PREACHERS CAUTIONED ON GIVING VIEWS ON ISLAMIC LAWS - MOHD N'AIM

MAKKAH, June 20 (Bernama) -- All Muslim preachers in Malaysia are advised to be careful when  conveying their views and to check with authorised reference sources.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar said, preachers should be honest and have the courage to say they do not know if they are not knowledgeable like authoritative scholars.

"It is not wrong to say you don't know because even Imam Malik, Imam Syafie when asked by a student, they said they don't know, when they do not know.

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"The problem with us is that sometimes when there are questions, we want to answer them all. We should say that we don't know what we don't know. This is what used to be taught  by scholars but in today's society whatever comes out from the mouth of preachers will be accepted because of the thirst for religious knowledge," he said.

He said this when commenting on the apology by celebrity preacher, Don Daniyal Don Biyajid following his sharing on a radio station which said that one of the times that one cannot fast is on the first day of either Aidilfitri or Aidiladha.

The answer is allegedly misleading because Muslims cannot fast on Tasyrik days which are the 11th, 12th and 13th of Zulhijah.

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Following various criticisms received, Don Daniyal, known as Ustaz Don, 40 apologised through his social media site, admitting that the answer given on a radio station had caused misunderstanding.

Commenting further, Mohd Naim said he was upset that such an issue was still lingering even though he had previously instructed the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) to discuss with Ustaz Don.

"My advice is if you want to share knowledge, let it be based on sources and references that we believe in and based our expertise. These religious people have specialization, if in the field of hadith, we have religious people who are experts in hadith," he said.

At the same time, Mohd Naim also advised media agencies to ensure that the selected speakers have credentials from their respective State Fatwa Committees.

"The media can also refer to Jakim because it has a list of certified speakers. At least this speaker has been checked. That's my hope. It is always necessary to refer if there is any problem," he said.

Besides, people who have religious and Islamic law problems are also advised to refer to the Fatwa Committee and mufti in their respective states.

-- BERNAMA