He now says Shahul Hamid Seeni Muhammad may be investigated for creating disharmony or illegal preaching.
The state religious affairs committee chairman said this might lead to the revocation of the preacher’s credentials or Shahul may be brought to the shariah court for preaching without permission from the authorities.
Malik said Shahul’s preaching and teaching credentials would be examined by the Penang Islamic Council (MAIPP), which regulates all matters related to Islam in the state.
He said under the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Penang) Enactment 2004, those who were given credentials to teach on Islamic matters were required to comply with six conditions.
Malik said Shahul would have to meet the six conditions if he wanted to preach or teach.
He said one of the six conditions was to not offend people of other faiths and cultures.
“If Shahul is indeed accredited, he will be investigated by the religious teaching committee of the MAIPP for going against one of the six conditions.
“If he has been found preaching without credentials, we will take him to the shariah court to be prosecuted under state Islamic laws for illegal preaching or teaching,” Malik told reporters in Komtar today.
He had initially said that it was Shahul’s right to say what he wanted, “so long as he did not deviate from the teachings and the faith”.
“It would be different if he said that pork and alcohol were permissible in Islam,” he had told FMT on Tuesday, adding that Shahul had made the comments in his personal capacity.
Malik, however, said Shahul’s views went against the Islamic faith and the latter should not have touched on such trivial matters as Penang was a multiracial state.
Shahul had advised Muslims against going to non-Muslim hairdressers, discouraging parents from sending their children to “non-Muslim” schools and prohibiting Muslims from wishing “Happy Birthday” or even saying “hello” when answering a telephone call.
A video recording showed him making the comments, presumably before a mosque congregation, in Bayan Lepas two years ago.
The video was uploaded on YouTube and has been making its rounds of late.
Exco defends preacher’s ‘right’ to air views on birthdays, non-Muslim salons