G25 adviser Mohd Sheriff Kassim, who once served as secretary-general of the finance ministry, said Malaysian authorities had no right to tell foreigners how to practise their religions.
“Where does this moral policing end?” he said in an interview with FMT regarding the arrest of about 200 Iraqis.
He added that Iraq and Iran wouldn’t stand for hostile acts against Shia Muslims.
Last year, trade between Malaysia and Iraq amounted to RM670 million, with Malaysia exporting RM410 million worth of goods, including palm-oil based products, wood, food and rubber.
Furthermore, Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas holds the second-largest share in Iraq’s Majnoon oil field, one of the richest in the world. It currently produces 235,000 barrels a day. The other two stakeholders are Shell and the Iraqi government.
Sheriff said it was important to remember that Shia Muslims didn’t come only from Iraq and Iran.
“There are Shia Muslims from the United Kingdom and United States,” he said. “Imagine if we threw a UK or US national in jail just for practising his faith. It’ll be problematic for companies to send their Shia Muslim staff to come here to work.”
Religious authorities in Malaysia regard Shi’ism as a heresy. A ban on it is enforced through a 1996 ruling by the National Fatwa Council.
The recent arrest came to light in reports by several Arabic language media outlets. According to the reports, the Iraqi nationals, mostly students and their families, were arrested while taking part in a ceremony to mark Ashura, which falls on the 10th of the Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar.
Shia Muslims worldwide mark the week leading to Ashura with events to commemorate the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein.
Many Sunni Muslims also celebrate Ashura. They do so by observing a day of fasting.
While the Sunnis also hold Hussein in high regard, their celebration is principally to mark the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses and the Israelites and a few other events in religious history that are said to have happened on dates coinciding with the 10th of Muharram.