Abdul Rahim does U-turn, back with G25

PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak addressing the house of Parliament as the head of the government. The group of 25 prominent Malays had intended the Open Letter for the prime minister to take the necessary action, seeing that religious authorities were 'asserting authority beyond their jurisdiction'. – The Malaysian Insider pic, December 17, 2014.Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Din has rejoined the group of 25 prominent Malays asking for a rational dialogue on Islam, barely 24 hours after withdrawing his support.

In an email to The Malaysian Insider, group member Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin said the former Home Affairs ministry secretary-general had rescinded his withdrawal.

"He has the following message for the media: 'I'm back in the fold. I took a short sabbatical leave. Believe me, I am as ever prominent – thanks for your comments, adverse or otherwise'," Noor Farida said in the email.

When contacted, the former ambassador to the Netherlands said Rahim had emailed the group, apologising for his earlier actions and clarified that he had misunderstood their intentions.

"He thought the group had strayed from its original objectives. It's a small misunderstanding which can be easily ironed out," she said, adding that she was delighted that everything ended well.

Rahim, who was one of the 25 signatories of the December 9 open letter published in a local English daily, had earlier withdrawn from the group, saying the group had strayed from its objectives.

His son-in-law Azmi Arshad had posted on his Facebook page to say that Rahim was concerned that things seemed to be "spinning out of control", and that he had only agreed to give support for a letter to be sent to the prime minister requesting the appointment of a panel of experts to resolve any conflict between enacted Islamic laws and civil law, and the Federal Constitution in a closed forum and not to do it publicly.

The handwritten draft to the group specified that "the one and only task is to urge the PM with the support of the silent majority to convene a gathering of experts to resolve the contentious issues” and that there were not to be any further involvement after the request, regardless if Najib agreed or not.

"Now that our letter has been sent to the PM, I consider that I have accomplished my mission in rendering my support to the G25.

"I do not wish to be involved in the Group debating the issues outside the ambit of the panel of experts to be formed by the PM, if ever it is formed. Mere debate will lead us to nowhere.

“However, you are at liberty to continue interacting with any party you deem fit.

"I wish therefore to have my name deleted and withdraw myself from the Group and its deliberations. I sincerely wish you all well in your endeavour," he had said in a posting uploaded on Azmi's Facebook page yesterday.

Noor Farida had earlier shrugged off the developments, saying that it was no loss as more have shown interest in joining them.

She had said at least 10 well-known distinguished Malays from both the civil service and private sector have wanted to join them since the publication of the open letter, which has received tremendous support from Malaysians.

"No, it is not a loss, I think he has been influenced by certain people who mistakenly see this as a threat to Islam when all we called for is a discourse and dialogue to stop hate speeches," Noor Farida told The Malaysian Insider in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

The Open letter had decried the "lack of clarity and understanding" on the place of Islam within Malaysia's constitutional democracy, as well as a "serious breakdown of federal-state division of  powers, both in the areas of civil and criminal jurisdictions".

It had also expressed concern at how religious authorities were "asserting authority beyond their jurisdiction", and that fatwas issued had violated the Federal Constitution as well as the consultative process.

Besides Noor Farida, other signatories of the 19-paragraph letter comprised former high-ranking civil servants, including directors-general, secretaries-general, ambassadors and prominent individuals, all of whom are Malays.

Race and religious relations have frayed further after GE13 last year when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) blamed its heavier losses on the Chinese minority, fuelled by Malay-Muslim groups that seek more puritanical Islamic laws across Malaysia.

- TMI