Friday, July 06, 2007

Siti's Skimpy Top


I am just waiting to see what happens at the Syariah Court on Aug 6 when Siti Noor Idayu Abd Moin, 22,(picture) answers to charges that she had exposed her body and had encouraged immoral activities.
That is, if the case goes to court at all.
Siti is a singer in Ipoh. On Tuesday, after her performance at an entertainment outlet in Sunway City, she was among Muslims caught by the Perak Religious Department (JAIP) when its officers carried out a raid.
She was singled out because she was wearing a sleeveless top which the officers found to be indecent.

Here is the rest of the Star story.
Siti said: " Our band had just finished and it was a little past midnight when they came in and rounded up all the Muslims.
“They asked to see our MyKad but one officer refused to touch the cards, referring to them as najis (unclean).”
Siti Noor Idayu said the JAIP officers later detained seven people, including four employees of the outlet, and brought them to the department office.

“They put us in a tiny room and turned up the air-conditioner. I heard one officer tell the other: Bekulah dia orang (Let them freeze),” she said.
Siti Noor Idayu also said the male officers kept taking photographs of her, adding that she was made to stay overnight in that room until 10am.
She said the officer who finally came to record her statement at 8am, accused her of consuming alcohol and drugs, being involved in immoral activities, and that her MyKad was a fake.

“I took the breathalyser test twice and when the reading remained at zero, the officers looked frustrated.
“I heard one tell the other: Tapi dia tak minum lah (But she did not drink),” she said. Siti Noor Idayu said an officer even told her that the money she earned working in the outlet was duit haram (illicit money) and that her parents, children and future generations would all be tainted for using such money.
“They finally wrote me a notice accusing me of dressing sexily and encouraging immorality just because I sang there,” she said.
The notice ordered her to appear before the Syariah Court here on Aug 6.

When contacted, JAIP director Datuk Jamry Sury said he was confident that his officers had not acted outside of their jurisdiction in issuing the notice.

“According to Islamic laws, a Muslim woman is not allowed to serve or entertain a man who is not her husband in a place where immoral activities usually take place,” he said.

I am a Muslim woman. I know there are laws in place that govern Muslims. I also know that Syariah laws protecting the welfare of Muslim women and children are not being enforced.

If the religious authorities continue to humiliate people they have rounded up, they can be sure that they are making it so easy for people -- Muslims and non-Muslims alike -- to think so poorly of Islam and the enforcers of the Syariah.

And one final thing. I'd like to ask these officers where they learnt to be this kind of Muslims.

21 comments:

Rockybru said...

I am remembering your last TWB, about Pak Samad's liaison with the cabaret (malay) girls during the, what, 40s?

I reproduce what you wrote:

"Bapak: Ok-lah, I wouldn't recommend this to young people just to know about life. When you mix with these people, you see the way they live. You learn not to judge people.You know these Cabaret women I got to know, they were kind and generous. You know, I learnt that whatever you are - a labourer, a prostitute, a cabaret girl -- you are human. You have your good and your bad. Wherever you are, in a palace, in a brothel or in a kongsi, everyone deals with life's problems and harsh realities with their own set of values."

J.T. said...

Was JAIP that desperate?

These people should be taking care of other issues instead of going around raiding places and behaving so sanctimoniously. Maybe they find it easier to see the speck in their brethrens' eyes than a log in their own.

Why aren't they looking into the welfare of their women and children?
Instead of trying to tell women how to behave and dress, they should be helping them out especially the ones who are abused.

Maverick SM said...

I felt sad for the Muslims in Malaysia. No where in the world except for Pakistan, India and Afghanistan had Muslim women being subjected to so much abuses and discrimination by their Male counterpart, all in the name of Allah. However, I just could not find the text within the Quran that they had derived the interpretation. Most of their interpretation was based on some thoughts propagated by some scholars (who are human too) and should not be deemed to be the rules made by Allah. Qaradawi had state clearly that unless it is forbidden by express words in the Quran, nothing should be defined haram. Moral laws are important to guide Muslims behavior and to assist them but the enforcers had now focus on every bit of behavior that caused much confusion and uncertainties and most of all, make living almost impossible. It is no more about Islamophobia by the West. It is now a phobia among Malaysians. However, some would not agree as they think it was good for others for so long as they live in glass house and are unaffected by the rulings on themselves.

This is my piece of thoughts and not intended to interfere with the religion nor intended to ridicule the religion. But I am hurt as I love Islam and I love the Quran. It is not what I had learn from the Quran. Some said I am wrong but I will continue to research and search for the truth from the only source, the Quran, and nothing else.

Salt N Turmeric said...

I read this on thestar.com.my. The JA's (jawi, jais, jaip etc) are at it again. If only they can be tht gungho when it comes to irresponsible husbands/fathers. But no! To them its more 'fun'/important humiliating muslim women rather than tackle the real problems in society! These religious bodies most of the times make me sick.

IBU said...

Wahhh!!! Like that one arr?

What about others performing in front of VIPs & royal audience?

Suddenly the images of PGL flash into my mind.

Why the double / triple standards?

Anonymous said...

Dear Kak Ina.
I have been reading your blog for quite a long time. But this is going to be my first time commenting.
Just want to share with u and others here my experience dealing with these perverted thugs who give Islam such a bad image.
It happened about four years ago.
I had dinner with my girlfriend at a hotel that night.
We went there in seperate cars and parked them at the dataran parking area in front of the hotel.
My girlfriend who is a Chinese always at that time complained on why I never hold her hand when we were in public.
I tried to explain that there are risks of me doing that as it is illegal for a Muslim to be seen being intimate in public with someone who is not his/her mahram (wife, brother, sister etc).
Believe me, it was hard to make her understand because she hardly mixed with Malays/muslims.
My girlfriend went to a chinese school and furthered her studies in Singapore and Taiwan before coming back here to work in a company which majority of its workers are chinese.
In fact, I was her first Malay/muslim friend before we met and fall in love.
She always laughed and teased me whenever I said I could be in deep shit (even losing my job) if I get caught for kissing or worst, committing khalwat by the "Jabatan people".
That was until that night.
We had a nice dinner and were happy.
I even broke my self imposed rule by holding her hand as we walked to our cars.
It was quite late and no one seems to be around (or so we thought) despite a lot of cars still parked there.
When we reached her car, my girlfriend insisted for me to get in for awhile because she said she have something to say before going home.
Once inside, she kissed me. Just a good night kiss, she said. It was actually quite a long kiss (I know it was haram and inappropriate, but we were very much in love).
At that very moment, there was a loud knock on the window.
"Keluar cepat!!!" yelled a man wearing a skull cap and vest of the Jabatan Agama.
I told my bewildered girlfriend to stay in the car and lock the door before getting out to confront the man.
He flashed his Jabatan Agama identification card while three of his collegues looked on from several meters away.
"Aku nampak engkau bercium tadi. Bukan aku je yang nampak, kawan2 aku pun nampak. Kitaorang dah perati engkau berkepit dari tadi lagi," he yelled.
The man, who was probably in his early 30s proceeded to give quite a long lecture on halal and haram as well as telling me that I was in a real trouble.
Honestly, I was quite ready to argue with him except that I don't want to get my girlfriend in trouble too.
It would be traumatic for her to be dragged along to the Jabatan Agama office and taunted by the bastards there.
"Brother, boleh settle kat sini tak?" I asked.
Surprisingly, after all the religious sermon, this was his exact reply:
"Boleh tu boleh, tapi kita orang ada empat orang ni, kena la lebih sikit. Berapa engkau nak bagi?"
"Seratus, cukup?" I asked back.
"Sorang lima puluh la. Lagi pun, kalau kitaorang heret engkau balik pejabat lagi susah engkau," he answered.
Not having enough money to pay (bribe actually), I told my girlfriend who was still in the car about the whole thing and that I needed to borrow from her.
At this point, she started to laugh.
"You Muslims are really something, you know," she said while failing badly to suppress her mirth.
As I gave the money to the man, he had the cheek to say this:
"Ni kira ikhlas la ya."
I thought that was the end of it but was then rudely surprised when he started:
"Sekarang, aku nak cakap dengan awek engkau pulak."
At that moment I was about ready to slap him, come what may.
"Eh, brother, girlfriend aku Cina la, jangan kacau dia. Tau malu la sikit."
"Wah, awek Cina rupanya. Kira terra la juga engkau ni. Tapi nak beromen pun salah tempat," he laughed.
I immediately told my girlfriend to drive off.
"Dont worry, I still love you despite your crazy religion," she said, while still hardly able to stop laughing before going off.
Four years on, I am still with my girlfriend and we still love each other very much. But after that incident I don't think I have much chance of marrying her. She simply refused to consider converting to Islam and marry me.
"I dont think I can ever understand Islam or the way Muslims live their life," she always said.
Honestly, I don't really blame her for that.
Oh, by the way. My girlfriend is a Taoist, sort of. "Very fun religion" she said, "no Jabatan people."

Anonymous said...

I cannot understand this raid. Firstly, if Muslims should not be working in places that may be supporting or encouraging immoral activities, what about all offices : corporate fraud, sexual harrasment , racial discrimination, age discrimination etc is immoral in my eyes.

Secondly, who are these so-called religious guradians, what are their qualifications, who are they answerable to, what structure do they get promotion? We need names,names, names!, and we need to identify these people to the public. I am sure some readers can shed light on these people.

If being a Muslim in Malaysia affects everything one does in daily life, how come these 'guardians' do not raid the rempits, the corrupt law enforcers, or the customs officers, corrupt MPs, all of whom are practising haram and surely are they not against the teachings of Islam? Are there double or triple standards here? Help me please..? Anyone...

Pak Zawi said...

Soon many people will be out of job due to overzealous actions of such department that police the moral of the people. If they are done with more pressing problems like rescuing girls from the clutches of vice such as prostitutions, then it is appropriate for them to be taking action on more trivial infringement such as dressings (Infringement by the muslim standard). Anyway is there any local council byelaws indicating that such dressing is improper and working in such a joint is improper before the action was taken? I believe the charges for the dressing code was only preferred after their failure to charge her for imbibing liquor which she didnt.
JAIP must not be taking such action only without putting forth an altenative form of vocation for these singer and band which will soon will be out of job.
Personally I believe thay are doing this to justify their existence as a state department.
I really sympathise with mikamiki on what happened to him and his girlfriend.

Anonymous said...

women should not work in hotels coz theres where sleazy activities take place. women should not work in airlines as they are confined in the plane together with males. women should not work in pubs as it serves alcohol. women should not work in the police force as there are corruption there. women should not...
and women shall stay at home; get married and meet the sexual desires of men. bear children and take care of the family.
women, you decide if you want this kind of life. let your thoughts be known thru your vote. PERIOD!

Anonymous said...

Mikamiki,

Assalamualaikum,

Putting aside the stupidity, wrongdoing, corruption, sinful act, craziness of those people who "arrested" you...

.... if you are proud of what you were doing with your chinese girlfriend, than mengucap & bertaubat lah! Not too late! Jangan jadikan keegoan anda melakukan maksiat itu satu platform untuk non-muslim menghentam Islam, dah lah berdosa buat maksiat, lagi besar dosa mendedahkan agama Islam kpd fitnah. If you really want to do things against Islam teaching, it is your choice but don't let it be a starting point for non-muslims to condemn Islam. Islam is so perfect, people like you that gives Islam a bad reputation. Your non-muslim girfriend will never see the beauty of Islam if you keep doing things not of true Islamic teaching.

It is so sad that some muslim bloggers and writers started to give way and platform via blog for non-muslim to condemn Islam, Muslim & Islamic authority. Why are we doing this to our own religion? Islam is a perfect system (as a muslim this is not for arguement)... you can criticise the implementation process but pls dont condemn your own religion decree that sometimes majority non-muslim that i know will not do that!

Wassalam.

Lao said...

Color me confused.

