Several Muslim intellectuals have urged the Malaysian Council of Muftis to respond to the letter of 22 Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees who had yesterday demanded the council to declare its religious stand on the ISA.

Despite emphasising the clarity of the position of Islam towards the ISA, which provides for detention without trial and for an indefinite period, they also expressed doubts that Council member Harussani Zakaria would break new ground by making such a declaration and "telling truth to power".

Ex-ISA detainee Shaari Sungib was most forthright in condemning the "muteness" of the muftis towards the issue as the act clearly contravened principles of law and human rights enshrined in Islamic teachings.

Shaari, who has written a total of nine books while in detention, said the ISA was clearly haram (prohibited) as it conflicted with the religious texts, contradicted the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and his successors, went against the consensus of Islamic scholars, and were against the principles of human rights and the rule of law enshrined in the Scriptures.

If they do not come out with a declaration of Islam's position vis-a-vis the ISA, they are mere "mutes" and ineffectual since their edicts ( fatwa ) only address such issues that do not encroach upon the interests of the political authorities, he said when contacted.

Similar request ignored

"They are bisu (mutes). The council is merely a platform to make edicts (fatwa) in the interests of their political masters."

Shaari who is former president of Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) said that ex-Council chairperson Dr Ismail Ibrahim had ignored a similar request made by him last year and dismissed it as 'irrelevent' as Shaari had, by that time, been released after two years detention.

According to Shaari, Ismail had said in June last year that, "as he (Shaari) has already been freed, there is no need to comment on the ISA."

He expressed doubts that the current chairperson Harussani would act otherwise.

Shaari suggested that the remedy to such abuses by government leaders was the decentralisation of power through the empowerment of civil societies in the community and the independence of societal institutions.

Historically, though many past Muslim rulers were not Islamic in the religious sense of the word, centralisation in Muslim communities was minimized through the dissemination of power and the creation of many 'power centers', said Shaari.

Muslim intellectual Dr Chandra Muzaffar echoed Shaari's sentiments in declaring the clarity of the issue from the standpoint of the Islamic religion.

"It is quite clear that in the Shariah, there is no detention without trial, without an independent, impartial tribunal, and without the benefit of (defence) counsel," said Chandra, who is president of the International Movement for a Just World.

No stand taken by mufti

Chandra opined, however, that though there were pious individuals who were committed to telling "truth to power", history was replete with examples of Muslim scholars who took sides with the ruling elite in order to maintain their position and interests, and the Council of Muftis did not differ in that respect, he said.

"It is sad that in the past 40-so years (since it's enactment in 1960), no mufti has taken a position against the ISA. I don't think they would respond to this matter," said Chandra.

Chandra added that it was much easier to "tell truth to power" when it concerned such issues as SMS texting that did not threaten the ruling elite.

Current JIM president Zaid Kamaruddin said his organisation had previously approached the council in the hope that the issue may be discussed by the muftis.

"As a religious body, they should give their opinion. The silence is deafening."

Differing from the above accounts by his defence of the ISA, Umno Religious Bureau head Nakhaie Ahmad, said that there were precedents in Islamic practices akin to the ISA.

"There have been incidents (in Islamic history) whereby the general interests (of society) took precedence over the interests of certain individuals," said Nakhaie when contacted today.

When asked for details, however, he declined to comment. "Ask the mufti concerned," he told malaysiakini .