YOURSAY ‘I was there at the forum. Nurul Izzah did not do that. Ministers should speak the truth and not mislead the parliamentarians.'

'Nurul can be charged with maligning Islam'

Giudice: Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mashitah Ibrahim, it is people like you who cause others to have a negative view of Islam.

No compulsion is different from encouraging Muslims to leave Islam. Each person can make up his or her own mind whether to join or leave a religion, and the right to do that is a human right.

Are you not maligning Islam if you force a person to remain a Muslim even if he or she does not believe in the religion?

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar was not disrespecting Islam or any other religion. As I understood it, she merely said that one should not be compelled to be a follower of any religion. How is that wrong?

Qisti: A Malay is considered a Muslim by a man-made law. In reality, there are many born Muslims (Malay or otherwise) who are non-believers and who are not practicing the religion.

In Allah's eyes, being born into a Muslim family need not make one a Muslim. A Muslim is one who surrenders to Allah and lives and breaths according to what has been taught by Allah and His messenger Muhammad.

Artong Penang: It is very sad that an intellectual discourse on religion is being twisted and manipulated by people in power for political mileage.

The quote from Quran 2:256: "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth has been made clear from error. Whoever rejects false worship and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things."

The message is clear.

Keturunan Malaysia: Mashitah, when and where did Nurul Izzah encouraged Muslims to leave Islam? If you lie, you are committing a sin far greater than the person whom you accuse.

KJ John: I was there at the forum. Nurul Izzah did not do that. Ministers should speak the truth and not mislead the parliamentarians.

20121221Disaster: Nurul Izzah said , Malays can choose their own religion. But to her, Islam is the best choice. Even when she was studying at a school with another religious background, it did not change her mind on her Islamic beliefs.

So, Nurul Izzah is a very faithful Muslim. Whereas, the bunch of Umno Baru leaders are saying that there is no way for the Malays to choose their own religion. Malays must be forced to stick to Islamic beliefs no matter how.

Anonymous_3f15: In Indonesia, they have the freedom of religion, but you don't see them converting out of Islam in droves. They are strong in their faith. A bit curious, is freedom a threat?

Peacemaker: What's happening in Malaysian politics? Do we have bunch of ungrown kids sitting in the Parliament? Well, Nurul Izzah has given her views which should be respected.

It's sad to note we have fools in the BN unable to engage the subject intelligently. The country is facing other more pressing issues, but the ruling party is playing up racial sentiment here.

NewMalaysia: I doubt any genuine Muslim would be stupid enough to believe the spin by BN and Utusan Malaysia .

No need to argue, if there's video recording, just upload it online and let the people judge for themselves. We are tired of BN and Utusan making all sort of decisions and intepretations on our behalf.

Boiling Mud: I don't think Nurul Izzah had ever "invited and provided the avenue" of choice of religion as alleged by this deputy minister. She was merely speaking out her view in response to a question at a forum.

A God-fearing person would have the decency not to twist and spin what she said.

Victor Johan: Nurul Izzah and the rest of Pakatan Rakyat leadership will only get more support with all these twisting-and-deceiving game played by Umno or BN and their lackeys.

JSTOM: Other religions have this 'personal pro-active decision', too, even though born into a religion.

'Born' Christians are always encouraged to 'make a decision to follow Christ' personally even though they were born in a Christian family. So often one finds a 'born Christian' following a ritualistic religion unless he or she makes that personal decision.

The real people who are maligning Islam are those who blatantly practice corruption and cronyism openly and claim that it is their right.

Go catch the real people who are insulting and bringing shame to Islam by their behaviour (like those in the police who hurt unarmed people who only wanted their voice to be heard).

AJ: The causes of people looking down on Islam are constantly being created by Malay rights group Perkasa, some muftis and NGOs aligned to Umno and Umno itself.

They keep doing this almost on a daily basis.

Bystander: BN keeps twisting and spinning the facts. I agree with Nurul Izzah that religion cannot be forced down our throats.

Even if Christians are being baptised when they are infants, they have the right to embrace another religion of their choice if and when they wish.

After all, believing a religion is based on one's faith and not by enforcing religious laws to compel a person to believe.

Fairplayer: Mashitah Ibrahim makes it sound like Islam is a religion where the "followers" have no freedom to choose, but to rigidly adhere to the end, by threat or intimidation, by fair or foul means, blindly or otherwise.

Nurul was merely comparing the freedom (of choice) enjoyed by non-Malays to that of our Malay friends. There was no hint of her "encouraging Muslims to leave Islam".

In the same note, can I also say that encouraging non-Malays to embrace Islam is equally "maligning" to the religion, based on Mashitah's argument and twisted mindset?

BTN: There you go. In Bolehland, Islam can be used as a political tool to destroy another fellow Muslim just for political reasons. Indeed, Islam in Malaysia is under severe threat.

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