Anonymous said...

dear brother/sister anonymous,
You are actually the type of Muslims who make my girlfriend laugh.
by the way, i am not proud of my sins. I am a sinner, that much I admit, but not in any way do I go around with malicious intent of harming anyone else.
Most of my sins I believed were between me and Allah. Well, at least that was the way I see it.
Actually, I told the story so that people like you get to know a bit about how screwed up some of these people who are supposed to be the guardian of our religion.
The incident truely happened and not a fitnah. Let Allah be the judge of that.
Or is it people like you rather sweep such things under the carpet. Hear no evil, see no evil, talk no evil.
As for certain non-muslims taking the opportunity of having potshots at Islam, honestly, I don't give a damn about them.
I think they are of the same mould as Muslims like you. An alter ego of sorts.
Oh, by the way, what do you think of the religious officers who "arrested" me?
Or do you rather simply "put aside" the issue?
My girlfriend still think that they were hilarious... and she never condemed Islam, just confused because of Muslims like you.

dear zawi,
thanks for yr sympathy. i am still trying to make my girlfriend understand islam (the best way I know how). not really giving up hope yet. hopefully Allah will give her hidayah one day so that I can marry her.

Dear Kak Ina,
Thanks for the space. Actually, You know me and my girlfriend (except that U don't know that we are a couple). One day I ll tell you who I am.

Wassalam to you all.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mikamiki,

My "Putting aside" sentence doesn't mean i agree with them. They are the worst type of people who pretend to uphold the islamic law. I would prefer they "arrest" you at the first place and charge you with whatever law we have wrt to you "kiss" your chinese girlfriend - you can argue the case in court if you want. If they did that, i have no problem. But they didnt and they were as bad as those people who hentam hukam agama sendiri. We have law to handle those corrupt people, why didnt you go and report it? You may say no point, but the fact you paid them made it as if it is right for them to do that!!! Why did you pay?

Nothing strange if your girlfriend laugh at me, she is a non-muslim and will never agree islamic teaching, when they can't argue they will laugh...go ahead you can lough with her also.

I dont think i am better than you, all have their own sin, but what should we do if we know we have sin? Mungkin kita sempat bertaubat, Insya Allah.

May you and your girlfriend diberkati Allah, dan terbuka hatinya one day, so happy if you could marry her legally as a muslim. Amin.

HeadLiner said...

Nuraina,

And all the poor girl wanted to do was earn an honest living WITh her parents consent..

Have u read what the Perak Mufti said on this ?

eva's haven said...

nuraina,
there is no reason in the first place to be rounding the patrons of the club.
they are not a threat to society. there has been no clear warning that the shariah is being enforced.
more dangerous is the way ms idayu was shamed, abused and humiliated.
this is a very unislamic way of doing things.
i agree. Muslims should not taint their religion.
i know i know... some self-righteous Muslims will say that people like ms idayu are the ones shaming Islam.
nope. you cannot be more wrong. ms idayu has done no one any harm.
you know who taint Islam, people who are the supposed guardians of the religion who behave in the most unIslamic way...
those JAIP officers should go for refresher classes.

Anonymous said...

dear brother/sister anonymous

I am glad that you clarified your stand. That you were equally concerned about the behaviour of the religious officials.
Reading your first post, I thought you were only interested in condeming me and my sinner ways and was contented to "putting aside" the issue.
Why I paid them the bribe? Well, I am not proud of it for sure. Guilty of kissing my girlfriend? Yes, no argument about that. But I rather be committing those sins in order to protect my girlfriend. I can't bear the idea of her being shamed by the thugs and exposing her to more of my fellow muslims' boorishness and self-rightous ways. Yes, she would not be charge, but being dragged to the Jabatan Agama office would have been traumatic enough for her.
She laughed at you not because of you being a muslim but because of your inability to differintiate between the wood and the tree.
I am not laughing at you. I am rather more sad and frustrated. There I was telling my girlfriend that Islam is good as a way of life and everywhere she sees are judgemental muslims who think they are better than others and think that imposing their views on others were their God-given rights.
Thanks anyway for praying for mine and my girlfriend's happiness.

Mat Salo said...

Kak Ena,

I put a link to this post in my latest posting.

BTW, damn, I FEEL for that guy mikamiki...

Powerful comment, for sure, and deserved to be reviewed in a blog.

Yours m'lady?

Anonymous said...

Dear Kak Ina,

Thanks for the oppurtunity to express my view wrt "Mikamiki" confession.

Dear Mikamiki,

No body is perfect. As i said, I dont think i m better than you! Maybe i cant see the different btw tree and wood as you said your girlfriend stated to lough at me, but what is the point of one knowing the difference if he/she can't make full use of the knowledge for good cause? We have many knowledgable people around but what do they do with that knowledge that count!

