There might be something rotten in the heads of organisers of the controversial 'I Want To Touch A Dog' event last weekend, or so implies PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

"Only those with worms in their heads will organise a programme specifically to touch dogs in. It is against the Shafie school of thought," he is reported as saying by Harakahdaily today.

Nik Aziz added that lately there are many liberal Muslims and this leads to "strange" ideas which could be deemed "deviant",  the PAS mouthpiece reports.

Speaking at an event in Kota Bharu, he also said that some try to label Islam as a liberal religion in order to smear it.

The former Kelantan menteri besar said that differences of opinions in Islam does not equate to liberalism.

Earlier, Kelantan mufti Mohamad Shukri Mohamad urged the organiser, as well as Muslim participants of the programme to repent.

Mohamad Shukri ( left ) said this is because their actions clearly showed that they had "ridiculed" Allah's law.

"Intentionally touching dogs is forbidden as dogs are categorised under najis mughallazah (heavy impurities) and is against the Shafie school of thought," he said in a Sinar Harian report .

“If it was organised by a Muslim, he or she has insulted Allah’s law,” he said, adding that the incident can be considered as a “big slap” to the dakwah efforts in the country.

At an event organised in Petaling Jaya on Sunday to dispel fears of dogs among Malay Muslims, hundreds of Muslims attended to touch and get to know pet dogs.

The programme’s organiser Syed Azmi Alhabshi said he had obtained the permission  of the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais) and the police to hold the event.

Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria, meanwhile, reminded Muslims not to emulate Western culture as this had bad implications to Islam.

He said some Muslims nowadays were “too open-minded” that they follow the Western culture without basing it on Islamic law.

He held that based on Islamic law, a programme which encourages Muslims to touch dogs is forbidden.

Meanwhile, Utusan Malaysia reports National Fatwa Council committee chairperson Abdul Shukor Husin saying that there was no need to issue a new fatwa in relation to the touching of dogs.

Iit is clear that it is forbidden. “The law should not be debated as that creates dispute in religion,” he said.

“Everyone knows that Muslims cannot touch dogs without any reason even when it is dry, more so when it is wet,” he asserted.

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