Wan Ji Believes Mosque Standoff Due To Criticising Pas

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Muslim preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin believes that it was his criticisms against PAS that led to last night’s standoff at a mosque where he was preaching
Speaking to Malaysiakini today, he said he had noticed a high volume of negative comments from PAS supporters on his Facebook page prior to arriving at Masjid Ar Rahman in Durian Tunggal, Malacca to deliver his sermon
“I had criticised the PAS leadership and they were unable to answer my criticisms
“I first criticised the Dewan Ulama chief Nik Zawawi Salleh for saying that it was compulsory to topple the Pakatan Harapan government. I challenged him (to a debate) but he declined.“I then criticised PAS Deputy President Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man for saying that Prophet Muhammad barred the declaring of assets. I criticised him, saying it was a hadis palsu(false hadith)
“And that’s why people from PAS started attacking me on Facebook. I had expected them to hold a demonstration against me because they could not respond to my arguments, but instead they disrupted my event,” he said
A group mobilised by the Malacca chapter of Malay-Muslim NGO Gerakan Pembela Ummah had entered the mosque during Wan Ji’s event last night and demanded that he stop his sermon
Police officers at the scene then formed a line to prevent the protestors from advancing and allowed the event, entitled “Islam sebagai agama penyelamat umat” (Islam is the religion that saves people) to continue
Reports to be madeWan Ji claimed to have observed protestors wearing apparel bearing PAS and Umno logos, and vowed to continue calling out leaders for making incorrect statements despite recent events
“I believe what they did was to scare me and to intimidate me so that I won’t continue with my preaching work
“But I will continue criticising issues involving religion and PAS if appear wrong to me,” he said
It has been learned that the mosque authorities and Durian Tunggal assemblyperson Mohd Sofi Abdul Wahab will lodge police reports about the scuffle
According to Wan Ji, his event had long been planned by the mosque and Mohd Sofi. It had also received the blessing of state mufti Abdul Halim Tawill
Letter ordering protestIn a related development, an image of a letter bearing the PAS logo was widely circulated on Facebook today
The letter, dated July 6, ordered party members and leaders to hold a protest against Wan Ji’s event
It also bore the signature of Malacca PAS secretary Asri Shaik Abdul Aziz
When contacted, Malacca PAS commissioner Kamaruddin Sidek declined to elaborate on the letter but confirmed that it had been signed by Asri
“Sorry, that (the protest) was done by Gerakan (Pembela Ummah),” he said briefly
Asri, meanwhile, told Malaysiakini that he was attempting to understand what caused last night’s standoff and promised to release an official statement about it soon.  - Mkini

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