VIHEAR SAMBO, Tboung Khmum – The tremendous minority Shia neighborhood on this provice have lived peacefully, co-existing with their Sunni counterparts for years. Nevertheless, this will likely change if new legal guidelines being debated within the capital by sure quarters are introduced into place and enforced.
Seth Math, 42, the native Shia neighborhood chief stated: “We’re Muslims, identical to our Sunni brethren who reside round and amongst us. We don’t discriminate and we’ve co-existed since our founding within the late 2000s.”
“We did have preliminary scuffles and misunderstandings, arising from a lack of knowledge of one another’s beliefs, faiths and practises, and through these darkish days, we had fixed confrontation with one another – the Sunnis and the Shias. We didn’t attend one another’s features, be it non secular and even household occasions corresponding to weddings. However issues are completely different now. So why contemplate some legal guidelines which can have an effect on our existence,” Ustaz Mat stated.
Tun Salleh, a frontrunner of the Sunnis in the identical village, talking from a mosque designated for the Sunnis and situated about 200 metres away, echoed these sentiments and stated: “Sunni and Shia are each Muslims. These days, we collaborate, take part in one another’s traditions, not all however most, permit inter-sect marriages and even play soccer collectively.”
“We’re involved concerning the information {that a} legislation is being enacted to make sure that every Muslim village ought to have just one mosque or surau,” Salleh stated. “In our village, Vihear Sambo, we’ve one mosque and three suraus and if it contains the Shia’s prayer corridor or surau, it would complete to 5.”
“So what will we do? There are rumours that some could also be demolished and even rumours that the Shia could also be banned and made unlawful. These doesn’t augur effectively for us as we’re all Muslims. Ban the extremists with proof, not on rumours however we don’t contemplate our Shia brothers as extremists or deviationists,” Salleh added.
Uztaz Mat in the meantime stated that they’ve tried to achieve out to the Grand Mufti’s workplace, however their calls weren’t entertained.
“I labored with the Mufti for 2 years and was one amongst 10 with him. Once I was in Iran finding out the teachings of Shia, I invited the Grand Mufti to go to Iran on the official invitation of the Iranian authorities, however he declined. He even declined the invitation when the Iranian delegation from their embassy in Vietnam got here to increase it,” he lamented.
KT/Chor Sokunthea
Uztaz Mat added that the Grand Mufti is aware of him and he understands effectively that “we’re not a risk to society” however he merely refuses to acknowledge the Shias.
“The development of our easy surau and the college, which is beneath building now, was accredited by the village authorities and was fully ignored by the Mufti in Phnom Penh. Even constructing a statue as a contribution to the village’s government-built Madrassah was being misinterpreted,” he stated.
Uztaz Mat burdened that he and his followers didn’t perceive all these marginalisations, however vowed that they won’t be pushed to extremism or such teachings and beliefs as Islam continues to be Islam. Whether or not it’s Sunni or Shia. It teaches peace.
He and Salleh imagine that political motivations are in play in each rumours about one village one mosque and the potential banning of the Shia.
- Tags: Cambodian Muslims, Shia
