AFTER days of defending his controversial poem, Perlis mufti Dr Asri Zainal Abidin has had the administrators of his official Facebook page take down the post which had angered Hindus.

The poem was removed from the page just hours after Asri posted that he would meet the Hindu community to explain his controversial poem which allegedly criticised Hindus for deifying cows. 

The Malaysian Insight today reported Asri chiding non-Muslims for interfering in Islamic affairs, saying his poem had been spun.

In his latest Facebook post, Asri said he had always been fair in his opinions of all religions and in fact, to avoid conflict, he was against calling non-Muslims “kafir-harbi”.

He said the group of non-Muslims did not appreciate the efforts the Perlis Mufti Department’s made to treat everyone fairly, citing as examples the issues of unilateral child conversion and zakat (tithe) for non-Muslims in the state.

“All the things that we have done are never appreciated by them. Instead Hindraf dares to interfere in mosque sermons matters organised by the mufti department. 

“My poem that is related to India’s Narendra Modi government was after that spun to refer instead to Malaysian Hindus. What is it that they really want?”

Asri said Hindraf’s comments about Islam on the internet had offended  the sensitivities of Muslims and that Hindraf had been using the Indian government’s name when speaking about Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik “as if they are representing the Indian government”. 

On Friday, Asri published a poem, which seemingly criticises Hindus for deifying cows. He, however, defended his poem, saying it was criticism of Modi’s government. 
 
Following the publication of the poem, Asri, who is popularly known as Dr Maza, wrote on Facebook: “Some have questioned why I used the words ‘idolising cows’ in my poetry on Friday.
 
“This was to talk about the Modi government in India that has allowed Muslims to be brutally murdered because they ate beef.”
 
The Modi government told the people that cows were sacred and this indirectly caused the attacks on Muslims, said Asri.

Asri said those who did not idolise cows in this country should not be offended.
 
“The poem is about what’s happening in India. I believe that in our country, those who are highly educated will not idolise animals like cows nor are they willing to kill another person because of it. – April 23, 2017.