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I read with some considerable interest Suresh Gnasegarah's letter in which he advocates for the right of non-Muslims to discuss Islamic laws at their whims and fancies.

While I am quite familiar with his previous tirades questioning Islam and its practices, this particular letter of his takes the cake as the most Islamophobic of them all.

I believe as far as Islamic law concerning apostasy are concerned, it is clear that it calls for the death penalty. As Islam is a way of life, the political sphere of Islam considers apostasy from Islam as an act treason against the state.

This is the basic law accepted by all prominent Islamic jurists such as Ibn Qaiyyim, Ibn Taimiyyah and several others.

Imam As-Shafi'ie, the founder of one of the four major madhaabs (school of thought) in the world today, has discussed the issue of apostasy in at least three chapters of his magnum opus , Kitab Al-Umm . Non-Muslims are not involved in any stage of its application at all, thus I do not see what right they have to talk about it.

Suresh also speaks of a 'hardline' stance in contrast to a 'progressive' stance with regards to the issue of Konsert Sure Heboh . The problem with non-Muslim individuals like Suresh is that they tend to adopt the 'easier' stances of the two, and hence they give labels such as 'hardline', 'hardcore', 'intolerant' or 'bigot'.

Labels do nothing to diminish the fact that PAS (and for that matter, Muslims who wish to see a full compliance with Islamic laws) is and are Malaysians. Where the concert is concerned, excessive entertainment is forbidden according to Islam, no matter what its justification may be.

Now Suresh may complain that the application of such laws can only be adopted by so-called 'hardline' parties such as PAS. As I recall, he even attempted to make a hullabaloo by advocating for a ban on PAS .

In my opinion, as far as PAS is concerned, its beliefs will only be implemented once it is voted into power. Meaning, when the people have accepted PAS' ideology as a whole and no questions are asked.

I also believe that the Constitution provides for Islam as the official religion of the country, and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the official head of the country.

That is no different from Islam being the rule of the law under a nomocratic Islamic state and the Caliph himself being the head of that state. So without the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to mould this country into what Suresh wishes it to be, the issue is pretty much debatable, in my humble opinion.

In short, boasting about being '110 percent Malaysian' does not give Suresh the right to be opinionated about exclusively Muslim affairs, since non-Muslims have no business poking their nose into it.

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