“No more knocks on the door in the middle of the night” and “no more breaking down of doors by the religious authorities” were not attributed to Mujahid.
On Oct 6, The Star ran a story with the headline ‘Putting compassion into practice’ and ‘No more night khalwat raids or intrusion into Muslims’ private life, says Mujahid’ in The Star Online.
The first paragraph of the story says “No more knocks on the door in the middle of the night and no more breaking down of doors by the religious authorities investigating reports of khalwat or other alleged wrongdoings.”
Mujahid’s press secretary Siti Zulaikha Zulkifli took issue with the “sensational headline” and first paragraph, saying the news has become viral and caused misunderstanding among the Muslims in the country.
She said Mujahid had never uttered the words and they were merely the author’s interpretation.
“I deeply respect the freedom of the media, but this does not mean the media can write news out of context which triggered a public debate and impacted negatively on him (Mujahid),” Zulaikha said.
She issued a 24-hour ultimatum on Sunday night demanding that The Star apologises over its report, particularly the minister’s purported comments about khalwat raids by religious authorities, or face “sterner action”.
The Star yesterday clarified that the paragraph was not attributed to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa and it was not his quote.
It was based on a reply to a question: “Let’s say someone commits adultery behind closed doors, which is khalwat. Now your officers can break down the door and arrest them. Will this change?”
“The enforcement of khalwat falls within the state judiciary and is not exactly under my jurisdiction, but we can have a platform where we meet all state directors of departments of Islamic affairs and share the concerns of the federal government on these issues.”
The Star expressed regret for the confusion which had arisen from the said report.
The report drew mixed reactions, with some praising the minister for his stance while others, including Muslim conservatives, religious leaders and Muslim civil society groups and politicians, accusing him of allowing vice to propagate.
The minister denied telling the newspaper that khalwat raids by religious authorities would be stopped.
“I have never talked about the issue of knocking on doors at night being stopped…those were added by the editor who took their own assumption from my statements.
“Please refer to the interview inside the newspaper which shows more accurately what I meant to say,” he told the Al-Hijrah television station on Monday.
A purported full transcript of the interview was also posted on his Facebook page on Oct 7.
Yesterday, Mujahid said religious authorities breaking down doors during a khalwat raid were abusing their positions as the action was not part of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for cases where a man and woman are suspected of being in close proximity.
“Breaking doors does not follow the SOP. If there are such cases, it means that they have abused their powers,” he told reporters at a press conference in Petaling Jaya yesterday.