The National Council of Islamic Affairs (NCIA) has met with Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat over his "un-Islamic" comments and found him to be most uncooperative, the Dewan Rakyat heard today.

Parliament secretary to the Prime Minister's Department Noh Omar said that Nik Aziz was "stubborn and adamant" ( keras dan tegas ) and had insisted that his "harsh" remarks were in line with Islam.

Noh said Nik Aziz insisted that the words he had used, such as Tuhan samseng (thuggish God), mencarut (curse), barua (stooge) and ulama tungkul kayu (wooden-headed religious scholars), were permitted by the Quran and hadith (Prophet's traditions).

"Nik Aziz said he had the right to make those remarks because Umno attacked and insulted him and PAS in the same manner," Noh explained.

"He (Nik) said that the country was in a state of emergency like it was in Arab [Saudi Arabia] when the Quraish tribe prohibited everything Islam," Noh told members of parliament.

Other reasons cited by Nik Aziz included an incident in the Quran when Allah (God Almighty) cursed a disciple named Abu Lahap and condemned those who disobeyed Him as 'monkeys' and 'pigs'.

Nik Aziz also related a Quranic story where an Arab-Muslim leader Saiddina Abu Bakar used swear words and the Prophet who was present did not prevent him from doing so, meaning he (the Prophet) condoned the action.

Action against writers

Noh was replying to a question by Taib Azamudden Md Taib (PAS-Baling) who was following up on the decision made by the National Fatwa Council on the writers who were alleged to have "disparaged" Islam through their works and comments.

The Malaysian Ulama Association (Persatuan Ulama Malaysian, or PUM) which raised objections to the writers, have sent a memorandum to the Ruler's Council earlier this year, urging the King, who is the country's Muslim head, to take action against the writers.

The writers included malaysiakini columnist Farish A Noor, journalist Akbar Ali, Universiti Malaya's lecturer Patricia Martinez, Sisters-in-Islam executive director Zainah Anwar and lawyer Malik Imtiaz. PUM, however, excluded Nik Aziz's name.

Noh said it was necessary for PUM to include Nik Aziz's name in that list as the PAS spiritual leader had also uttered disparaging words against Islam.

He urged PUM, which is believed to have links with PAS, to be fair as the organisation has claimed to be apolitical and not aligned to any political parties.

On the memorandum, Noh said the council had instead decided to hand it to the NCIA, which is the parent body of the National Fatwa Council, for deliberation.

Waiting for Rulers decision

He added that the NCIA, on the advice of the Muslim Development Department (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam or Jakim) has met with the writers about their writings soon after the memorandum was issued to the Rulers' Council.

"They (writers) have admitted their mistakes, such as referring to books which have been banned by the government, making generalisations and misinterpretating Islam," said Noh.

"We also found that the media did not carry their statements in full, resulting in their comments being unclear and distorted," he added.

Noh said the NCIA will submit a working paper to the Rulers' Council and have the latter decide on the appropriate action to be taken.