A coin has two sides. Any incidence can be viewed positively or negatively. So its up to the individual.........

A coin has two sides. Any incidence can be viewed positively or negatively. So its up to the individual......... To JAIS, do not be a talam-dua-muka, don't be a pretender! Tepuk dada, tanya selera.....some of JAIS staff is made up of stupid and dead-brained people.....


The lesson learnt here is that humans tend to have negative assumption

(Harakah Daily) - PAS leaders have made their views known over the action by the Selangor Islamic Department (JAIS) to intrude on a dinner event at a church in Petaling Jaya citing complaints about "proselytization to Muslims".

PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man explained his view about the latest incident by giving a personal anecdote which took place during his teaching days at UiTM.

Recalling the story, Tuan Ibrahim said he once ordered a juice at a Malay restaurant, which was served to him in a glass with a beer label.

Feeling uncomfortable, he asked that the glass be replaced, telling the restaurant owner that although the juice was halal, "but the sight of the glass could invite suspicion and slander among my students about me and your shop".
“The lesson learnt here is that humans tend to have negative assumption. Some students seeing me drinking from such a glass would conclude that I was consuming beer, never mind the juice in it was orange in colour and never mind that it was in a Muslim outlet.

"The shop owner too could be accused of selling alcoholic drinks.

"The first lesson here is one should not quickly be taken in by slanders without any investigation,” said Tuan Ibrahim (right), adding that those who believed that he was drinking beer could not be faulted.

"Because I would have done something which could arouse suspicion on me," he explained.

Another lesson, said Tuan Ibrahim, is that one should not act in a way that attracts undue suspicion from the public.

"In short, we must always have good thoughts of each other and avoid doing something that could attract slander,” he said.

Tuan Ibrahim said both these elements can now be seen in the frenzy which followed the JAIS action – the tendency to believe in an accusation and the tendency to do something arousing suspicions.

As such, Tuan Ibrahim said while JAIS may want to justify its actions in the name of defending Islam, it must be mindful not to create unnecessary controversies which could damage the name of the Selangor state government, the Islamic body, as well as that of Islam.

Meddling in other religion

Tuan Ibrahim, who PAS commissioner for Pahang, called on JAIS to always act according to laws and procedures.

"Any action must not be seen as meddling in other religion," he said.
He reminded that the authorities must be able to see through the intention in any complaint received, whether it was true or just made in bad faith against the backdrop of the country's heated political and racial climate.

“JAIS should also ensure that investigation is carried out in a transparent manner and every action must be according to procedures even after confirming the reliability of the information it received,” said Tuan Ibrahim.

He also said that Muslims who were at the church attending the dinner should ponder whether their actions, unconsciously or otherwise, had caused difficulties to the dinner event as well as to the church concerned.

On what JAIS should do if it was proven that its action was wrong, Tuan Ibrahim has this advice to the department:

"Do apologise if you are wrong."

Comments (8)

written by Vivarium, August 06, 2011 12:23:45

I have my reservation on the anology given by Tuan Ibrahim :

1) He was mindful of other Muslims' perception of him having a beer-labelled glass filled with fruit juice. While we admit that in this material world, we care more of what others perceive you to rather than who you actually are. In religion, who you actually are matters more.

2) Tuan Ibrahim was totally wrong in postulating that the Muslims who attended the dinner that unfortunate night should have been mindful of the inconvenience and difficulties they had brought onto the event. Why should they be blamed ? It was JAIS' gatecrashing that had brought shame to the entire Muslim population and anger to all non-muslim population.

3) "Do apologise if you are wrong." advised Tuan Ibrahim. To which I would say a big "NO". " Punish them " ! This is not the first time JAIS had committed acts of criminality. While most christian followers are tolerant, village temple guardians may offer some physical resistance to match JAIS the bully !
written by Alice, August 06, 2011 12:00:09

Seems to me that this guy is trying to please everyone in a subtle manner. As for me if the drink is not beer and if my faith is strong and my conscience is clear why should I worry about what people think about me. If it is a beer glass so be it. What he should do is go back and educate his students not to make a quick judgement on people. Don't pretend to be open minded Tuan. It is irritating.

written by losyot, August 06, 2011 11:47:36

No JAIS officials were seen on the 29th April at Westminster Abbey?

They would have had a field day. catching all those murtads there!

Impression my foot, double standards definitely.

The had lots of "juice" at the reception too.

written by ez24get, August 06, 2011 11:42:30

"He also said that Muslims who were at the church attending the dinner should ponder whether their actions, unconsciously or otherwise, had caused difficulties to the dinner event as well as to the church concerned."

On the contrary, I would salute these brave and good hearted muslims who attended the dinner. They did not think of the place they were in nor they had thought of the difficulties caused to themselves, the dinner, the church or anyone else. Their only thoughts on their mind were the difficulties faced by the less privileged and the sick, not themselves! They are the true muslims and should be the shining example of what Islam or for that matter any religion is about - without thinking about race and what religion the other people profess. Their intention was to help people in need and that's all to it.

The buddhist, hindus, bahais, taoist and people of other religions did not mind attending the charity event in the church on that day. Should these muslim attendees be any different? Is the place more important than the charity? Had Tuan Ibrahim drank the orange juice in the beer glass, he has not committed any sin, has he? So why muslims cannot be inside a church if his faith is noble and strong? PAS and other muslims should ponder about this instead of differentiating this is my place and that is your place. We are all children of God and we all share one place which is earth!

written by truthbespoken, August 06, 2011 11:02:48

Yes, there are two sides to a coin. But those who had clearly abused their public status or positions to openly harass and bully others, the people can feel. There is no running away from this! A considerate party is only considerate when they can also accept the same situations when it happens to them. Think and reverse the scenario. What will happen if the bullies become victims of such unnecessary harassment? What if a section of the public also unthinkingly barge into a mosque premise when an Iman preached unflatteringly about others? Where then does such stupidity and action and reaction end? Wouldn't such offenders then be arrested straight away and charges filed? Why then is it not happening to those so-called religious but offending officers now? Tell us! And learn! Most times even when intention is noble but when the approach is wrong, the whole thing becomes wrong! This is basic in any public human relationship and yet we still have so many blithering fools acting like heroes, and with impunity, around in the country! Do those situations make sense? Are good Malaysians dealing with people and authorities lacking in commonsense? Are we Talibans?

written by onnetline, August 06, 2011 11:01:40

PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man,

Agree totally with you that if one have made a wrong or poor judgement, it's only right and proper to offer an apology and make amends. Don't imitate the corrupted ' sombong bodoh lembus ' from BN-ARMNO who are stubborn and not willing to change for better ! ...

written by guests, August 06, 2011 10:58:53

Referring to the orange juice in a beer glass story, my comment is why should Tuan Ibrahim worry about what other people think. Your action and your sincerety to god is what matter. It is between you and god. ..

written by Gerald, August 06, 2011 10:05:15

A coin has two sides. Any incidence can be viewed positively or negatively. So its up to the individual. To JAIS, do not be a talam-dua-muka, don't be a pretender! Tepuk dada, tanya selera.....some of JAIS staff is made up of stupid and dead-brained people.....