Do not be too quick to arbitrarily exert religious laws through social media sites, says an Umno youth exco member.

But at the same time, the Umno young ulama secretariat chairperson (Ilmu) Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya also criticised the organiser of the event, Syed Azmi Alhabshi , asking him to be more careful when organising future events.

Referring to the 'I Want to Touch A Dog' event recently, Fathul Bari ( right ) gave his statement after gauging public reaction to the dog petting event.

“The organisers need to be more careful when organising an event like this.

“To the others on Facebook, don't over react and simply issue fatwas (religious edict),” he said at an 'Openness and Sensitivities: Where is the Midpoint' (Keterbukaan dan Sensitiviti Lazim: Di mana titik tengah?) forum in Petaling Jaya last night.

Fathul Bari, who is also a religious speaker, however, did not give his views on the Oct 19 event.

He merely described it as a “very awkward programme” while stressing that compassion towards animals is highly recommended by Islam.

'I failed to control Muslim crowd'

Syed Azmi, who also attended the forum last night, repeated his apology for failing to control the dog event and the furore it had triggered.

He explained once again that it was meant to reduce the fear some people have towards dogs, by having them touch the furry creatures.

“We expected the event-goers to be afraid of the dogs, but did not expect them to be so happy after petting them.

“The animals (at the event), when picked up, touched and hugged, became cuter,” Syed Azmin ( right ) said.

He admitted to failing to properly control the Muslim crowd who were snuggling up to the animals and taking pictures with them.

“That was wrong. That was what caused the pictures to turn out that way and I apologise for that,” he said.

The forum was organised by Captain Hussein Leadership Academy (Akhi), managed by Umno Youth.

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