while top leaders are in Australia to raise awareness about Anwar's trial next week.
Fahmi said today that the students, as a generation brought up at the turn of the millennium, had seen how Malaysia suffered from a socio-economic crisis under BN's rule.
He said the economy was in tatters due to rising deficit, while the sovereignty of the country's laws were undermined enactment of laws depriving Malaysians of their human rights.
"The government still has no shame in using draconian laws such as the Sedition Act 1948, even though the rest of the world, including the United Nations (UN), condemns its use.
"Even the judiciary appears to be used for selective prosecution to fulfil the desires of the ruling parties," he said, noting that Anwar as well as youth activists had fallen prey to it.
"What else is there for us to hope from the leaders who are currently ruling Putrajaya today?"
Malay daily Berita Harian reported today that Fahmi had been summoned for disciplinary action for allegedly tarnishing the university's reputation, after he invited Anwar to speak in campus next Monday.
UM vice-chancellor of student affairs, Professor Datuk Dr Rohana Yusof, told the paper that UM would never allow or support such a programme as it was against the university rules.
"It will not only damage the image, but will also cause a negative view of the university," she was quoted as saying, adding that Fahmi was at risk of suspension and could be fined RM200 if he continued with the programme.
She also warned other students of disciplinary action if they attended the event.
But Fahmi told The Malaysian Insider today that the programme would go on.
“PMUM will make sure that Anwar will enter UM and let our students and the management have a lesson on freedom of speech.”
He said they were not challenging the university management, but the unjust law and the system, adding that “in the process the people who are benefited from this unjust system might feel offended”.
“The students shall be treated as adults, given the freedom to organise events without being controlled by the university officials, as long as our events do not in conflict with the Malaysian laws passed by the Parliament.
“It is in conjunction with what other world-class universities have already done, and also how Universiti Malaya was in 1960s.”
Fahmi said yesterday that the event would mark Anwar's journey from his days as a UM student to his current predicament.
The Federal Court is scheduled to hear Anwar’s appeal on his sodomy conviction on October 28 and 29.
On March 7, the Court of Appeal overturned his sodomy acquittal by the High Court two years earlier.
The appellate court found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan 26, at a unit at the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
Anwar was sentenced to five years' jail but was granted a stay of execution, pending an appeal to the Federal Court.
*For full video of the interview, click on the link
Sarawak Report has obtained a copy of Anwar Ibrahim's prime time interview last week with Sky TV's Adam Boulton.
The interview was broadcast on Sky News Tonight, the channel's flagship evening news show at 8.30pm on Thursday 16th October, during the Malaysian opposition leader's brief visit to London.
Unfortunately Mr Ibrahim had to cancel other prime time interview offers, including a top slot at the BBC, when he was forced to cut short his visit and return back to Malaysia at short notice.
It has now emerged that the Federal Court ruling on his prosecution for sodomy will be announced on 28th of the month. Anwar had originally been found innocent after a prolonged trial by the High Court, which ruled there was no evidence on which the convict the opposition leader.
However, in a surprise move, shortly after his PR coalition won a majority of the popular vote in the ensuing general election, prosecutors appealed the acquittal.
The Appeal Court ruled against the High Court judgement in a lightening half hour sitting, sentencing the opposition leader to 5 years in prison. Anwar appealed against that ruling to the final arbiter, which is the Federal Court.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors also appealed to the Federal Court on the basis that the sentence was not long enough!
The homophobic nature of these charges and the clear political motivations behind this trial have stirred considerable international interest and have further tarnished Malaysia's earlier reputation as a moderate and liberal Muslim state.
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