DAP MP Lee insincere in Quranic verse apology

 No News Is Bad News

 

For image info, go to https://www.alislam.org/articles/about-holy-quran/ 

DAP MP Lee insincere in Quranic verse apology

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26, 2023: Is citing a Quranic verse an offence for non-Muslims? Isn’t the Quran freely  available to both Muslims and non-Muslims to read?

Ipoh Timor MP Howard Lee has apologised after being accused of making his own interpretation of a Quranic verse in a video which went viral last week.

Police have started investigations and have also recorded Lee’s statement.

However, Lee was quoted by trhe media as saying: “I have been accused of interpreting (the Quran), but I did not. I only cited a verse from the Quran, and that too, upon the advice of knowledgeable individuals. I do not wish to elaborate further.”

If so, why is Lee apologising, and for what?

No News Is Bad News have not viewed the video clip that featured Lee but it is likely that he did not only cite the verse but also interprted. If not, why apologise?

Citing what is in the Quran cannot possibly be an offence but misinterpreting the verses is a different matter.

So, Mr MP, admit your mistake instead of trying to make excuses to save your skin! As it is, your apology smacks of insincerity!

No News Is Bad News reproduces below what the media reported on what Lee said:

Howard Lee apologises over Quran interpretation controversy

The DAP man says Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki advised him not to repeat the act.

Shahrul Shahabudin - 26 Sep 2023, 8:18pm

Ipoh Timor MP Howard Lee said he was concerned by the threats posted on social media against him. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Ipoh Timor MP Howard Lee has apologised after being accused of making his own interpretation of a Quranic verse in a video which went viral last week.

The DAP central executive committee member said he decided to apologise after being suggested to do so by Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, who advised him not to repeat the act.

“I take this opportunity to apologise for any distress that may have arisen,” said Lee in a press conference at his service centre.

“I have been accused of interpreting (the Quran), but I did not. I only cited a verse from the Quran, and that too, upon the advice of knowledgeable individuals. I do not wish to elaborate further.”

Earlier today, Lee provided a statement to the police as part of its investigation into the video.

Lee had just arrived from New York, where he was attending the 78th United Nations General Assembly.

Last Friday, Bukit Aman said the police would be calling Lee to have his statement recorded following a report lodged against him by a Perak organisation, Jalinan Bersatu Sahabat.

The group’s president, Amiruddin Daud, claimed that Lee’s actions were an insult to Islam as he is a non-Muslim, but had given his own interpretation of a Quranic verse.

“I request that we do not escalate this further,” said Lee.

“I am concerned that when we look at social media, especially on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, there are many comments that not only create tension, but also threaten my life.”

UPDATE:

PAS has ‘selective memory’, ex-MP says after Howard Lee’s apology

Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah says the DAP MP’s comments showed that PAS ‘excelled at selective persecution’ rather than religious correctness.

Sean Augustin - 28 Sep 2023, 8:00am

Amanah’s Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah said PAS’s objection to DAP MP Howard Lee citing Quranic verses in a recent video was purely about gaining political mileage.

PETALING JAYA: A former PAS MP said an apology tendered by DAP MP Howard Lee over the use of a Quranic verse in a political video was proof the Islamic party suffers from “very selective memory”.

In the apology, Lee pointed out that PAS’s non-Muslim supporters’ wing and its coalition partner Gerakan had also previously quoted from the holy book.

Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah said Lee’s comments showed that PAS “excelled at selective persecution” rather than religious correctness. He said PAS’s objections were all about gaining political mileage.

“PAS will conveniently forget that its top leaders not only allowed their non-Muslim supporters to cite Quranic verses, but also cheered them on,” the Terengganu Amanah chief told FMT. Amanah is a PAS splinter party.

Raja Bahrin said there are videos of several PAS ceramahs to back his claim.

“I guess when it suits PAS, everything is kosher, but when non-PAS supporters do it, all hell breaks loose. Why the double standard?” he said.

Raja Bahrin said PAS has strayed from being a puritanical Islamic party to a “power grabbing party which resorts to any means to gain power”.

He also called the party out for refusing to adopt an inclusive approach when dealing with non-Muslims.

Instead, he said, they chastise non-Muslims, especially non-PAS supporters, who try to familiarise themselves with the Quran as if the Quran was “exclusively theirs to quote”.

Raja Bahrin cited PAS’s Sanusi Nor’s “vulgar” attack on Lee using “un-Islamic words”, as reported by Malaysiakini, as a prime example of the party’s duplicity.

He said such attacks would turn non-Muslims away from Islamic teachings.

“This ‘toxic preaching’ by PAS gives Islam a bad image. Unlike Muslim figures who endear themselves to others by explaining and making Islam accessible, PAS today creates a hostile atmosphere such that the Quran is seen as a book exclusively for Muslims,” he said.

Lee, who is the Ipoh Timur MP, came under fire from PAS politicians recently for using a Quranic verse in an address to his supporters.

Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki defended Lee, who is being investigated for his comments, saying similar actions by DAP leaders in the past, when PAS and DAP were allies, had been approved by the Islamic party.