1. Free Malaysia (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com)
(1) Minister defends ‘Christian threat’ seminar, 29 March 2012
by Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Jamil Khir Baharom, who oversees Islamic affairs, says the state has the right to safeguard the interests of Muslims.
KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom has defended the controversial seminar on the alleged threat posed by Christianity, saying it was meant to protect Muslims.
He said the seminar will be held according to laws that allowed states to hold such programmes if Muslims were deemed threatened.
He added that the seminar, jointly organised by the Johor Education Department and state Mufti Department and to be held on Saturday, was not intended to hurt any quarter.
“The state has the right to safeguard the interests of Muslims, it is within their jurisdiction. The interests of Muslims is important and we must consider this,” he told reporters here.
The seminar triggered yet another outrage among the country’s Christians amid an already souring relations between them and the country’s majority Muslims over several sensitive incidences in the recent past.
Church leaders had come out to condemn the Johor Mufti and education department for allowing the seminar to take place, saying it endorsed the unproven claim that Christians were threatening the Islamic faith.
Title deemed inappropriate
The seminar was themed “Pemantapan Aqidah, Bahaya Liberalisme dan Pluralism Serta Ancaman Kristianisasi Terhadap Umat Islam. Apa Peranan Guru?” (Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the Threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the Role of Teachers?).
Jamil was asked if he agreed with the criticism that the title of the programme was inappropriate and offensive.
He replied: “I don’t know. You have to ask the agency involved. I haven’t seen the title myself.”
It was reported yesterday that the Johor Mufti Department had defended the seminar’s title, saying said it was held only to ensure young Muslims were not influenced by “the threat of Christianity.”
An officer was quoted as saying that state authorities “fear young Muslims will be confused and not understand” when faced with attempts to convert them although there was no proof to show proselytization attempts.
Several opposition leaders also voiced their disapproval to the seminar.
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday the seminar was part of an effort to manage control through the use of fear and faith.
Christians form 9.2% of Malaysia’s 28.3 million-strong population.
The recent legal tussle over the right to use the Arabic term “Allah” to describe the Christian God had strengthened Muslim suspicion of a widespread Christian conversion campaign and embittered relations between the two. Christian leaders denied the allegation.
(2)‘Threat of Christianity’ seminar title changed, 30 March 2012
The title of the seminar will be changed but co-organisers from the state religious department said the seminar's content would remain the same.
KUALA LUMPUR: State religious and education officials have changed the title of a seminar on “the threat of Christianity” following outrage from non-Muslims.
Johor state education officials faced criticism over the school teachers’ seminar to be held Saturday that was titled: “Strengthening the faith, the dangers of liberalism and pluralism and the threat of Christianity towards Muslims.”
The furore over the title follows allegations of Christian proselytisation in the Muslim-majority country after religious police raided a Methodist church event last August fearing Muslims were being converted.
State lawmaker Maulizan Bujang told the Bernama news agency the reference to Christianity would be removed from the title, saying: “The seminar aims to strengthen the faith of Muslims and it does not need to be politicised by any party that claims it (the seminar) is a threat to other religions.”
But co-organisers from the state religious department said the seminar’s content would remain the same.
“The seminar is part of the right of Muslims to defend the faith of its practitioners from any action which may lead to apostasy. It is our responsibility,” an official told Bernama.
Opposition leaders say the ruling coalition, which is expected to announce national polls this year, is trying to woo back Malay support by using fear of other religions, after a swing vote saw the government lose control of a third of parliamentary seats and four states in 2008 polls.
Reverend Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, said the government had to take a stand against the seminar.
“Of course we are disappointed, it derails the whole idea of harmony and mutual respect and understanding each other,” he told AFP.
Malaysia has largely avoided overt religious conflict in recent decades but tensions have simmered since a court ruling in late 2009 lifted a government ban on the use of “Allah” as a translation for “God” in Malay-language bibles.
The ban had been in place for years but enforcement only began in 2008 out of fear the word could encourage Muslims to convert
The 2009 ruling triggered a series of attacks on Christian places of worship using Molotov cocktails, rocks and paint.
