Zahid slammed over Palu quake statement

A PROMINENT Indonesian Muslim leader has pilloried Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for claiming that the Palu earthquake was God’s punishment for the immoral activities committed by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community there.

According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), Ahmad Syafii Maarif, the former chief of the 30 millionstrong Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic organisation in Indonesia, said the earthquake and tsunami were natural phenomena.

Indonesia, he said, was in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area stretching some 40,000km in the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

“There are geographical factors involved,” Syafii was quoted by FMT as saying.

He said he was surprised that an “important person” like Zahid could make such a statement.

“There are people in Indonesia too who argue that way, but these are insignificant individuals. Yet, here we have an important person in Malaysia saying this.”

Syafii, 83, is a prolific writer on Islam, and a recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, widely regarded as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

He told FMT that it was not right for Zahid to presume that the Palu earthquake-tsunami was a divine punishment.

“If we have sinned, we seek forgiveness from God. But never link it to the tsunami.”

He said it was wrong for anyone to make presumptions about acts of God, even though Islam considers homosexuality a sin, and that the holy Quran tells of nations that were punished with natural disasters.

“No one can claim to know God’s intentions.”

On Tuesday, while raising a supplementary question, Zahid said he heard claims that the calamity at Palu was due to the involvement of more than 1,000 people in LGBT activities.

“I would like to ask, as part of Malaysian Islamic Development Department’s (Jakim) tasks to implement the Mukhayyam outreach programme to help the LGBT community, what are the steps taken by the government agencies and other states on this issue?” he asked.

“How effective are such programmes, so that we can avoid similar punishment from God?”

He was putting forward a supplementary question to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa during the questionand-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat.

There are people in Indonesia too who argue that way, but these are insignificant individuals. Yet, here we have an important person in Malaysia saying this. AHMAD SYAFII MAARIF

Former Muhammadiyah chief