Mujahid, who is a vice-president of Pakatan Harapan (PH) member party Amanah, said he submitted a motion to table the bill to the Speaker’s office today.
He hoped his proposed bill would be as well received as Marang MP and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s bill seeking increased penalties for violations of shariah laws.
Hadi’s bill, known as RUU355 and which proposed amendments to the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, received the support of the Barisan Nasional government which prioritised the bill by moving it up the Dewan Rakyat’s order of business paper. However, the last sitting of the House ran out of time and the bill was not debated.
“I hope that like what they did with Hadi’s bill, they will also allow me to table my bill and that there will be an open debate on it although there wasn’t any for Hadi’s bill,” said Mujahid.
He claimed this was especially important in the face of Umno becoming increasingly extreme in its statements on matters relating to race and religion.
This, he said, worried him, especially as a Muslim MP in an Islamic party.
“Islam guides Muslims to be moderate in political activities and pursuits and the content of Islamic civilisation was erected based on pluralism,” he said at a roundtable discussion on promoting multiculturalism at the Institut Darul Ehsan here.
“It is important that underlying multicultural environments such as we have in Malaysia respect humanity, promote dialogue, the concept of protection, and freedom of religion which are all principles enshrined in the Quran.”
Mujahid said Umno had become more extreme in its rhetoric for political reasons, adding that this was also becoming increasingly apparent with PAS.
“Everyone wants to compete to become more Islamic but this is wrong because it means you are using Islam.”
Mujahid also spoke on the recent arrest of prominent Turkish writer Mustafa Akyol by Federal Territory religious authorities, saying this was a bad representation of Islam.
“This is a sad time for Malaysia because we have told the world that basically we don’t respect intellectuals.
“What’s most unfortunate is that they are doing it in the name of Islam when in no way does Islam frown upon intellectual discourse.”