Muslims make up 60 percent of the country’s 28 million people, while Christians account for about nine percent, most of whom come from indigenous groups in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.
- AFP
(3) Religious unity not govt’s agenda, 30 March 2012
by Jeswan Kaur
Since when has Christianity become the 'enemy of the state', so much so that a seminar is deemed necessary to brainwash young Muslims into hating everthing to do with Christianity?
COMMENT
Does religious harmony count for anything in this country of 28 million people? Hardly, as far as the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is concerned.
Had racial unity been a priority for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, he would have wasted no time in scrapping tomorrow’s seminar about the alleged “threat posed by Christianity”, the world’s largest religion.
The seminar is themed “Pemantapan Aqidah, Bahaya Liberalisme dan Pluralism Serta Ancaman Kristianisasi Terhadap Umat Islam. Apa Peranan Guru?” (Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the Threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the Role of Teachers?).
The uncalled-for weekend programme is organised by the Johor Education Department and the Johor Mufti Department and will involve 110 religious teachers from all the national schools in the state.
Islamic Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom is all in support of the seminar, saying it was meant to protect Muslims and not to hurt any quarter.
He said the seminar will be held according to the laws that allowed states to hold such programmes if Muslims were deemed threatened.
“The states have the right to safeguard the interests of Muslims, it is within their jurisdiction. The interests of Muslims is important and we must consider this,” he said.
What threat is Jamil talking about and where is it coming from? Has he, like the Johor Mufti Department, become so “delusional” about the fate of Muslims in this country that teachers are now being used as scapegoats to validate Muslim belief in Islam?
Who is posing a threat to the Muslims of this country? To character-assassinate Christians is not going to help improve matters when truthfully, the problem lies within the Muslim community itself, its ummah or community being swayed by the emotions of extremist minds.
Since when has Christianity become the “enemy of the state”, so much so that a seminar is deemed necessary to brainwash young Muslims into hating everthing to do with Christianity?
Is anarchy what Jamil and the Johor Mufti Department hope to achieve, using this seminar as a conduit to unleash their hatred towards the Christian community?
Proselytisation no child’s play
An officer with the Johor Mufti Department has said the state authorities “fear young Muslims will be confused and not understand” when faced with attempts to convert them, albeit there being no attempts at proselytisation.
Should one deduce then that it is as easy as “ABC” to seduce the young Muslims into renouncing their faith? Is their belief in Islam so shallow that they can easily give up their trust in Islam?
Christians form 9.2% of Malaysia’s 28.3 million-strong population.
The seminar has triggered yet another outrage among the country’s Christians amid an already souring relations between them and the country’s majority Muslims over several sensitive incidences in the recent past.
Church leaders had come out to condemn the Johor mufti and education department for allowing the seminar to take place, saying it endorsed the unproven claim that Christians were threatening the Islamic faith.
Religious unity not BN’s agenda
With such chronic hatred against the Christian community in place, where does Malaysia today stand in relation to religious tolerance? Does the nation still have what it takes to own up to the fact that the spirit of muhibbah or goodwill between Malaysians of different races has, like an avalanche, crumbled, burying deep any hope of reconciliation between people of different faiths in this country?
But then religious unity was never of any interest to the federal government under BN. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has unabashedly made it known he will do everything in his power to uphold Malay rights and privileges.
It is just as hurting when former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last year cautioned the non-Malays against being too comfortable calling Malaysia as their home. The non-Malays, he said, had to be indebted to the Malays for being granted the citizenship that enabled them to reside in Malaysia.
As always, Najib has no “comments” on topics that concern harmony between Malaysians of different faiths. He and his band of ministers are keeping their mouths shut on the controversy tomorrow’s seminar has caused. What should the rakyat make of this “deafening silence”? Is it wrong to affirm that BN and Najib do not care a fig about the declining confidence plaguing rakyat of different faiths?
Why then the show by Najib of sealing formal ties with the Vatican in July last year, in what was seen as a high point in religious relations?
