Committee members of a mosque in Taman Kosas, Ampang, have been harbouring fears in recent days that they would be replaced very soon by officials backed by Umno.

This follows a series of developments in which they have repeatedly been queried for conducting programmes of questionable political orientation.

Administrators of Masjid Fatimah Azzahrah insist, however, that their programmes have been strictly educational and not slanted towards any political party, opposition or otherwise.

However, they are expecting that the operation of the mosque will likely be 'Umno-ised' within the next few weeks.

"We have been functioning as a mosque for more than 10 years," said one official who asked only to be named as "Wan".

January incident

"We've never had any complaints. Early this year, however, an issue did arise, but one that was immediately rectified. We had informed the individual concerned that he will not be requested to speak or teach in the mosque henceforth," Wan added.

The committee member was referring to a Friday sermon in January by religious teacher Hafiz Nordin in which he was alleged to have made scathing allusions to the government, including the comment that "kepala ular di New York, ekornya di Putrajaya" (the head of the snake is in New York, while the tail lies in Putrajaya.)

"Hafiz was subsequently informed that the mosque would not be in need of his services as a teacher from that time onwards," Wan said.

Wan also mentioned that the mosque's activities included talks and study circles, wherein scholars and teachers were invited to give talks and give lectures. Some of the figures concerned, however, are noted for being politically outspoken.

Several officials from the religious department had approached the mosque committee and asked them why PAS figures such as state assemblyperson for Gombak Setia Ismail Kamus, religious scholar Harun Din, and member of parliament for Jengka (Pahang) Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man were invited to speak at the mosque.

Educational programmes

Committee members, however, defended their actions on grounds that the programmes in the mosque are educational in nature in which the individuals were asked to teach in their capacity as religious scholars, not political activists.

Wan said they had all come in order to teach things that are part of any religious syllabus, using standard textbooks such as Hadith Qudsi, and Bahrul Mazi read by all students of the religion.

Another committee member said that the authorities were afraid of any mosque that was active in the pursuit of knowledge and learning.

"What they want are mosque patrons who merely come to pray and do nothing else. They don't want mosques to be active in the dissemination and acquisition of knowledge," he said.

In August, a letter was purportedly issued by a neighbouring mosque requesting biodata forms to be filled out by all members of the mosque executive committee.

The bottom of the letter was said to indicate that a carbon-copy would be sent to an Umno division in Ampang, addressed to its religious bureau head Jabarali Latheff.

Politicise everything

"We have no problems liaising with another mosque and inform them about our committee members. But what does the Umno division have to do with such things?" asked another committee member.

"It shows Umno's hand in the attempts to intervene in our programmes and activities," offered another member of the community.

"If anybody is bringing politics into the mosques, it's Umno that is doing it. They won't allow anybody else to talk about politics, but they seem to have every right to politicise everything."

Rumours are spreading that within a few weeks, the religious department will announce a replacement of the Masjid Fatimah Azzahrah's executive committee by a new line-up of administrators.

If such an outcome does occur, it would follow the pattern of several mosques whose administration was replaced by officials supported by local Umno divisions, including some in Kampung Pandan Luar, Shah Alam, Kelana Jaya, Subang Jaya, Bandar Baru Bangi, and Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur.