By Hafidz Baharom
SERDANG, July 19 ― The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community along with liberalism and pluralism were today branded as enemies of Islam by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in front of a crowd of over 11,000 imams and mosque committee members from across the nation.
“LGBTs, pluralism, liberalism ― all these ‘isms’ are against Islam and it is compulsory for us to fight these,” he said.
Najib also said the government supports human rights, but within the boundaries of Islam.
“We do support human rights, but we must do so within the boundaries set by Islam,” he said.
The prime minister also told Muslims to avoid discord which could threaten those who safeguard Islamic principles.
“If the nation falls into a state of chaos, who will safeguard these people?” he asked.
The event, organised by the Prime Minister’s Office, started off with the Minister in Prime Minister’s Office Maj-Gen (R) Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom saying that imams must defend the government against these threats.
“There are so many attacks on our religion. LGBTs, pluralism, liberalism, Seksualiti Merdeka. We must stand strong and defend the government,” he said.
Attendees were also given a book which was written by Najib himself, entitled “Agenda Islam Dalam Transformasi Negara”.
Yesterday, Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also said that he did not support the rights of LGBTs and advocates the sanctity of marriage being that between a man and a woman.
Liberalism is the belief in total liberty and equality of an individual, while many conservative Muslims are opposed to religious pluralism because of fears it could lead to other religions being put on the same standing as Islam.