BN prejudiced against Christians
Najib’s disinterest in this latest attempt to discredit Christianity is not going down well with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taosim (MCCBCST) which is annoyed with this latest move labelling Christianity a threat. And the council’s reason is justified.
For one, the controversial seminar will undermine the years of hard work put in to foster and strengthen religious peace and kinship.
The council has put up with enough, as far as condemning Christianity goes. There was the legal tussle over the right to use the Arabic term “Allah” to describe the Christian God.
To the Muslims, the legal battle “confirmed” their suspicion of a widespread Christian conversion campaign and embittered relations between the two. But Christian leaders vehemently denied the allegation.
In 2009, the High Court allowed the church to use the word, but the case is pending a Home Ministry appeal of the decision. The ruling led to several churches across the country falling prey to arson attempts.
Then there was the Selangor Islamic Religious Department or JAIS raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church on Aug 3 last year under the pretext that proselytisation efforts were in progress, targeting the Muslim guests who had attended a fund-raising dinner at the church.
Christians were further outraged when the Home Ministry seized 35,100 Malay-language bibles.
The bibles were later released ahead of the Sarawak state election in April last year on condition that copies in Peninsular Malaysia be marked with a cross and the words “Christian publication”.
With so much damage and indoctrination at the expense of Christians, dare Najib as the people’s leader claim that his propaganda 1Malaysia is well-intended?
・Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.
2. Malaysiakini(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
'Christian threat' dropped from seminar title, 29 March 2012
Organisers of a “Christian threat” seminar in Johor Baharu have dropped the two contentious words from the title of the event.
According to Johor exco member Maulizan Bujang, the new title is called “Liberalisme, Pluralisme dan Gejala Murtad: Apa Peranan Guru Di Dalam Mepertahankan Akidah (Liberalism, pluralism and apostasy: What is the role of teachers in defending the faith)”.
Originally, the event was titled “Pemantapan Aqidah, Bahaya Liberalisme dan Pluralism Serta Ancaman Kristianisasi Terhadap Umat Islam. Apa Peranan Guru?” (Strengthening the faith, the dangers of liberalism and pluralism and the threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the role of teachers?).
The event, jointly organised by the Johor Mufti Department and Johor Education Department, will take place this Saturday involving 300 religious teachers from all over the state.
“The seminar aims to strengthen the faith among Muslims and should not be politicised by anyone with allegations that the seminar is a threat to other religious,” Maulizan, whose portfolio includes education, when contacted by Bernama.
He also chasitised PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim for claiming that the seminar was yet another attempt by Umno to frighten the Malay community into supporting them.
Title changed, content the same
Maulizan said that this allegation was unnecessary and reflected Anwar’s narrow mindedness.
Bernama also quotes an anonymous Johor Mufti Department official who said the new title does not refer to any group or religion.
“Activities (that promote) liberalism and pluralism can also lead Muslims into apostasy,” said the source.
The source added that the title of the seminar was modified for technical reasons but the content will remain the same.
“This seminar is among the rights of Muslims to defend their faith from any activity that can lead to apostasy. This is our responsibility,” said the source.
The source hoped that religious teachers involved in the seminar would be able to advise their pupils to distance themselves from activities which can lead to apostasy.
3. The Jakarta Globe (http://www.thejakartaglobe.com)
Seminar on Christian ‘Threat’ Sparks Outcry in Malaysia, 29 March 2012
by Lester Kong - Straits Times
Kuala Lumpur. More than 100 Islamic studies teachers in Johor have been ordered to attend a seminar on the “threat” of Christian proselytizing, sparking yet another controversy involving religion in multi-religious Malaysia.
The teachers, from 55 government schools in Johor, have been told to attend the one-day seminar this Saturday, jointly organized by the state education department and the Johor mufti department.
It is illegal in Malaysia to try to convert Muslims to another religion. Muslim leaders said the government of Muslim-majority Malaysia has a duty to defend the religion while Christian leaders called the seminar inflammatory.
