Thursday October 19, 2006
Festive greetings all right
PUTRAJAYA: There is nothing wrong in Muslims extending festive greetings to non-Muslims and such acts do not violate one’s aqidah or faith in Islam, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
He said there should be a clear understanding that celebrating a “Kongsi Raya” did not mean that matters pertaining to Islam and other religions were mixed together.
“This is certainly not the case. Celebrating Hari Raya and Deepavali together does not mean that anything related to Islam and Hinduism as religions will be mixed up,” he said.
“It does not mean that a non-Muslim will be going to the mosque and a Muslim will be going to the temple to take part in religious rites or activities, just because we celebrate Kongsi Raya. This is certainly not it.
“We are celebrating each other’s festivals in the spirit of social relations, unity and togetherness. There is no problem in doing this and we have been doing this for years.
“I do not want any confusion on this matter. There is certainly no act of tarnishing anyone’s religion and neither does it violate our aqidah as Muslims just because we wish our Hindu friends Happy Deepavali and celebrate the festival with them.”
The Prime Minister was speaking at the presentation of Hari Raya and Deepavali goodies to 113 of his office support staff. This tradition, initiated by the late Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood, started when Abdullah was the Deputy Prime Minister.
His daughter Nori, who is the chairman of Yayasan Budi Penyayang, presented duit raya and the goodies on his behalf.
The issue of greeting non-Muslims celebrating their festivities became a controversy when Takaful Malaysia Syariah head Mohd Fauzi Mustaffa sent out an e-mail advising his colleagues against wishing Hindus Happy Deepavali.
Fauzi, in his e-mail, had advised his colleagues not to extend greetings for Deepavali, Durga Pooja and Laksmi Pooja, claiming that this was blasphemous and against Islamic teachings. He has since apologised for the e-mail.
The Prime Minister said there was nothing wrong in visiting friends celebrating Deepavali or with Indians visiting their Muslim friends who celebrate Hari Raya.
He said the various festivities had brought Malaysians of different ethnicity, religion and culture together, and this was a good and positive way to unite the people.
Abdullah, wishing his Muslim staff Selamat Hari Raya and Hindu staff Happy Deepavali, said the festive goodies were distributed to his staff in honour of the late Endon.
“This has become a routine every Hari Raya and I wish to continue the effort that my late wife had initiated. I also hope the goodies will help the staff prepare for their festive celebrations,” he added.
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