VIGILANTE group, Badar squad, has created misconceptions about Islam with the way its members have taken unauthorised action against Muslim couples suspected of promiscuity, political party leaders said.

The squad’s “good intentions” to prevent immorality must be carried out using legal means to avoid misunderstanding and to prevent lawlessness, they said of the group that has been operating in Sg Petani, Kedah, for the last two years.

Umno Supreme Council member Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya said Islam as a religion has prescribed rules and methods for dealing with problems, and even people with good intentions should not do as they please.

“This gives the wrong picture of Islam. In Islam, we cannot act on punishments based on our own thinking. Islam has rules on how to manage things like these, so it is better to follow the system.

“It’s not about whether we want to allow vice but about using the right measures,” said Fathul Bari, who also heads the Muslim civil society organisation Ilmuan Malaysia.

Badar squad drew strong reactions from some Muslims and human and legal rights groups recently following The Malaysian Insight’s report that uncovered its work raiding budget hotels and parks to nab Muslim couples for close proximity (khalwat).

The raids are usually conducted by groups of men, who are volunteers, and who said they are doing nothing wrong as they always notified the police, religious authorities and parents before conducting a raid.

The group then takes the couples for counselling at the cemetery at night to teach them about moral ills. Their leader, Azhaar Mohamad, said this method works to “strike fear” in their hearts and has managed to reduce promiscuous activity in Sg Petani.

Police and Kedah religious authorities have not declared the Badar squad illegal and given the group tacit approval to continue its work while urging its members to abide by the law.

But Bersatu’s deputy strategy and policy director Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin said the squad should conduct its raids together with the authorities instead of going out on its own to avoid any wrongdoing.

“If they say they are not doing anything against the law, then they should work with the law, not separately.

“If all parties interpret the law themselves and do according to their own understanding, this country will become lawless.

“Raids, for example, can only be done by enforcement officers, not NGOs or individuals. Breaking and entering a premises on grounds of preventing moral sin is wrong in the eyes of the law and religion,” Hafiz said.

Azhaar insists the group will continue its operations despite criticism, saying it had already explained itself to the Kedah exco for religious affairs Ismail Salleh, and received no instructions to stop operations.

Newly minted PKR Wanita chief Haniza Talha, however, said the squad’s “ends do not justify the means”.

“They must follow country’s laws. Something with a good intention must also be done the right way. This country has laws and if we all want harmony, we have to follow the laws.”

Former PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamarudin said there were many other ways that could be used to prevent moral ills among youth, such as education.

“From the point of view of protecting morality, we need to educate people to practise self-reflection. The way the squad is doing things is not a good development,” said the federal minister.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said any enforcement of religious matters must be done according to the law.

Legal rights group Lawyers of Liberty also said the Badar squad’s moral policing was akin to mob rule and was unIslamic. – November 20, 2018.