“The problem of Christianisation has been around for a long while, it is real,” Datuk Sheikh Abdul Halim Abdul Kadir, president of the Malaysian Ulama Association, told news Web site The Malaysian Insider. “You need to educate teachers, especially the young ones who are unaware of this problem.”
Christian leaders meanwhile decried the seminar. “It is highly insensitive to be held in such a public domain and having the sponsorship of a government agency,” said Herman Shastri, secretary of the Council of Churches Malaysia. “The government should put a stop to this.”
Herman said Christian churches do not condone preaching to Muslims but could not rule out that some isolated fundamentalist groups might attempt it.
Datuk Azman Amin Hassan, head of a Cabinet committee promoting inter-religious understanding, also slammed the seminar as counterproductive to federal efforts to improve religious tolerance.
“I will instruct my officers to look into it and the content of the seminar. We just launched the inter-faith harmony week in schools. This is not in line at all,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
The seminar comes after allegations elsewhere around the country that Christians are preaching to Muslims. Last August, the Selangor Islamic authorities raided a church in Petaling Jaya to investigate allegations that Christians were converting Muslims covertly at a fund-raising dinner.
Since October, a Muslim non-governmental organization called Himpun has organized four rallies, attracting thousands, to protest against proselytizing to Muslims.
Professor Shaharuddin Badaruddin, political science lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara, said the government needs to contain such inter-religious flare-ups which usually happen close to elections, when religious hardliners try to pressure a government eager to please Muslim voters.
“Most important is to promote civilisational dialogue, rather than take the confrontational approach to resolving inter-religious issues,” he said. “These issues are normal but needs to be contained to follow the 1Malaysia concept” by Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times.
4. Gulf Times (http://www.gulf-times.com)
Govt ‘Christian threat’ seminar stirs tension
DPA/Kuala Lumpur
A government-organised seminar for Islamic studies teachers at the weekend that focuses on Christian proselytising has sparked outrage among Malaysia’s minority Christians, deepening religious tension in the multi-racial country.
“How can the government agree to something which will affect different sensitivities?” the Council of Churches of Malaysia secretary-general Reverend Hermen Shastri told news website the Malaysian Insider. “It’s highly inflammatory, uncalled for. Someone must be held responsible.”
The seminar was originally titled: “Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the Threat of Christianity towards Muslims: What is the Role of Teachers?”
It was co-organised by the education department in the southern state of Johor and the state religious department. More than 300 teachers of Islamic studies are due to attend.
The head of the Catholic Church in the diocese of Malacca and Johor states, Bishop Paul Tan, weighed in as well.
“The way the theme of the seminar is phrased, it would take a lecturer of the most delicate detachment to avoid stirring paranoia and resentment towards Christians,” he said.
Proselytising is a crime in Malaysia where over 60% of the country’s population of 28mn are Muslims. Christians account for less than 10%.
Despite the criticism of the seminar, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, Jamil Khir Baharom, defended it, saying that it was “to safeguard the interests of Muslims. It is within the purview and jurisdiction of each state”.
The organisers amended the title of the seminar to “Liberalism, Pluralism and Apostasy: What is the Role of Teachers in Defending the Faith?” the official news agency Bernama reported yesterday.
The topics for discussion remain the same although the name has changed, Bernama quoted the organiser as saying.
・All Rights Reserved for Gulf-Times.com © 2011- 2012.
5. Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
(1)‘Christian threat’ seminar organisers drop provocative title, 29 March 2012
The seminar was the latest in a series of run-ins between Christians and Muslims since the 2009 “Allah” court ruling. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — The organisers of a criticised seminar on “the threat of Christianisation” for Johor religious schoolteachers have amended the event’s theme following outrage from the non-Muslim community, Bernama Online reported today.
The seminar, initially themed “Pemantapan Aqidah, Bahaya Liberalisme dan Pluralism Serta Ancaman Kristianisasi Terhadap Umat Islam. Apa Peranan Guru?” (Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the Threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the Role of Teachers?), will now omit specific mention of the “Christian threat”.
“The seminar aims to strengthen the faith of Muslims and it does not need to be politicised by any party that claims it (seminar) is a threat to other religions,” Datuk Maulizan Bujang, the state executive councillor for education, was quoted by Bernama Online.
