Saturday, July 24, 2010

No religious ban on Manchester United jerseys in Malaysia, says Mufti


The disputed football jerseys include that of Brazil, Portugal, Serbia, England, Manchester United, Liverpool and Barcelona because the emblems feature among others The Red Devils, Cross, Betting company and Alcoholic drinks!!!!

But to me, football is football and religion is religion. They are 2 very very very separate things and issues. No sane football supporters will suddenly convert to other religion from their respective religions on seeing their teams actions.

No logic thinking football supporters will suddenly worship the devil whenever Manchester United win.

As reported by the Star on 24th July 2010.

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no “religious ban” on Manchester United jerseys despite statements by several prominent Islamic scholars urging Muslims not to don the Premier League club’s shirts because the emblem features a devil.

Perak mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria said jerseys with devils, crosses or skulls promoted the wrong values for Muslims but that did not mean they should be banned.

“A fatwa on the matter is not necessary as it is clearly wrong for Muslims to wear shirts with devils and other unIslamic symbols because it is against the teachings of Islam,” he said yesterday.

Apart from Manchester United, which is also known as The Red Devils, other football teams whose crests carry images deemed unIslamic like the cross are Brazil, Portu­gal, Serbia, Barcelona and Norway.

“In Islam, Satan is our enemy ... but I believe Satan is also an enemy of the non-Muslims.

“We advise people not to wear them,” said Harussani.

He added that Muslims had no reason to wear and glorify symbols that promoted wrong values.

Harussani said other ulama and mufti shared his opinion but they did not plan to pass any edict to ban the attire either.

Many Muslim football fans, he said, were actually unaware of the images on the emblems.

His view was shared by Johor Religious Council adviser Datuk Nooh Gadot, who had issued similar advice to Muslims on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, several Malaysian football fans have shown the “red card” to the advice by the ulama.

They voiced disapproval over social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

“What am I going to do with all my Manchester United jerseys? And my sons’ jerseys?” said a Twitter user.

Some even went to the extent of accusing the ulama of supporting Liverpool, Manchester United’s archrival.

Manchester United Malaysia Fan Club, which boasts 7,000 members, when contacted, declined to comment.

Checks at various sports retail outlets in shopping malls revealed that the famous red jerseys of the club were still on sale.

Sales personnel on duty said the new version of the club’s attire was selling like hot cakes as it had arrived just a few days ago after its global launch on July 15.

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