MPs trade barbs over ‘Quran misinterpretation’
Published on: Tuesday, October 17, 2023
By:
FMT, Lynelle Tham, Dineskumar Ragu
Pengkalan Chepa MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary says Ipoh Timor MP Howard Lee has no authority to interpret the Quran.
PETALING JAYA: A shouting match erupted in the Dewan Rakyat today after Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (PN-Pengkalan Chepa) questioned Howard Lee (PH-Ipoh Timor) for citing Quranic verses in a viral video.
Marzuk, who was debating the supply bill, had brought up the recent controversy surrounding Lee, who allegedly misinterpreted the Quran.
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“This wasn’t just a matter of translation or interpretation but rather an attempt to derive legal rulings from the Quran or Islamic texts.”
He added that only scholars or muftis can interpret and explain Quranic verses.
“I would like to ask where and from whom Ipoh Timor acquired this level of expertise to be considered a scholar?” he asked.
This prompted the DAP MP to interject by raising Standing Order 36(6), which states that no member of the House shall impute improper motives to any other member.
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“This is an unfair assumption about me. Quoting my name incorrectly with negative assumptions … What did I interpret or translate?” Lee said.
Religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar, who met Lee to talk about the issue last week, said Lee had not interpreted the Quran but only recited a translation of one of the verses in the Islamic holy scripture.
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Meanwhile, several PN MPs told Lee, who wanted to continue defending himself, to sit down.
Deputy speaker Ramli Nor, who was presiding over the afternoon session, then issued warnings to Marzuk, Lee and four other MPs for disrupting the debate.
“The first warning is given to Ipoh Timor, Pengkalan Chepa, Kuala Terengganu (Ahmad Amzad Hashim), Pendang (Awang Hashim), Tangga Batu (Bakri Jamaluddin), and one more MP who refuses to admit it. I will review the video to issue the warning,” he said.
Ramli added that he would make a decision tomorrow on whether it violated Standing Order 36(6).
Last month, Lee courted public scrutiny for allegedly making his own interpretation of a Quranic verse in a viral video. He has since apologised after being summoned by the police for investigations.
DAP constitution
Despite the lack of relevance to the supply bill debate, Marzuk later brought up DAP’s secular nation agenda and alleged plans to remove the special privileges of the Malay people, which he claimed were stated in its party constitution.
This led RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) to interject, denying such claims and asking Ramli to order Marzuk to retract his statement.
Marzuk refused to retract it, saying: “In my hands is DAP’s constitution, which in Article 2, affirms the restoration of the Federal Constitution to its original secular framework, as the highest legal system of the country.”
He added that he would provide Ramli with the necessary proof.
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