KUALA LUMPUR: Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) vice president Aminuddin Yahaya is convinced that the Group of 25 Eminent Malay persons, all former high ranking civil servants, does not understand what his NGO is trying to get across.

Instead, ISMA as well as other NGOs like the Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) and Pertubuhan MUAFAKAT Sejahtera Masyarakat Malaysia (MUAFAKAT) have been labelled as extremists.

“They are being influenced by the media to weaken Islam,” he said to the press at the Muafakat office on Thursday.

Aminuddin was welcoming moves by Putrajaya to engage with the G25 so that the issues raised by it can be resolved. He hopes that such dialogue will lead to a better understanding of Islam.

“I don’t understand those labelling us extremists. We are only defending the Constitution of Islam. We don’t know what is wrong with that,” he said.

He alleged that there were certain quarters questioning everything and demanding equal rights in all including in education and on the economy.

“In my view, that is not suitable and contradicts the Federal Constitution and the social contract which has been agreed upon long ago. The G25 needs to study Islam in greater depth apart from understanding the Federal Constitution,” he said.

Muafakat President Ismail Mina Ahmad, chipping in, criticized the G25 for not understanding the Federal Constitution although they claim to be intellectuals.

He urged them to understand the Federal Constitution, and instead of labelling Isma as extremists, understand what is extremism.

“They cannot understand from the western perspective only. They need to understand wasatiyyah (moderation) from the Islamic perspective,” he said in supporting Isma. “This is because wasatiyyah cannot be understood if taken lightly. In my opinion, the Syiah and Islamic State are extremists.”

Credit : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/01/08/isma-urges-group-of-25-to-understand-wasatiyyah/