Tag: Hussein Rasheed

Politics an inseparable part of religion, reiterates Adhaalath party

Islam and politics are inseparable and it is unIslamic to suggest otherwise, President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed has announced.

”I regret that there are some MPs also who are claiming that politics and Islam should be separated, after taking a oath swearing that they would respect the religion of Islam,” Sheikh Hussein said. ”Politics and religion cannot be separated.”

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed told Minivan News that Islam was a comprehensive religion containing information on economy, family, social, business, communication, politics, military “and many more things.”

Shaheem claimed that separating politics from religion was “a Christian philosophy from the 1940s.”

”The Christians at that time were influenced by the power of their kings and popes, ” Shaheem said, ”so they fought together for their rights and demanded the separation of religion from politics, and that was the time democracy was born.”

Shaheem noted that there were some principles of democracy which were contrary to Islamic principles.

”There are many things that are similar things and there are some things we refuse,” he said. “The resolution in democracy is ‘to keep the religion separated from the state.”’

The Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was also a good politician, Shaheem explained.

”Those who suggest religion should be separated from politics are not apostates,” he said. “They are only saying such things because of their lack of knowledge.”

He said the Islamic Ministry was a part of the government and the government cooperated the ministry.

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the Adhaalath Party was “power hungry” in accusing the government of secularism.

Newspaper Miadhu today reported Adhaalath party member Sheikh Ilyas Hussain as saying  the government had forgotten the Adhaalath’s Party’s role in the country’s democratic transition and that the presence of the party was one of the reasons the new government had been accepted.

If dialogue failed to keep the government on the right path, Sheikh Illyas warned, the party would “not hesitate to fight against this government like we did the last one.”

He further claimed there were groups within the country that had begun challenging the party’s efforts to promote Islam, and that such trends were bringing the party’s patience to an end.

Zuhair claimed some of the party’s scholars were “directly lying to the people.”

”We support the work they are doing politically, because according to the new law any political party with less than 3000 members should be disbanded. If so, how are they supposed to be in the government if they are not a political party?”

He said the government had provided mosques for people, appointed Imams to the mosques and established the Islamic Ministry.

”We do not know why they are saying all this about the government,” he said. ”We can’t worship in our offices.”

Zakir Naik

In response to concerns about the religious qualifications of visiting Islamic speaker Zakir Naik, who is a medical doctor, Shaheem explained that Naik “is not a a preacher but a lecturer”, and his talks in the Maldives would not contravene the Religious Unity Act.

”The law says that anyone is allowed to give sermons with the permission of the Islamic Ministry,” he explained.

”We have researched his CV, and he is man who has knowledge of Islam and has written many books on Islam as well.”

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Alhan elected because of DRP campaign, claims Feydhoo branch

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) branch on Feydhoo in Seenu Atoll has claimed the island’s MP, Alhan Fahmy, would not have been elected to parliament had he run as an Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate.

Alhan crossed the floor to the ruling MDP after he was suspended from the DRP for voting against the party line over a no-confidence motion against Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

DRP Feydhoo branch president Hussein Rasheed claimed that of the 14 candidates, “Alhan was elected due to the campaign DRP ran for him.”

”It is without doubt that Alhan would not be a parliament member if he had run as an independent or a candidate of another party,” Rasheed said, adding that the MP’s decision to jump had “saddened him” and that the party’s branch “would still accept him back.”

DRP senior member of the branch Mohamed Moomin said only a few DRP supporters had resigned over Alhan’s jump, but otherwise he ”had not noticed anybody shifting parties.”

He said that while many people on the island supported Alhan, ”people voted for DRP and not for Alhan.”

Alhan agreed that 85 per cent of his votes were from DRP supporters but claimed ”I would have been elected even if I was an MDP candidate.”

”There are DRP candidates who failed in the parliamentary election,” he said, adding that he “does not like to argue about the issue.”

Spokesman for MDP Ibrahim Haleem said Alhan’s conduct was professional and he could have won the parliamentary election without DRP’s help.

”During his short term in the parliament he has proved to the people just how professional he is,” Haleem said.

He claimed DRP supporters were claiming otherwise “because of personal issues they have with him.”

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