Eskay takes religious oath in mosque
Businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah took an oath ( sumpah laknat ) that he was in the sex video along with PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and that Anwar was the man having sex with a woman in the video.
Businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah took an oath ( sumpah laknat ) that he was in the sex video along with PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and that Anwar was the man having sex with a woman in the video.
Eskay read out his oath from a piece of paper in a clear voice at about 4.15pm today at the Masjid Amru al-As in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur.
He was accompanied by former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik and former Perkasa treasurer Shuib Lazim, who screened the video to journalists on March 21.
The duo, however, did not take the oath.
“I swear that Anwar Ibrahim and I were in the video which recorded on Feb 21, 2011," he said in the presence of about 100 people, including a number of PKR representatives.
"Anwar was the actor in the said video. If I have committed slander, then Allah would lay a curse on me,” he said in the presence of about 100 people, including PKR representatives.
Police had earlier closed off the mosque and guarded all the entrances to the main hall of to control the number of people inside.
A police officer had also advised media and those present to maintain decorum and “respect God’s house”.
The situation also became tense again when a PKR supporter spoke out against the officer, saying that “this is a matter of dignity”, but eased when a man in the audience called out the azan.
Outside the hall, riot police were standing guard.
The trio, who were wearing bullet-proof vests (
left
), arrived with escorts.
They were whisked away within seconds after the event, with journalists who attempted to ask questions being
shoved roughly aside, resulting in a small scuffle.
One of the questions asked was why the other two did not also take the oath.
They were taken out of the mosque by burly men who yelled, “Tepi, tepi” (move aside), while police attempted to close the only entrance that was open to keep the media inside the mosque.
Advice from a religious scholar
Prior to the oath-taking, Eskay, who was dressed in a maroon shirt and holding a copy of the al-Quran, was approached by a ‘ pendakwah bebas ’ (unaffliated religious scholar) who tried to advise him against taking oath.
The scholar, Firdaus Fikri (
left
), told Eskay that chapter an-Nur states that a person accusing someone of adultery without proof can be punished with 80 lashes of the whip.
“It is in the Quran that you are holding if you open it,” he said.
Firdaus told Eskay that the oath he is taking does not automatically mean that his accusations were true.
“I have fulfilled my responsibility of advising you,” he said, after Eskay thanked him.
He also handed Eskay a book on qazaf , which was published by the Malaysian Youth Islamic Movement (Abim) about a month ago.
PKR Youth were seen distributing copies of the book at the mosque earlier.
Eskay had taken his oath about three hours later than scheduled, when a near-stampede broke out in the mosque.
Police reinforcements were brought in after the situation calmed down, following the mosque chairperson Abdul Razak Husin’s plea to those present to leave the mosque peacefully.
‘Don’t take such oaths lightly’
Meanwhile, in a statement today before Eskay took the oath, PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said that the oath-taking is a mockery of Islam.
“Their ignorance about religion is clear. They do not understand the concept of the
sumpah laknat
which has been explained by esteemed scholars locally and abroad.
“As per the case of (sodomy complainant Mohd) Saiful (Bukhari Azlan) who also took the oath, Umno is not interested in religious edicts, but are using (religion) to make it seem like Anwar is guilty,” he said.
He added that PKR is saddened that Islam is being used this way, and urged more muftis and religious scholars to speak out against such acts.
The Association of Shariah Lawyers had yesterday explained that such an oath must be taken by both the accused and the accuser, and that it cannot be used as proof that the allegations are true.
In the case of adultery, its president Mohamad Isa bin Abd Ralip said that it is the accused who is allowed to take an oath if the accuser cannot present enough proof of his allegations.
“If the accused takes the oath, then the allegations will be dropped,” he said.
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