Masjid Kota Damansara officials have denied that their mosque had ceased sounding the azan from its loudspeakers due to pressure from non-Muslims.

They clarified that it was a damaged amplifier that resulted in the calls to prayers to be made without the aid of a PA system.

Secretary of the three-week-old mosque Ahmad Redzuan Samsudin said a police report was lodged on Wednesday against former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo for claiming pressure from non-Muslims and a state exco-backed petition had forced them to stop making the azan through the loudspeaker.

“Last Saturday (Aug 30), lightning during a thunderstorm had struck and damaged the PA system. Thereafter, we borrowed equipment from the SMK Kota Damansara in Section 10, but problems with the wiring further delayed us from sounding the azans through the loudspeaker.

“There was no pressure from non-Muslims,” said Redzuan when contacted.

khir toyo selangor bn pc 120308 happy The police report, lodged by mosque head Hassan Basri alias Basri Mohd at the Kota Damansara police station, quotes the latter as saying: “I see all of this as slander and an attempt to give rise to prejudice among the various races in Kota Damansara, an act of provocation to divide the community.”

In a Sept 9 Utusan Malaysia report, Khir was reported to have urged the opposition Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government not to concede to purported moves by “a certain party” to issue directions against azan made from loudspeakers of mosques in Kota Damansara and Puchong.

Mohd Khir also lamented that “while we practice freedom of religion, members of a certain religion celebrate to the extent that roads are closed, Muslims do not protest.”

No such discussion in state assembly

masjid azan loud speaker issue 120908 02 On the issue of the mosque in Puchong ( right ), Khir has apparently alleged that Selangor exco and DAP leader Teresa Kok had submitted a petition to Umno’s Seri Serdang state assemblyperson Mohd Satim Diman which supposedly described the azans as “disturbing the peace” of local residents there.

The blog also alleged that the petition requested for the calls to prayers there to be “toned down”.

In a police report lodged yesterday against Mohd Khir and the blogspot, PAS’ Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said she had ascertained that no such discussion regarding a petition on azan were heard in the Selangor state assembly.

Kok has herself denied heading any such petition against a mosque or surau (community prayer hall) in Kota Damansara, Sri Serdang or Puchong Jaya.

dap kl parliament pc 140308 teresa kok “These (allegations) are not true. Why should I seek assistance regarding mosques and so on (from Satim)? It’s better that I ask Dr Hassan Mohd Ali as the exco in charge of Islamic affairs,” she was quoted as saying by Utusan today.

“I have no problems with the azan being made. My house is close to a mosque,” said Kok, who has threatened legal action against Mohd Khir and Utusan unless a retraction is made.

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo had earlier called for Mohd Khir to furnish proof of his allegations.

Contacted yesterday, Mohd Khir said: “The matter is now a subject of police investigations. Let the police handle it. Then we will see who is right and who is wrong.”