Monday, August 18, 2008

Swearing on Quran 'un-Islamic', says Gus Dur - Star

By LESTER KONG

PETALING JAYA: Aug 18, 2008

Former Indonesia president Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, has thrown in his support behind PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Abdurrahman said he believes that Anwar would usher in Islamic democracy if he becomes the next Prime Minister, describing Anwar and himself as "fighters for democracy in South-East Asia."

"I'm glad he is now coming to the stage of fighting for democracy not just in Malaysia but also in the Islamic world."

"We will show to the world that Islam and democracy are compatible with each other," he said Monday in a press conference at PKR's headquarters here.

At the same time, Abdurrahman, who has known Anwar for 15 years, also said he does not believe that Anwar was guilty of sodomy and denounced the act of swearing on the Quran as "un-Islamic".

"There is no such thing as swearing on the Quran in Islam. Just open the books on Islam," he said.

He added that it was enough for both Anwar and his sodomy accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan to swear in the Syariah court.

He also asserted that democracy would not exist in Malaysia as long as the Internal Security Act remains as law.

Abdurrahman said he is also following the Permatang Pauh by-election closely and would return to Malaysia when the final results are known.

1 comment:

MagM said...

So right said. How can we have democracy when we have ISA? How can we have democracy when we keep arresting people who speaks up against the government? How can we have democracy when we pratice racial politics? Time for a change, a change for true democracy.