AVOID MUSLIM MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA: ‘CHRISTIANS ARE ENEMIES OF ISLAM’
by Jules Gomes
ChurchMilitant.com
May 5, 2021
SELANGOR, Malaysia (ChurchMilitant.com) - A malicious book
accusing Christians of a grand conspiracy to undermine Islam has gone viral in
Malaysia, even as fresh allegations are being brought against Kuala Lumpur's
archbishop for spewing anti-Muslim propaganda.
The Islamic book, Pendedahan
Agenda Kristian (Exposing the Christian Agenda), labels the
"Nasrani" (Christians) as "enemies of Islam who are always
malicious and display a negative attitude towards Muslims," and who
"will try their best to cause heartache among Muslims."
Church Militant obtained a copy of the
130-page book from the official portal of the Selangor Islamic Religious
Council (SIRC), which has a gov.my internet address — linking it to the
government of Malaysia.
First published in hardback in 2014 and now
made available in digital format in the Malay language, the publication accuses
Catholics and evangelicals of adopting missionary schools and
"contextualization" as a conversion strategy, especially by using the
term "Allah" in the Malay-language Bible.
Ironically, the accusations come in the light
of Pope Francis' categorical rejection of efforts to convert people of other
religions and in the wake of the pontiff's Abu Dhabi
Catholic-Muslim concordat with Sunni Grand Imam of al-Azhar
Ahmed al-Tayyeb in 2019.
Finns held in Muslim Malaysia over
'Christian pamphlets'
21
Nov 2018
News Asia
KUALA LUMPUR: Four Finns have been arrested on a holiday island in Muslim-majority
Malaysia for allegedly distributing pamphlets about Christianity, police said
Wednesday (Nov 21), and may face up to five years in jail.
Religion is a deeply sensitive issue in Malaysia, where more than 60 per cent
of the populaton is Muslim, and critics say rising
conservatism has chipped away at a traditionally tolerant brand of Islam in
recent years.
Authorities detained the two men and two women on Tuesday after receiving
complaints from members of the public that they were handing out Christian
materials on the popular resort island of Langkawi, said local police chief
Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim.
"Police have arrested four Finnish nationals in Langkawi for allegedly
distributing religious material in a public place," he told AFP.
"They were distributing pamphlets related to Christianity."
The Finns, aged between 27 and 60, were arrested at a hotel
and police seized pens, notebooks and a bag.
They are accused of breaking laws that forbid people from disturbing religious
harmony. If found guilty, they could be jailed for between two and five years.
The suspects have been remanded in custody while police investigate.
Langkawi, a jungle-clad island in northwest Malaysia, attracts millions of
tourists to its palm-fringed beaches every year.
Malaysia, home to about 32 million people, has sizeable ethnic Chinese and
Indian communities who have long complained about rising Islamisation.
In 2010, three churches were attacked with firebombs, causing major damage to
one, as Muslims sought to prevent Christians from using the word
"Allah".
Issues related to race, religion and language are considered sensitive in
Malaysia, which witnessed deadly riots between members of the majority Malay
community and ethnic Chinese in 1969.
Caning process of lesbians misunderstood, says Terengganu exco
Faiz Zainudin
September 4, 2018
FMT News
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia: The Terengganu government today defended the state
Shariah High Court’s decision to hold a public caning of two women for lesbian
sex, saying critics should not make assumptions without witnessing the form and
method of carrying out the sentence.
Satiful Bahari Mamat, the state executive councillor
for shariah implementation, education and higher studies, said the caning was
different from the harsher whipping imposed by civil courts.
“The critics may not have understood or witnessed the punishment but made an
assumption based on civil laws which provide for harsher penalties.
“That is why caning under civil laws is done in prison and on the bare
buttocks.
“However, under shariah laws, the offender is caned while seated and with the aurat covered, and the caning is done lightly because the
objective is to educate,” he told FMT.
The two women, aged 22 and 32, pleaded guilty to attempting to have same-sex
relations and were caned six times each at the Shariah High Court in Kuala
Terengganu on Monday, watched by about 100 people.
It was the first time that such caning was carried out in the state.
The punishment has been widely condemned by legal and human rights organisations and politicians including Rembau
MP Khairy Jamaluddin.
Islamic Renaissance Front director Ahmad Farouk Musa described the caning as
inhumane and a form of humiliation, adding that the country was “regressing to
the Middle Ages”.
“Although it happened in a state not governed by the Pakatan
Harapan federal government, such degrading laws should not be allowed in this
country,” he said, referring to PAS-ruled Terengganu.
Satiful called Farouk’s criticism contempt of court.
“What was decided by the judge was based on existing laws. It is a decision of
the court and everyone should be able to differentiate between the powers of
the government and the courts,” he said.
He pointed out that there was a similar case which involved Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor in Pahang, except
that the caning penalty was not carried out.
Satiful also said many people were confused about the
punishment which was only carried out after the offenders admitted guilt and
agreed to be punished.
“The offenders in this case were given time to file an appeal but they chose
not to do it. In Islam, opportunity is given to the offenders to repent, to
defend themselves and they are punished only after they admit guilt,” he said.
