Don't Insult Our Intelligence

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today defended controversial preacher Zami­han Mat Zin's role in rehabilitating and deradicalising detained militants in the country, describing him as an "asset".

The deputy prime minister said Zamihan's expertise in deradicalisation is valuable to the government, pointing out that the latter has a proven track record in restoring the faith (akidah) of extremists since being transferred to the Prisons Department.

G25’s Noor Farida Ariffin has urged Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to advise Zamihan Mat Zin against making derogatory remarks about others, following the deputy prime minister’s defence of the controversial preacher.

Noor Farida, who is the spokesperson for the group of prominent Malays, acknowledged that Zamihan might be useful for Putrajaya’s programmes to deradicalise local Islamic State (IS) sympathisers. She added however that this did not give him the right to make disparaging comments about those from other races and religions.

“That applies not just to Zamihan, but to all other preachers, especially Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) preachers. They represent the government and they should be able to respect people of other races and religions. We are a multiracial country. Does Zamihan want to encourage dissension and racial strife among the Malaysian people.

Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin (pic) has questioned how an "extremist" could rehabilitate imprisoned terrorists and other religious extremists.

Dr Asri said that it was surprising that there were those who held religious titles but failed to understand that Islam was a religion of goodwill.

It was people like these, he said, who would disagree with non-Muslims being given a helping hand by Muslims during times of need, such as when mosques sheltered non-Muslim flood victims in Penang.

"But what is even more surprising is that that the authorities have been using people like this the whole time to rehabilitate imprisoned terrorists and extremists," he said in a Facebook post on Thursday. The question is whether an extremist can rehabilitate the minds of extremists," he said.