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Jan. 23, 2006 11:37 Malaysian Fatwa Council bans "black metal" By ASSOCIATED PRESS Islamic officials in Malaysia ruled Monday that "black metal" music was unacceptable for Muslims, saying it can cause listeners to rebel against religion. Black metal is akin to hard rock music, but often uses occult imagery and lyrics. It emerged in Europe in the early 1980s and has made inroads in Southeast Asia in recent years, though its popularity has remained limited to underground rock fans. Some people in Malaysia - a moderate, mostly Muslim nation - have urged authorities to clarify whether Muslims should shun the music after police on New Year's Eve detained some 380 revelers at an alleged black metal concert in Kuala Lumpur for suspected drug use and other offenses. The National Fatwa Council, comprising Islamic scholars hand-picked by Malaysia's king, said Monday that the themes of black metal music were prohibited by Islam, claiming they could lead Muslims to stray from their beliefs, consume alcohol and indulge in sexual misconduct. Authorities plan to enact new laws allowing charges to be laid against Muslims who form black metal bands, council spokesman Shukor Husin was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "We are trying to prevent any increase in our society in the number of such band members," Shukor said following a meeting by the council to investigate the issue. Penalties for taking part in black metal groups were not immediately clear, and Shukor didn't say whether it would also be an offense to attend black metal concerts or listen to such music. Phone calls to the council's office were not immediately answered. Some 60 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims, who are subject to Islamic laws as well as the country's secular legal system. The council's rulings don't affect the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, who are mainly Buddhists, Christians and Hindus -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
