Muslim diharamkan bekerja di premis arak - Abdul Imam

Tawau: The Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jheains) advised Muslims not to work in premises selling alcohol beverages, saying they can be charged under Syariah Criminal Enactment.

On Tuesday, five Muslims, three of them women, were caught for consuming liquor. Tawau is so far the first district in the State to take a tough stand on the question of liquor.

Although Muslims are forbidden from consuming liquor under Syariah laws, a similar move to discourage them working in entertainment spots selling liquor in Selangor met with strong objection recently.

It was found that implementing such a measure would leave some 300,000 Muslims in the State jobless as many of them worked in places like hotels where liquor is sold directly or indirectly.

They said they had to survive with families to feed and there was no harm working in these establishments so long as they do not consume liquor.

Meanwhile, Jheains administrator officer, Abdul Imam Basirun, said the department would conduct operations to detain Muslims, including couples, committing offences under the Enactment, from time to time.

He said more than 25 Muslim couples were arrested since January for committing close proximity, the majority of them youths in lodging houses and cheap hotels.

All the arrested couples underwent talks and were reminded of stern action if they repeat the same offence.

Abdul Imam called on especially parents to provide sufficient religious education to their children apart from monitoring their activities all the time.

"The forming of children's character and personality starts at home where parents need to give extra attention to the children and become best role models to them," he said, Thursday.

At the same time, Abdul Imam said Jheains would continue to do propagation through existing laws to make Muslims realise the importance of following Islamic teachings.

Published on: Friday, May 27, 2011

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