By Adib Zalkapli
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — Kelantan will not hold Prophet Muhammad’s birthday procession this year despite criticisms by several Umno leaders who accused another Pakatan Rakyat state, Penang, as anti-Islam for allegedly planning to cancel the event.
Most Muslim nations celebrate the Prophet’s birthday with a procession after prayers. Saudi Arabia, which practices an austere form of Islam, does not celebrate the event.
“We are not organising any procession just like before, but of course there will be processions in mosques throughout the state, organised by the people to express their love for the Prophet,” said Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob.
“Officially, there will be no government-sponsored procession, instead we will have a religious lecture at the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium on Feb 25, followed by special prayers,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Malay daily Utusan Malaysia last week reported that the Penang government was planning to cancel this year’s procession which invited criticisms from Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng later denied that the state was planning to cancel the procession, accusing the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia as lying.
Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin then uploaded on his personal website, www.rembau.net a scanned copy of one letter that bore the letterhead of the state secretariat which showed that they had decided on Feb 5 to cancel the procession.
The Rembau MP also demanded explanation from Lim and asked the DAP secretary-general to verify the authenticity of the letter.
However the Penang government claimed that the scanned copies of such letters were merely new ideas outlined by government officials.
“The procession is not compulsory, Muslims can choose to do it or not, but most importantly they have to strictly adhere to the Prophet’s teachings,” said Ahmad.
“And it was never practiced during the Prophet’s time,” he added.
PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar also questioned the sincerity of the Malay daily when it raised the matter.
“In Kedah, there has been no procession since the time Umno ruled the state, I did not hear Tun Abdullah Badawi questioning Datuk Seri Mahadzir Khalid’s move to cancel the procession,” said the Pokok Sena MP, adding that the procession is not compulsory in Islam.
The alleged cancellation of Prophet’s birthday procession in Penang is seen as a sensitive issue by some Malay groups.
In 1964, a racial riot broke out during the procession in the Chinese-majority Singapore, then part of Malaysia.
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