May you wish come true!

Your brother in Islam.
Wassalam.

Anonymous said...

I think Perak Mufti should be terminated. But no one would dare to do that for the fear of losing the rural votes (and being labelled a kafir) if Pas goes to town (or kampung) about his untimely dismissal. The sad part is; our beloved PM who is supposed to be well learned in Islam and has the abilityand the credibility to give a different opinion about the matter without incurring the wrath of the ulama and the people as his predecessor stays silent. I remember Tun Mahathir and all the previous Prime Ministers (especially Mahathir) would always be firm and would always kept this sort of extremism in check. Remember when Pas and a group of demonstrators demonstrated against the Israel hockey team in 1998? He (Mahathir) clearly stated his opinion without fear of being ridiculed and he also clearly stated his opinion about Islam by going against the grain (and the ulama) in the interest of the public. That made him lose some rural suppost as the opposition painted him as "the enemy of Islam". He was ostracised. Now, very own "cucu ulama" shuts up and watches the back of his eyelids while the circus is in town. This is what we call "Islam Ada Had, Ada Hari". Don't you think so? Hmmmm...

Penanak Nasik

Keanorlinsya said...

All i can say, despite bende2 ni bayak sangat berlaku, the authorities still dont get it, WRONG APPROACH!

Nak betulkan orang, bukan camtu caranya. Instead, u showed how bad you look. Dahla tu, kalau diri sendiri saja takpe..ini sampai our religion pon dah tercemar.

With this things happening, its hard to convince ppl that Islam is perfect, but Muslims...theyre not.

Anonymous said...

I was reading a comment from your other thread ....

"If Idris Tewfik had migrated to Malaysia before conversion and read about what the Jawi and JAIP Enforcers are doing, I believed he wouldn't had converted to Islam."

How true & who's to blame if even the muslims here "lari & keluar dari agama"??

I'll tell u who ... its the over-zealous, self-righteous, holier-than-thou "muslims" like the JAIP officials with brains the size of their d@*ks...

They're doing Islam more damage than good ... But people like them - yg "sesat dlm terang" yg susah skit nie, coz they believe wat they're doing is rite .. but when actually ... ITS NOT - there's no compassion in their attitudes ... mana org islam boleh cam nie ...

if GOD is most merciful & most compassionate & is said to love HIS servants 70 times more than a mother's love 4 her child, AND if HIS beloved prophet Muhammad s.a.w sayangkan umat sehinggakan pada yaumal akhirah, the 1st thing he wud ask wud be ... "umati, umati, umati" & everytime a person crosses the sirat he wud pray "selamakan, selamatkan"... & then u have these A-Holes, these so-called "pegawai agama" who wud mengaib, hina, mencaci a fellow muslim, alamak, camne ni?? ...

But then GOD is Just & is never "zalim", so i strongly believe ada pembalasan utk nie semua, either GOD will make them realise or they'll forever be "sesat dlm terang", & come Judgement Day, they suddenly find out that wat they did were wrong --- Hmmmm!!!! but then 2 late 2 go looking 4 the singer Siti dah 2 ask 4 forgiveness time tu huh??...

Which reminds me of this story about a prostitute & a so-called "alim" ...

2 make a long story short, the prostitute went to Heaven & the "alim" got "HELL" as his permanent address.

BUT how come like dat??? bcoz the "alim" once told the prostitute that she wud go 2 hell bcoz she was a prostitute ... AND on Judgement Day, GOD told the "alim" ... "Hey! where got? who are u 2 say that she wud go 2 Hell?? Thats 4 me 2 decide-lah, not u. Now I say u go 2 hell, & she goes 2 heaven ... so how now? .. so si mamat tu kenalah campak masuk neraka & the woman got kebahagian yg berkekalan ( the prostitute actually later in life dpt hidayah & changed her lifestyle & became pious, obedient & GOD fearing servant ).... maka itu-lah al-kisahnya ..

Man!!! they shud read more about the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions (may Allah be pleased with them) on how they did dakwah lah ...

Huwallahu alam bisawab ... penat laaa tulis panjang2 :-)