On the evening of Saturday, July 29, 2023, the weather in the heart of Kuala Lumpur was bright and sunny. As usual, the streets were crowded with people on Tuanku Abdul Rahman Road. Amidst this hustle and bustle, eight men boldly made their way to the courtyard of the Sogo Building. No one suspected that on that evening, they would change Malaysia's fate.
These eight men are followers of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. In the capital city of Malaysia, they organized a peaceful gathering to defend the rights of the LGBTQ community.
They do not identify as LGBTQ, but they believe that in Malaysia, this community has been oppressed and denied their fundamental rights. These eight men are frustrated with the pro-government religious authorities who have persecuted the LGBTQ community and other minority groups. They believe that religious institutions have unjustly punished the LGBTQ community, thereby making the religion seem unjust. They also know that the true adversaries of religion and divine justice are religious scholars who oppose the supremacy of God and reject the leadership of the Prophet's Ahlul-Bayt.
While waving a black banner with the logo of the “Star of David” and the words “The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light”, the eight men shouted, "People should not be persecuted because of their sexual orientation,", “Down down Shariah court!”, and “Only God can judge”. Their resounding cries prompted the Dang Wangi police to rush in and stop the gathering. In the midst of the crowd, the police acted swiftly to arrest them and place them in a police van. Chaos ensued. In an instant, the once bright and sunny weather turned grim and dark. In the blink of an eye, news of their arrest began to spread. The masses, influenced by religious leaders, began to curse the bearers of the black banner defending the LGBTQ community. Social media became filled with curses and threats, with many even advocating to execute them.
The eight men who boldly denounced the religious institutions and Islamic Shariah of Malaysia are Azizul bin Rebu, Muhammad Danial bin Azizul, Mohd Ramli bin Md Yusof, Maznan bin Othman, Mohamad Shahrunizam bin Ilias, Mohamad Safwan bin Ahmad, Muhammad Nasaie bin Abd Rahman, and Ahmad Bukhari bin Bakkery. They were all arrested and interrogated by the police and the Federal Territories Religious Department.
On August 3, 2023, the Harian Metro newspaper reported that the Muftis of Pahang and Kelantan had declared the Ahmadi religion to be outside the teachings of Islam and its followers to be apostates, urging the authorities to impose the harshest punishment possible. Islamic communities, adhering to the religious scholars, immediately spread condemnation of the defenders of the LGBT community and pressured the authorities to impose punishment. Meanwhile, freelance speakers across the country continued to spread slander inciting people to curse the LGBT community and its supporters. Ustaz Mat Ropa, a renowned freelance speaker in Malaysia, described the eight men as foreign agents receiving substantial payment from the enemies of Islam to undermine the faith of its people. The religious scholar called on the public to reject a religion that advocates for LGBT rights, arguing that it undermines stability and unity within the nation.
However, on August 4, 2023, the Chief of Police of Kuala Lumpur announced that investigation papers had been prepared and sent to the Attorney General for further action. From these developments, it became clear that the fate of the eight men defending the rights of the LGBT community was in grave danger. Upon the advice of NGO lawyers, they were forced to immediately leave behind their children, wives, and beloved families, emigrating out of the country for their safety and faith.
As the eldest son, Ramli, 55 years old, sadly left his elderly mother whom he had cared for almost 30 years. He had to ask his brother to take over the care. Shahrunizam, 47 years old, also shed tears due to being separated from both of his ailing parents. Safwan, 39 years old, faced physical abuse from his father for refusing to return to Sunni Islam. With his wife and five children under the care of his parents, Safwan had no choice but to leave them behind. Similarly, Bukhari, 39 years old, found himself in the same situation, leaving his wife and five children. Likewise, Nasaie, 35 years old, and Maznan, 57 years old, also had to bid farewell to their beloved families, as they realized that "the truth is expensive."
Most recently, the Malaysian government, through the MCMC (Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission), has blocked the access to the website of the religion and its main Malay social media (TikTok) and videos on Youtube, depriving its people of the right to receive the universal message of the Ahmadi Religion. Clearly, a Sunni government that claims to advocate for freedom of speech has imitated the very rulers that have opposed prophets like Noah, Abraham, and prophet Mohammed in the past. The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar, tried to 'close the ears' of Malaysians from hearing the message of Imam Al-Mahdi, who is spreading truth and justice throughout the world. The actions of the Malaysian government and the religious scholars resemble the actions of the people of Prophet Noah, who closed their ears because they hated to hear the truth.
Should the Malaysian government continue to persecute followers of Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, who obey the leadership of the successors of the Prophet's Holy Household and advocate for “Humanity Before Religion”? Should Malaysia continue to excommunicate lovers of truth and justice from obeying Imam Mahdi, whose emergence was prophesied by all Abrahamic religions? Should Malaysia continue to block the voices of TikTok and YouTube of Aba Al-Sadiq
Abdullah Hashem, who calls on humanity to board the ark of salvation of the Ahlul-Bayt, while the world is about to face the final disaster of the end times? Aren’t all the prophecies about the arrival of the disaster recorded in all the religious books of the world? And finally, should the religious scholars in Malaysia, who know about the glory of the Ahlul-Bayt and the coming of Imam Mahdi, continue to conceal the truth and try to uphold falsehood just for the sake of not losing their worldly gains? Should they?
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