Ahmad Zahid (left) shares a light moment with members of the Quran Control and Printing Licensing Board and Quran Interpretation Bureau. — Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry and Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) have established cooperation in combating extremist ideology and activities propagated through the spread of false or misleading hadith (reported teachings, deeds and sayings of the Prophet).
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the move was made as there were false hadith posted on social websites, especially those aimed at recruiting fighters for the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
“A case in point is that of the 14-year-old girl (arrested at KLIA) who was trying to join the IS group in Syria as she had been influenced by false hadith which she had read and believed it to be true and genuine.”
Ahmad Zahid said this to reporters after attending a meeting with members of the Quran Control and Printing Licensing Board and Quran Interpretation Bureau, here, yesterday.
Also present were Minister in the Prime Ministr’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and Perak mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria.
The 14-year-old girl, from Muar, Johor and a Quran student at a tahfiz school in Shah Alam, was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recently while trying to leave for Syria via Egypt.
Ahmad Zahid said although his ministry had been cooperating with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to tackle the issue, it was unable to monitor every social media account in the country.
“We feel it’s not enough with enforcement only, but there must also be public awareness (between truth and falsehood,” he said, adding that his ministry planned to meet with over 20 ulama, who are hadith experts, to overcome the problem.
Meanwhile, Jamil Khir said Jakim would soon release the list of false or misleading hadith in stages on its website to create public awareness. — Bernama