Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia told FMT his research had revealed that the country did not have groups with beliefs and principles that could be described as ultra-conservative although it might be appropriate to attach the label to individuals belonging to some groups.
Fauzi has done extensive research and written on different Islamic groups and schools in Malaysia.
He was commenting on International Islamic University lecturer Maszlee Malik who suggested there are Islamic organisations with ultra conservative opinions, following the controversy over comments by preacher Zamihan Mat Zin, who leads the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Organisation (Aswaja).
Maszlee also told FMT that there were other ultra conservative groups in the country and that Aswaja was only one of them.
But Fauzi called for caution against over-reacting to what he said could be an isolated incident.
“People like Zamihan may take an extreme stance on some matters but may be moderate on other matters,” he said.
“Take Perlis mufti, Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, for example. He is largely seen as a moderate, but he once made some statements and wrote a poem that angered a large number of Malaysian Indians, including Hindraf.”
Stressing that he was not defending Zamihan and that he personally disagreed with the preacher’s stance on the Muslim-only laundrette issue, he questioned whether it was fair to label him an extremist based only on the evidence of a few videos of his speeches on YouTube.
“I think what he said about the Johor Sultan and his criticism of non-Muslims, especially the Chinese, was more of an outburst than anything else,” he said.
“Is it fair to label someone an extremist based on that person’s stance on one issue?
“We should not ban people from speaking or sharing their opinions because, for all we know, we may be able to learn from their stances on other matters.”
Zamihan, an officer of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, was lambasted by Sultan Ibrahim of Johor after he defended the owner of a Muslim-only laundrette in Muar.
The Sultan of Selangor has also indicated his displeasure and has ordered state religious authorities to withdraw Zamihan’s credentials to preach.
Maszlee said Fauzi might not have been aware that Zamihan “and his like” had made numerous public statements showing their extremist tendencies.
“Fauzi may have missed a lot of Zamihan’s lectures on YouTube,” he said.