By NNN-Bernama
Nilai (Malaysia) : Malaysian Muslim intellectuals and youths who have been campaigning for the opposition through the Internet should now join forces in condemning a film that accuses the Quran of inciting violence.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that since they were Internet savvy, they should now show their indignation against the film through the medium.
“They should take advantage of their resourcefulness and skills which they had used against the establishment, this time to defend Islam,” he told reporters after opening the National Fatwa Council meeting here Monday.
He was commenting on growing Muslim outrage worldwide over Geert Wilders’s short video which was posted on the Internet last Thursday. Wilder launched the film on the Internet after Dutch distributors refused to release it.
“As they (Muslim intellectuals and youths) had contributed to the opposition’s success (in the recent general election), I hope they can defend Islam.
“I am urging them to unleash their energy and put aside their political and ideological differences and counter the slander against Islam,” said Zahid.
He said although the film was short, it could influence Muslims who had poor knowledge of Islam, including Quranic teachings.
Claiming that the film was planned by anti-Islam proponents not only in the Netherlands but elsewhere, and that there were hidden hands behind it, he urged Muslims to unite and act rationally in showing their protest.
In KUALA LUMPUR, the Malaysian National Islamic Students Association has sent a protest note to the Netherlands government, expressing its disappointment over the film.
Its secretary-general Abdul Muntaqim Zulkipli said the government, non-governmental organisations and the people should show their wrath by boycotting Dutch products.