Abdul-Munim Sombat Jitmoud is Compassionate Icon

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 19 -- Abdul-Munim Sombat Jitmoud, a father who forgave a man who was charged for being involved in the killing of his son, in the United States of America (USA), two years ago, was chosen as Compassionate Icon (Rahmatan Lil Alamin Icon) for his examplary compassion to global societies.    

The inaugural award was handed over by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof in a brief ceremony at the Putrajaya Islamic Complex today.

"I, representing the people of Malaysia, saw that because of such a great action on his part as an ordinary human being has promoted the compassion of the Islamic religion which coincidently is the policy of the government of today," Mujahid said in his speech at the ceremony here.

He said Islam had asserted that to uphold justice was by giving a commensurative punishment to each wrongdoing of an individual, but what was greater than justice was the attribute of ‘Rahmah’ which meant forgiveness, and Abdul-Munim had given the example to the world today.

"When the world is seeing Islam in a negative perspective, his action of forgiving his son's murderer, for me, reflected the true nature of Islam," he said.

Abdul-Munim, who held a US citizenship and hailed from Thailand, is now in Malaysia to attend invitations to give talks at several institutions including the Malaysia International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

Abdul-Munim said many people had often asked him how he had the strength to forgive the action of the man who murdered his son, and he answered that by forgiving the man who killed his son he hoped that the man would be given the opportunity to know Islam.

"I also wish to advice Muslims in Malaysia that, in order to become examples to the world, first of all they must be good Muslims and have a high family value in accordance with the teachings of Islam, as well as being compassionate (Rahmah) to all creatures including the environment.

Trey Alexander Relford, faced the death sentence after pleading guilty for abeting in the killing of Salahuddin Jitmoud, who was a robbery victim before he was stabbed when carrying out his job as a pizza delivery man on April 19, 2015, in Lexington, Kentucky.

However, Salahuddin's father, Abdul-Munim shocked everyone in court, including judge Kimberly Bunnell, who could not hold back her tears when he forgave Relford on Nov 7, 2017.

The video of the touching moment went viral and was reported extensively by media throughout the world.

At the same time, Mujahid said, for next year, his ministry was planning to appoint Abdul-Munim as Compassionate Ambassador in helping the government's effort to promote the Rahmatan Lil Alamin policy in the country.

In the meantime, regarding the advertisement board with an obscene element via the 'SugarBook' application in two locations in Kuala Lumpur, Mujahid said the issue was considered settled.

"I have met Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad and he had informed me that the advertisement was cancelled and there was a misunderstanding on the part of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka who mistook it for a book, but now, thank god, the matter has been settled," he said.

He hoped the issue would not be prolonged and at the same time he appreciated the concern of society who were sensitive over matters that contradicted religion and the noble values of the society in the country.  

-- BERNAMA