Malaysian officials claim ‘Muslim-only maids for Muslim families’ directive just a ‘guideline’
16th August 2016
MALAYSIA’S Immigration Department has denied banning non-Muslim maids from being employed in Muslim households in the country, saying it was merely a “general guideline”.
On Monday, local media reported that the department had issued a directive saying non-Muslim maids should not be assigned to Muslim employers.
The department’s director-general Mustafar Ali attempted to clear the air, saying the suggestion that Muslim families should only hire Muslim maids was proposed in a general circular signed by his predecessor.
“This is just a general guideline with many exceptions and considerations,” he said in a statement, reported The Star.
News of the supposed directive alarmed maid agencies and employers yesterday, as many were concerned that it would affect the supply of maids and unnecessarily limit the choice of workers for Muslim households.
Further confusion was caused when department officials explained that it was not a new ruling after rejecting online applications made by non-Muslim maids at the request of Muslim households.
“If they did not allow Muslims to hire non-Muslims from the beginning, why did they allow it earlier?” asked a maid agency owner who wished to remain anonymous.
Mustafar pointed out that he had never made any official announcement regarding such a directive, adding that the department would give due consideration to all Muslim employers’ requests, applications, or appeals.
I was raised by several non-Muslim maids & this never happened to my siblings. They're nice & we love 'em dearly.https://twitter.com/fmtoday/status/765131437800423424 …
Meanwhile, in response to the furor over the issue, a mufti (Muslim legal expert) in the state of Perak expressed his support for such a directive.
According to Free Malaysia Today, Harussani Zakaria said that from an Islamic perspective, it was not wrong for Muslim families to hire non-Muslim maids, but was worried that children under the care of non-Muslims may be influenced and adopt the practices of other religions.
He posed the possibility that maids who have strong Christian backgrounds could “influence Muslim children”.