But Johor Mufti Department officials have said that while the title of the seminar will be changed, the contents and structure will remain unaltered.
“The seminar is part of the right of Muslims to defend the faith of its practitioners from any action which may lead to apostasy. It is our responsibility,” Bernama Online cited an unnamed official as saying.
News of the seminar’s theme earlier this week drew swift condemnation from non-Muslims, who expressed shock and dismay over the characterisation of Christians in the title.
Chrisanne Chin, Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) Youth Moderator, yesterday asked “why is there a perceived threat? Do they have to create this sense of fear?”
The Cabinet’s interfaith panel head Datuk Azman Amin Hassan said the “provocatively-titled” seminar flies in the face of the government’s school-level interfaith harmony week launched last month by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He added that while “it is fine to improve your faith”, such seminars “will cause the [non-Muslim] community to feel uncomfortable.”
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) also demanded the government explain why official sanction was given to the “highly inflammatory” seminar.
Muslim groups, however, have insisted the seminar is necessary to beat back the alleged threat of proselytism, which they repeatedly profess to be real despite the absence of firm evidence.
The Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam (PEMBELA) today insisted the seminar and its theme were part of Muslim rights that were “enshrined in the Federal Constitution”.
Malay rights group Perkasa previously said it would consider the seminar’s organisers “cowardly Muslims” if they gave in to pressure to amend the provocative title.
Christians form 9.2 per cent of Malaysia’s 28.3 million-strong population.
In recent years, the Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim God.
Christians, however, have argued that “Allah” is an Arabic word that has been used by those of other religious beliefs, including the Jews, in reference to God in many other parts of the world, notably in Arab nations and Indonesia.
Conservative Muslim groups have also accused Christians of attempting to convert Malays, resulting in heightened tension between followers of the two religions.
(2) When a religion is labelled ‘a threat’, 29 March 2012
by Galvin Wong
MARCH 29 — News in Malaysia always has this habit of shocking you. Think NFC scandal, Nurul Nadirah or Wee Ka Siong nearly being assaulted. Yesterday’s news was no different. Imagine my horror when I woke up to read about the government sanctioning a seminar that publicly labelled Christianity “a threat” to Muslims.
Malaysia is a free and democratic country. The very basis of a democracy is that all peoples in Malaysia possess freedoms and rights. This includes freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and one of the most important — freedom of religion. In Malaysia, as we all know, this freedom is not extended to Muslims. For non-Muslims, freedom of religion entails not only the choice of being able to choose one’s religion. It is also means that one should not be condemned or prejudiced in any way because of one’s choice.
Where is the government’s role in all of this? The fact that such a freedom is included in Article 11 of the constitution and it is the government’s role to uphold the constitution would mean that it is the government’s role to protect the freedom of religion in Malaysia. This means enacting laws that allow a person to openly choose a religion and also laws that justifiably punish a person who condemns religions and people who practise a religion dissimilar to theirs.
Labelling a religion a threat essentially condemns the religion and those practising the religion. By using such a term to describe Christianity’s relationship with Islam, it creates the image of Christianity being the enemy trying to convert Muslims not only to those who hold true to the Islamic faith but to people of other faiths as well.
Such a provocative and condemning title used by a statewide meeting of teachers goes against the government’s role and everything our country is founded upon. Heck, it goes against everything our people in Malaysia believe it. We are a peaceful society, built on tolerance, peace and love. I believe that animosity between two major religions is the last thing we want. What is even more damning for the government is that they did not merely allow such a term to be used for the conference. They actually coined the title. It is the Johor Education Department that co-organised the event after all!
I would also want very much to address is the direction of religious education in Johor, if not the entire country. The purpose of education is to form the mindsets and thought processes of young minds. This does not mean feeding information and more information blindly to our students. But, teaching our youth how to think independently, question and how to form one’s own opinions. In teaching young minds how to evaluate issues, a teacher has to be as objective as possible. This entails presenting arguments for and against Islam and other religions and allowing the students to decide for themselves. After all, what is religion if it is forced upon you.
