He cited a recent report in the New York Times, where Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Sultan was quoted as saying in an interview that at the time of Prophet Muhammad, “there were musical theaters”, “mixing between men and women” and “respect for Christians and Jews in Arabia”.
“So if the Prophet embraced all of this, does it mean the Prophet was not a Muslim?” Mohammad, who is better known as MBS, was quoted as saying by NYT.
Azhar took to Facebook to say that this comment from the heir to the throne in the seat of the Muslim world showed he was advocating a major shift in the way things have been done for a long time.
“The crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman is hellbent on liberalising Saudi Arabia from the clutches of fundamentalism and extremism,” Azhar wrote on his Facebook page, adding that the Saudis were looking to becoming a liberal and pluralistic society.
“While Saudi (Arabia) wants to move away and free herself from the shackles of fundamentalism, reverting to pre-1979 where people went about doing what they want without some religious police harassing them, Malaysia seems to be taking the opposite direction,” Azhar said on his Facebook post.
He was referring to the NYT report, which stated how a Saudi minister accompanying MBS in the interview took out his mobile phone, and showed pictures and YouTube videos of Saudi Arabia in the 1950s.
“Women without heads covered, wearing skirts and walking with men in public, as well as concerts and cinemas. It was still a traditional and modest place, but not one where fun had been outlawed, which is what happened after 1979,” NYT said in its report, referring to the pictures and videos showed by the Saudi minister.
‘Will we stop going to Saudi Arabia?’
Azhar, who is more popularly known as Art, considered the impact of any fundamental change in Saudi policy locally.
“What will happen to Malaysia? Our leaders and people worship the Sauds and Saudis like they are God-sent.
“Will they now say ‘aqidah Saudi telah rosak’ and advise them to ‘kembalilah ke pangkal jalan?’ Will we call them ‘liberal’ and brand them a ‘danger to society’.
“Above all, will we stop going to Saudi Arabia?” he asked.
Azhar also highlighted how MBS had given NYT his interpretation of what he sees happening in Saudi Arabia with regard to the Islamic way of life.
“Indeed, MBS instructed me: ‘Do not write that we are ‘reinterpreting’ Islam — we are ‘restoring’ Islam to its origins — and our biggest tools are the Prophet’s practices and (daily life in) Saudi Arabia before 1979.
“It was still a traditional and modest place, but not one where fun had been outlawed, which is what happened after 1979,” the NYT report said.