Muslims who said Muslims free to choose religion must repent – Chief Imam

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JAKARTA: Muslims who said that Muslims are free to choose their religion are misguided and need to repent and ask for forgiveness from Allah, said Chief Imam of Istiqlal Mosque here, Prof Dr Ali Mustafa Yaqub.

“They (Muslims) who said this admitted the truth of other religions and had gone astray. Those who said that all religions are equal, can join and leave as they please, can become infidels,” he told reporters here.

Ali Mustafa, a famous Indonesian scholar and hadith expert was commenting on remarks by Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar who quoted a verse form the Quran which means “There is no compulsion in religion” and linked to views on religious freedom for the Malays in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, the Malays are Muslims.

“The verse which means “There is no compulsion in religion” is only directed to non-Muslims as they are not forced to convert to Islam but when they choose to embrace Islam, they must comply with the rules set out by Islam.

Ali Mustafa said those who subscribe to liberal thinking may be reluctant to accept it because it seemed like not supporting freedom of rights. -Bernama