Granted, it is arguable that one can never be completely objective. But if the Education Department is organising events that label Christianity a threat, the teachers are going to head back to their respective schools and deliver one-sided anti-Christian rhetoric that will lead to overwhelming negative sentiment among our young minds.
Consider this, if such titles and talks are going to be held on a nationwide scale, what will happen to the relationship between the Muslims and the Christians and other members of other religions? As has been said, slowly but surely fear of conversion will lead to distance and suspicion. Suspicion will lead to the lack of unity and fragmentation of the society. This statement might be labelled as alarmist but there is a real danger of it occurring if Christianity or any other religion is continually called “a threat”.
Malaysia already has a problem with unity among races. We do not need another problem involving religion to sow further discord and suspicion. The 1 Malaysia campaign is a campaign aimed at unifying the peoples of Malaysia. Such an incident is counter-productive to whatever Prime Minister Najib has spoken for. The prime minister must take the lead in displaying that he is truly serious in promoting not only racial, but religious tolerance as well. This has to stop now.
・Galvin Wong reads The Malaysian Insider.
・This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
(3) Anwar an insult to Muslims, say Islamist groups, 29 March 2012
by Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
Anwar said those claiming of organised proselytism by Christians should provide proof instead of resorting to scare-mongering. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — Right-wing Muslim groups today accused Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of pandering to the interests of “the enemies of Islam”, calling him an insult to all followers of the religion.
Representatives of several Muslim groups told reporters today that they took exception to Anwar’s remarks against a seminar on “the threat of Christianisation”, saying it was a direct provocation towards Muslims in the country.
“Anwar has always been consistent against efforts to preserve Islam... this issue is done for political mileage.
“His (Anwar’s) remarks are anti-aqidah, an insult to Islam and a betrayal to all efforts to strengthen and promote Islamic activities and events,” said Ismail Mina Ahmad, president of Islamist group Muafakat, at a news conference here.
Also present was Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam (PEMBELA) secretary-general Abdul Karim Omar, who said some 20 other Muslim groups supported his group and Muafakat’s stand.
“Why are Muslims against their own kind? If you want to be liberal, be liberal on your own, don’t drag other people along.
“It’s like if you want to jump off a building, why are you dragging other people with you?” said Ismail.
Asked if the groups felt that the threat of Christianisation was real, Ismail said that it was a “serious problem.”
“If you look at Buddhists, Indians, they are not aggressive, not like Christians.
“Especially Zionist Christians, they provoke Muslims with their evangelical ways,” Ismail claimed.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have demanded Putrajaya explain this weekend’s “anti-Christianisation” seminar in Johor, saying the event was a dangerous move that could add further tension to the country’s religious ties.
“What I can confirm is that this is nothing other than a disgusting political manoeuvre to use religion to frighten the people,” Anwar said.
The opposition leader was quick to link the matter to Umno, saying it was often leaders from the country’s ruling party who had a penchant for using religion to capture Malay support.
Anwar added that if the alleged threat of Christianisation is real, those claiming to know of such incidences should furnish proof instead of instigating fear and anger among Muslims.
Religious teachers from national schools in Johor will attend an officially-sanctioned seminar this Saturday focussing on the “threat of Christianisation”, which has sparked outrage among Christians.
Organised by the Johor Education and Mufti departments, the seminar is themed “Pemantapan Aqidah, Bahaya Liberalisme dan Pluralism Serta Ancaman Kristianisasi Terhadap Umat Islam. Apa Peranan Guru?” (Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the Threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the Role of Teachers?).
Christians form 9.2 per cent of Malaysia’s 28.3 million population.
In recent years, the Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug of war over the word “Allah”, with Muslims arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim God.
Christians have argued that “Allah” is an Arabic word that has been used by those of other religious beliefs, including the Jews, in reference to God in many other parts of the world, notably in Arab nations and Indonesia.
Conservative Muslim groups have also accused Christians of attempting to convert Malays, resulting in heightened tension between followers of the two religions.
(End)
