'Takbir' rule at pro-Palestine rally: Drama hasn’t ended, actress Haneesya shares her side

SHAH ALAM - Model and actress Haneesya Hanee voiced her frustration over the suppression of the chant 'Allahu Akbar' during a recent Palestinian rally at Dataran Merdeka.

In a TikTok video, Haneesya slammed the restriction in a country with a Muslim majority.

"An event supporting Palestine but forbids chanting Allahu Akbar?" she questioned.

She recounted how the organisers discouraged the chanting: "One of the organisers said 'Please don't recite Allahu Akbar, go home and say it'.

"They asked us to respect other religions, but what about respect for ours?" she argued.

Haneesya blasted the event's management and lamented the absence of formal prayer recitations.

"It was a poor choice in representation.

"We, who chanted Allahu Akbar, were the ones gathering in large numbers for prayer.

"The event was terribly managed.

"We literally cry a lot downstairs when we are reading the prayer and the person who leads the prayer is just random people.

"Very, very bad event. Sorry not sorry. You don't want to insult the non-Muslim religion, but you don't realise that you are insulting us Muslims," she said.

Another TikToker, Hajar, supported Haneesya's sentiments, stating that the rally organisers should have used the event as a platform to educate non-Muslims that 'Allahu Akbar' isn't offensive but a unifying call among Muslims.

"You wanted a peaceful rally and not to incite hatred.

"People were peaceful, people did not incite hatred but you (organisers) did. You incited hatred.

"This is a humanitarian rally; what you should be doing is to teach the non-Muslims that Allahu Akbar is not offensive.

"In fact, you should be teaching them that Allahu Akbar is a call that unites Muslim," she said.

It was reported yesterday that digital creator Asma Nasa had urged the public to focus on pressing issues rather than dwell on minor disputes.

Addressing criticism on her Instagram about the event's management and the chanting of "Allahu Akbar", Nasa clarified that organisers had politely addressed concerns and stressed the importance of maintaining a peaceful stance to prevent misinterpretations.

Yesterday, actor Qi Razali shared a screenshot of a story on his X account, where a person who had attended the rally with the handle @syedizzathussain expressed his disappointment with the event's organiser @vivapalestinamy, and specifically Dr Musa Nordin (Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) chairman Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin), who he claimed had talked down to their group at the rally.

The contentious issue arose when some participants held up placards featuring the image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, branding him a "war criminal."

"Very disappointed with the organiser, especially Dr Musa, for using his stage to talk down to us, just for holding up a placard of war criminal Netanyahu, which the whole world, including those who have attended Palestine rallies in the United Kingdom and the United States, are doing," Syed said in the post.

Earlier today, the organisers of the peaceful 'Freedom for Palestine' rally have denied allegations that there were participants labelled as 'Zionists' for carrying placards displaying the face of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the word 'syaitan' (devil) written on them.

Musa said they were merely upholding the non-governmental organisation (NGO) stance, which views placards or images featuring Netanyahu's face as a provocative action.

He also added that the rules they followed were in line with the directives of the police to ensure that the gathering remained within the boundaries of humanity.