The campaign against Shiite teachings in Malaysia could drive a “sectarian conflict” among Muslims, an Islamic NGO warned.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic NGOs (Mapim) said that instead, any disagreements on the understanding of Islam should be dealt with “carefully” and in an intellectual fashion.

However, to do so, Mapim president Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid said that the authorities must reconise that Shiites are also Muslim, as agreed upon by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Although Malaysia is part of the OIC, the Malaysian Islamic authorities deem the Shiite school of thought as deviant.

“Our view is that discussions on differences in Islamic schools of thought should be done in person and through scholarly discussion, and not through attacks via the media and government agencies,” he said.

He also cited verse 125 of the an-Nahl chapter of the Quran which says that people should be invited onto the right path through “wisdom and good instruction”.

He added that such differences have been debated by scholars for more than a thousand years and should not be revived in a way that further deepens the rift between Muslims, especially on the political front.

In 2005, 200 Islamic scholars from 50 countries agreed on an edict which recognises adherents to eight schools of thoughts including the Shiite, Sunni and Sufi schools as Muslims.

The edict, which also forbids Muslims from declaring one another apostates, was ratified by the OIC convention in December 2005.

It was later accepted by 500 of the world’s top Islamic scholars as part of the Amman Declaration, which was also ratified by Malaysia’s fifth prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Tension between Shiite and Sunni adherents have led to bloody conflicts in some parts of the Muslim world. Muslims in Malaysia largely follow the Sunni school of thought.  

 

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