New Age Movement: Marhamah should apologise, resign

SHAH ALAM - Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Marhamah Rosli should make a public admission and apology, as well as resign, following the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia's (Jakim) tabayyun session regarding the issue of the spread of New Age Movement (Nam) elements.

Chairman of the Selangor PAS Youth Scholars and Research Committee, Dr Abu Musleh, said his party appreciated Jakim's firm stance, particularly that of its Aqidah Expert Panel (PPA), which conducted an investigation and tabayyun session into the issue.

He said Jakim’s statement on Sunday stated that a tabayyun session had been held with Marhamah, during which reprimands, advice and guidance were given over the content and approaches of programmes deemed to have implications for aqidah.

"This reinforces the view that the concerns raised by the public previously had a reasonable basis that should be taken seriously by the authorities," he said in a statement.

Abu Musleh said Marhamah had previously been reported to have denied any links to Nam, while giving her critics 24 hours to retract the allegations and issue a public apology, as well as threatening legal action.

"This is highly unprofessional, immature and embarrassing because she used her office letterhead to respond to a personal issue.

"Given that Jakim has now confirmed that there were issues involving aqidah implications in the programme concerned, it is appropriate for the Deputy Minister to issue a subsequent statement publicly acknowledging the matter to the public, in line with Jakim's findings," he said.

Meanwhile, he claimed that many of Marhamah's students still did not understand or know which aspects of the teachings being conveyed were considered wrong.

Abu Musleh said matters concerning aqidah must be examined seriously and transparently according to recognised scholarly principles, as they concern the foundations of Muslims' faith.

He said Nam elements could allegedly infiltrate motivational seminars, self-development courses and spiritual programmes that appeared neutral on the surface.

"More concerning is when authentic Islamic terms are deliberately borrowed to conceal beliefs that contradict them.

"This is why the authorities should carefully scrutinise every term used in spiritual or human development programmes by certain motivational speakers who use terms associated with the New Age Movement," he said.

As such, he urged the Mufti, Jakim, the Muzakarah Committee of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs Malaysia and state religious authorities to continue monitoring and studying the issue transparently and consistently.

"The people are now waiting for Marhamah's admission and apology, which should certainly be followed by her resignation," he said.