Outcry over Malaysian child marriages

August 2010 07:09:11 PM Source: AAPA Malaysian state's decision to allow child marriages caused an outcry on Wednesday, with rights groups condemning new rules that allow Muslim girls below 16 years to wed.

The decision by the Islamic religious council in southern Malacca state has been billed as an attempt to curb premarital sex and baby dumping, after a string of cases of newborns being abandoned.

"Child marriage amounts to paedophilia. We should not condone child marriages," said Ivy Josiah, executive director of leading activist group Women's Aid Organisation.

Malaysian Islamic crackdown on Muslims social life

July 26, 2010, Beh Lih Yi

Kuala Lumpur. Dusk has fallen and the party is just beginning for 29-year-old Asyikin, one of the many young Malay Muslims who hang out in Kuala Lumpur’s vibrant Bukit Bintang nightlife district.

A morality crackdown has seen Malaysian Islamic authorities hand out caning and jail sentences for illicit drinking and sex, and launch raids on homes and clubs in the glare of media flashlights.

But for Asyikin, a petite and attractive business executive dressed in a knee-length skirt and strappy high heels, the campaign hasn’t dampened her party mood.

Malaysian Muslims should not wear ManUnited Jerseys

2010/07/21

KUALA LUMPUR: Muslims must not wear the famous Manchester United red jersey because of the “devil” emblem on its team crest, Malaysian clerics said today. Manchester United and the rest of the English Premier League are massively popular in Muslim-majority Malaysia and the rest of the Asian region, but conservative religious scholars said the jersey is un-Islamic.

Also off limits are the shirts of teams including Brazil, Portugal, Barcelona, Serbia and Norway, all of which carry images of the cross on their team emblems.

“This is very dangerous. As a Muslim, we should not worship the symbols of other religions or the devils,” Nooh Gadot, a top Islamic cleric from the southern Johor state, told AFP.

MALAYSIA-Three People Stand Trail on Charges for Boming Churches

TIGA ORANG TENGAH DIADILI DENGAN TUDUHAN TELAH MELAKUKAN SERANGAN BOM PADA GEREJA-GEREJA DI MALAYSIA

Tiga orang yang diyakini telah menyuruh para pengendara sepeda motor, tengah diadili di Malaysia pada hari Selasa lalu dengan tuduhan sebagai orang-orang yang ada di belakang penyerangan atas tempat-tempat ibadah, dan yang telah meningkatkan ketegangan etnis di negara dengan mayoritas Muslim itu.

Ketiga orang ini adalah orang-orang pertama yang diadili karena kasus penyerangan, yang dipicu oleh keputusan pengadilan yang membatalkan larangan yang dikeluarkan oleh pemerintah terhadap non-Muslim untuk menggunakan kata “Allah” sebagai sebuah terjemahan untuk “Tuhan.”

Azuwan Shah Ahmad dan saudara-saudara Raja Mohamad Faizal Ibrahim dan Raja Mohamad Iszham didakwa telah melemparkan bom molotov terhadap sebuah gereja di pinggiran Selatan Kuala Lumpur pada tanggal 7 Januari dan terancam dipenjara selama 20 tahun jika terbukti bersalah. Agama dan bahasa adalah isu-isu sensitif di Malaysia yang multi-rasial, yang pernah mengalami kerusuhan ras yang menimbulkan banyak korban tewas pada tahun 1969.