This case in Malaysia indicates that contemporary Muslims imitate previous Christian missions in Muslim lands. (Lily)
1. Malaysian Insider(http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
Don’t accept free copies of translated Quran, says interfaith council, 9 February 2015
The national interfaith council today advised non-Muslims to reject translated copies of the Quran aimed at “lessening misconceptions and alleviating the fear of Islam among non-Muslims.”
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) was referring to a project organised by the Islamic Information and Services Foundation under which one million copies of the Quran will be produced and translated into Tamil, Chinese, English and Malay to be distributed to the public.
The statement said the project’s patron is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“The reason and example advanced by Tun Dr Mahathir on the need to distribute the translated version of the Quran to non-Muslims specifically does not make sense,” it said in a statement today.
It said Dr Mahathir further gave an example of “the verse that allowed Muslims to kill non-Muslims only touched on one event in the history of Islam. It does not mean we are told to kill other people”.
“It is Muslims who are indulging in killing and condemnation of other religions and religionist. Therefore, the need is for Muslims to be educated on the true teachings of Islam and not non-Muslims,” the statement said.
The statement said the actual intention appeared to be to propagate the Islamic faith to the non-Muslims under the guise of removing misconceptions of Islam.
“The first objection to this is that the intended distribution of the translated Quran to non-Muslims is being done in bad faith as the main reason given to remove misconceptions does not hold water as the misconception is with the Muslims and not the non-Muslims.
“Muslims vehemently object to any exposure of non-Muslim religions to them. They rely on Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution which allows the state to restrict or control the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam,” it said.
The council said Article 11(4) was supposed to be used as a shield by the Muslims and it could not be used as a sword to oppress others or to propagate their faith to non-Muslims.
“The maxim ‘do onto others what you would have them do unto you’ is apt. Nothing in Article 11(4) authorises Muslims to propagate their faith to the non-Muslims,” it said.
However, it said Article 11(1) gave every person the right to profess and practise his religion. “Therefore he (non-Muslim) has every right to reject the propagation of other faiths to him,” it said.
The MCCBCHST said it was of the view that the intended distribution of the translated copies of the Quran to non-Muslims was obnoxious as similar rights were not given to non-Muslims.
“The Quran being a holy book should not be distributed freely as there may not be proper respect shown to it. Some Muslims may think that the possession by non-Muslims of the translated copies of the Quran is blasphemous. What happens if the translated copies have words which have been forbidden for use by non-Muslims by the various state enactments?” it asked
The MCCBCHST advised non-Muslims not to accept the translated copies of the Quran and said non-Muslims had every right to protect their religion and to alert their children and members of their family of the advances made by the Islamic Information and Services Foundation.
“Non-Muslims have every right to practise their religion in peace and harmony as provided for in Article 3(1) of our Federal Constitution,” it said.
2.Malay Mail Online(http://www.themalaymailonline.com)
(1)Interfaith group cries foul over free Quran, advises non-Muslims against accepting , 9 February 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — An interfaith group today accused a project to distribute one million copies of the Quran of being a concerted effort to persuade non-Muslims to abandon their faith, and urged non-Muslims not to accept the translation of the Islamic holy text.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) also dismissed the project’s purported objective to remove misconceptions of Islam, and labelled it a disguised propagation of Islam and in “bad faith”.
“MCCBCHST is of the view that the intended distribution of the translated copies of the Quran to non-Muslims is obnoxious as a similar right is not given to non-Muslims,” the group said in a statement.
The group further said the Quran should not be distributed so freely as the copies might be disrespected, and some Muslims might find it blasphemous to see non-Muslims owning those translated copies of Quran.
“MCCBCHST therefore, advise Non-Muslims not to accept the translated copies of the Quran.
The Non-Muslims have every right to protect their religion and to alert their children and members of their family of the advances made by Islamic Information and Services Foundation,” it said. It also warned Muslims that propagation of religion by inducements or other pretexts may amount to an offence under Section 298A of the Penal Code.
On January 9, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad reportedly launched a project called “One Soul, One Quran”, organised by the Islamic Information and Services Foundation.
Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying that the one million copies of translations in Tamil, Chinese, English and Malay languages will be for public distribution, in order to combat allegedly misleading interpretations of Islam as a “cruel religion”.
MCCBCHST slammed the reasoning given by Dr Mahathir as nonsensical and misdirected, as non-Muslims have not carried out any acts of terrorism in the name of Islam and, therefore, are not confused.
“It is Muslims who are indulging in killing and condemnation of other religions and religionist.
Therefore, the need is for Muslims to be educated on the true teachings of Islam and not the non-Muslims,” said the group.
The group also listed down several instances of efforts to convert non-Muslims, including the involvements of evangelical groups such as Hidayah Centre Foundation (HCF) and Multiracial Reverted Muslims (MRM), and federal and state religious authorities.
Racial and religious tensions have simmered for the past few years as Muslim groups accuse Christians of trying to convert Muslims with their insistence on referring to God as “Allah”, while Christian groups complain of Bumiputera Christians in Sabah being duped into embracing Islam.
Proselytisation of non-Islamic religions to Muslims is an offence in Malaysia, but not vice versa.
(2)Minister, Jakim silent over non-Muslim interfaith group’s questions on free Quran , 10 February 2015
by Zurairi AR
PUTRAJAYA, Feb 10 — Despite its involvement, Malaysia’s federal Islamic authority refused today to comment on a project to distribute one million free copies of the Quran that an interfaith group claims is a concerted attempt to persuade non-Muslims to abandon their religions.
While the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) claimed ignorance of the “One Soul, One Quran” project organised by the Islamic Information and Services Foundation, its de facto minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom refused to comment on the issue.
“I will talk about it later,” the minister in charge of religious affairs told reporters here, before rushing off after the launch of the Malaysian Shariah Index.
“I have no information about it. Otherwise, I would know,” Jakim’s director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha added in a brief interview later.
Malay daily Utusan Malaysia reported on January 8 that the project launched by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had involved the cooperation of Jakim and Jabatan Kemajuan Agama Islam Malaysia (Jakim) dan Islamic Charity Organisation of Malaysia (Perkim).
Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying that the one million copies of translations in Tamil, Chinese, English and Malay languages will be distributed to the public, in order to combat allegedly misleading interpretations of Islam as a “cruel religion”.
Yesterday, an interfaith group accused a project to distribute one million copies of the Quran of being a concerted effort to persuade non-Muslims to abandon their faith, and urged non-Muslims not to accept the translation of the Islamic holy text.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) also dismissed the project’s purported objective to remove misconceptions of Islam, and labelled it a disguised propagation of Islam and in “bad faith”.
Racial and religious tensions have simmered for the past few years as Muslim groups accuse Christians of trying to convert Muslims with their insistence on referring to God as “Allah”, while Christian groups complain that indigenous members of their churches in Sabah being duped into embracing Islam.
Proselytisation of non-Islamic religions to Muslims is an offence in Malaysia, but not vice versa.
(End)
