KUALA LUMPUR – While Bank Muamalat CEO Khairul Kamaruddin has not said a word about his institution’s recent fumble on the alleged “non-halal” cheque, the bank’s former head Datuk Mohd Redza Shah Abdul Wahid has openly apologised to the affected groups.
In a Facebook statement, the ex-CEO said he apologised on behalf of the Islamic banking community to Agape Community Church and Chinese Yishan over the contentious incident that saw a cheque issued by Wah Chai Association apparently rejected for being “non-halal”.
Redza also said he found it disturbing that no authoritative institution had addressed the matter properly to clarify the confusion.
“Please allow me to clarify this matter. Firstly, and most importantly, Islamic banking is for all and truly it has been. This kind of incident has been discussed at the syariah level and the conclusions are very clear that:
“1. Cheque payments made by any organisations, be they Muslim or not, must be honoured (unless Amla issues are at hand – anti-money laundering).
“2. It is only the income from the transaction, if any, that cannot be taken, put in a separate fund, and given away…in the banking market, we call it tainted funds!”
Redza said he believed the error was individual in nature and did not comply with the spirit of Islamic banking.
“I wish to apologise to Agape Community Church and Chinese Yishan on behalf of the Islamic banking community for the error made,” said Redza.
The former Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia president reminded the public that Prophet Muhammad was exemplary in his treatment of non-Muslims.
He recalled that Muhammad had fed a blind Jewish beggar every day until he passed away.
In addressing the issue, Bank Muamalat head of banking operations Muhamad Radzuan Ab Rahman said earlier that there is no distinction between “halal” and “non-halal” cheques.
He told a press conference today that Bank Muamalat as a financial institution is only responsible for accepting cheques, and has no power to categorise them as halal or otherwise.
Radzuan noted that the cheque bounced due to technical issues concerning the names printed on the financial instrument and the purpose of the transaction.
However, he said, it may have been possible that the wrong terms were used to explain why it did not comply with regulations,
“My conclusion is that this is merely a misunderstanding. Banks are only concerned with the purpose of the cheque and the source of the money.
“So, when explaining this, the interpretation may have resulted in the terms halal or non-halal being used whether from the bank or the person making the transfer.
“We were not there, so I can’t say exactly how it all went,” Radzuan said. – The Vibes, December 27, 2021
