NST Online » Local News
2008/11/05
Student: I was under his spell
By : M. Hamzah Jamaludin

KUANTAN: It was a nightmare for a second-year nursing degree student here when she was duped and almost abducted by an Indonesian construction worker who allegedly used a charm on her.
Amirah (not her real name) claimed that she was "deeply in love" with the 33-year-old Indonesian after he gave her a silver ring with sparkling stones.

"I could no longer think rationally and would agree to whatever he asked me to do.

"I even chastised my friends when they told me not to go out with him," said the 21-year-old from Johor.

Amirah met the Indonesian, Zainol, at a bus stop in Jalan Bukit Ubi here after her classes on Oct 11.
"Zainol was very friendly and he managed to coax me to give him my handphone number. I've never given my phone number to a stranger before," she said.

Both of them later boarded the same bus as Zainol was working at a construction site near Amirah's campus.

Zainol called Amirah the same night and they agreed to meet the next day.

Zainol would ask Amirah to sniff an ointment in a small green bottle whenever she complained of having headache.

Amirah said she could not stop thinking about Zainol after that and had given him cash, totalling RM700, throughout their courtship.

Zainol had also caressed her whenever they met and had asked her to follow him to Surabaya.

However, Amirah was lucky that she met an Indonesian woman near her campus on Oct 30, before Zainol could take her to Surabaya.

"The Indonesian woman exposed Zainol's background and his ability to trick women.

"She asked me to take off the silver ring as she claimed that I was under Zainol's spell.

"She also told me that he is married with two children."

Amirah lodged a police report the next day and with the help of the university security personnel, police managed to arrested Zainol.

However, to Amirah's surprise, Zainol was released from police custody.



Amirah said she lodged another police report on Monday after Zainol sent threatening text messages to her.

Police confirmed that two reports have been lodged by the student

Islam 'recognizes homosexuality'

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 03/28/2008 1:38 AM  |  Headlines

Homosexuals and homosexuality are natural and created by God, thus permissible within Islam, a discussion concluded here Thursday.

Moderate Muslim scholars said there were no reasons to reject homosexuals under Islam, and that the condemnation of homosexuals and homosexuality by mainstream ulema and many other Muslims was based on narrow-minded interpretations of Islamic teachings.

Siti Musdah Mulia of the Indonesia Conference of Religions and Peace cited the Koran's al-Hujurat (49:3) that one of the blessings for human beings was that all men and women are equal, regardless of ethnicity, wealth, social positions or even sexual orientation.

"There is no difference between lesbians and nonlesbians. In the eyes of God, people are valued based on their piety," she told the discussion organized by nongovernmental organization Arus Pelangi.

"And talking about piety is God's prerogative to judge," she added.

"The essence of the religion (Islam) is to humanize humans, respect and dignify them."

Musdah said homosexuality was from God and should be considered natural, adding it was not pushed only by passion.

Mata Air magazine managing editor Soffa Ihsan said Islam's acknowledgement of heterogeneity should also include homosexuality.

He said Muslims needed to continue to embrace ijtihad (the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the Koran and the Sunnah) to avoid being stuck in the old paradigm without developing open-minded interpretations.

Another speaker at the discussion, Nurofiah of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said the dominant notion of heterogeneity was a social construction, leading to the banning of homosexuality by the majority.

"Like gender bias or patriarchy, heterogeneity bias is socially constructed. It would be totally different if the ruling group was homosexuals," she said.

Other speakers said the magnificence of Islam was that it could be blended and integrated into local culture.

"In fact, Indonesia's culture has accepted homosexuality. The homosexual group in Bugis-Makassar tradition called Bissu is respected and given a high position in the kingdom.

"Also, we know that in Ponorogo (East Java) there has been acknowledgement of homosexuality," Arus Pelangi head Rido Triawan said.

Condemnation of homosexuality was voiced by two conservative Muslim groups, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and Hizbut Thahir Indonesia (HTI).

"It's a sin. We will not consider homosexuals an enemy, but we will make them aware that what they are doing is wrong," MUI deputy chairman Amir Syarifuddin said.

Rokhmat, of the hardline HTI, several times asked homosexual participants in attendance to repent and force themselves to gradually return to the right path.