Liberals have the potential to be radicalised, at least according to the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).

“Thoughts that have the potential to be radical include (those on) liberalism, pluralism, extremism and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT).”

This was stated on a slide by Jakim’s Norliah Sajuri, who was one of the panellists who spoke about Malaysia’s experience on deradicalisation and rehabilitation at the international conference on 'Deradicalisation and Countering Violent Extremism' in Kuala Lumpur today.

Norliah, however, did not read out the line and instead spoke about deviant teachings that were witnessed in the country such as the teachings of Nasir Ismail, al-Arqam and al-Maunah.

Apart from the criticism against views such as liberalism and pluralism, Norliah stated how Shiism is considered as a form of deviant teaching, too.

“We feel that (the) Shiite sect is one of the threats (to potential radicalism),” she said.

During the next plenary session on other countries’ deradicalisation experiences, panellists from Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia were asked to comment on Norliah’s slides, on whether the same approach was utilised in other countries.

Director of Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, Sidney Jones, admitted that she was struck by the particular slides.

“It suggests a rather broad intolerance,” she said.

Citing an example in Indonesia, Jones said Indonesia’s fatwa council had, in 2005, issued a fatwa against pluralism, liberalism and secularism, among others.

“This was overwhelmingly attacked by many in the mainstream Muslim Indonesian community as it was antithetical to Indonesia’s state ideology,” she said, citing the Pancasila.

Jones admitted that there was tension – in many societies in this region – between their commitment to believe that their religion (Islam) is the sole truth and the approach that accepts all (ideas).

Saudi Arabia’s head of ideological security at the Saudi interior ministry, Abdulrahman al-Hadlaq, on the other hand, stated how the Shi'ites are citizens of Saudi Arabia and are considered the same as any other citizens.

“We have some problems with some of the Shiites, the same with how we have some problems with the Sunnis.

“You cannot say all Shiites are bad. We have very good Shiite citizens,” he said.