Referring to comments by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mujahid
Yusof Rawa that the presence of outsiders during the
caning in Terengganu needed to be looked into, Satiful
said the process was in line with provisions in the Quran.
He said the Quran stated that punishment should be carried out in public for
the purpose of educating them.
Thousands rally in Malaysia to back Islamic penal code bill
Feb
21, 2017
Reuters
Tens of thousands of Malaysians rallied in the capital on Saturday to support
the adoption of a strict Islamic penal code, a proposal religious minorities
fear could infringe their rights.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has thrown his weight behind the contentious bill,
which seeks to incorporate parts of the Islamic penal code, or
"hudud", into Malaysia's existing Islamic legal system.
Najib, who is currently embroiled in a corruption scandal, is hoping to burnish
his Islamic credentials in order to boost his chances in national elections
that must be held by August 2018.
Critics of the bill warn that it could pave the way for full implementation of
hudud, which prescribes punishments such as amputations and stoning, and
disrupt the fabric of Malaysia's multi-cultural and multi-religious society.
"The so-called 'empowerment' of the Shariah Court will only exacerbate the
unequal treatment of Muslims and non-Muslims before the law," said Bebas, an NGO that organised a
smaller counter-rally.
No official figures were available on how many people attended Saturday's
peaceful support rally in Kuala Lumpur, but estimates were in the tens of
thousands.
Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, deputy president of the hardline Islamist opposition Parti Islam-se Malaysia (PAS), one of its organisers, said 100,000 people were expected to attend.
The PAS presented the bill in parliament last year but later withdrew it in
order to fine tune the legislation. It is now expected to be reintroduced in
the next parliamentary session, in March.
Najib, who has resisted calls to resign over a scandal at state fund 1Malaysia
Development Berhad (1MDB), where he was an adviser,
backed the bill despite the anger of members of his own United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) ruling coalition.
Lawsuits filed by the U.S. Justice Department in July last year said nearly
$700 million of the misappropriated funds from 1MDB flowed into the accounts of
"Malaysian Official 1", who U.S. and Malaysian officials have
identified as Najib.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing.
Presidents of three parties representing the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups
in Najib's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition
have threatened to quit their cabinet posts if the bill passes.
For decades, PAS has been pushing for Malaysia to adopt hudud in the
northeastern state of Kelantan that is governed by the party, arguing that it
is the responsibility of the country's Malay-Muslim majority to support Islamic
law.
Criminal cases are currently handled by federal law in Malaysia, where Malay
Muslims account for more than 60 percent of the 30 million population.
The Shariah courts come under the jurisdiction of each state and are limited to
family law covering issues such as divorce and inheritance.
Supporters of the legal reform said Saturday's rally also aimed to allay the
fears of minority groups.
Ismail Borhan, 33, an engineer who attended the
rally, said the objective of the bill was to allow commensurate action that can
act as a deterrent to wrongdoing.
"Those opposed to the bill have a lack of understanding and exposure (to
Islam), simply opposing for the sake of opposing," he said.
15
Suspected ISIS Members Planning Terror Attacks Have Been Arrested in Malaysia
Simon Lewis
March 24, 2016
TIME.COM
The sweep comes after bomb attacks in Brussels claimed by the extremist group
killed at least 31 people.
Malaysian authorities say they have foiled a plot involving at least 15 people,
including a police officer and an airplane technician, who were allegedly
attempting to obtain bombmaking materials and launch terrorist attacks in the
Southeast Asian country.
Citing a statement from police on Thursday night, the Associated Press reports
that 15 people suspected to be members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater
Syria (ISIS) were arrested over three days beginning on Tuesday, the day of
multiple bomb attacks in Brussels that have been claimed by the group.
Malaysia’s national police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said in the statement that
the suspects — ages between 22 and 49 — include a mosque cleric, a student, the
police officer and technician, and four women believed to be planning to travel
to Syria to join ISIS.
A Malaysian man fighting with the group in Syria had ordered those arrested
this week to carry out attacks on Malaysian soil, AP said.
Muslim-majority Malaysia is on high alert after attackers killed two civilians
in the center of neighboring Indonesia’s capital in January. Malaysia has
detained more than 160 people allegedly linked to ISIS in the past two years.
Malaysia
lost its tolerance
Stephanie
Sta Maria
FMT
News
May
19, 2012
Irshad Manji says that moderate Muslims in Malaysia are not only 'useless' but
that their 'silence and passivity' allow extremists to get away with violence
and intimidation.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Muslim moderates have two choices; either become
reformists and contribute to society, or remain as they are and fuel Malaysia’s
economic downturn.
So
went Canadian author, Irshad Manji’s, message to the religious figureheads of a
country that she said has lost its sense of openness, tolerance and pluralism.
The
liberal Muslim activist was in Malaysia to launch a Bahasa Malaysia translation
of her latest book “Allah, Liberty and Love” despite Putrajaya having banned
all her public events here.
Islamic
Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom
said earlier today that the Islamic Development Department (Jakim)
and the Home Ministry had forbade any events by the Ugandan-born writer due to
concerns that her ideology would have negative implications for Muslims here.
But
Irshad and her local publisher, ZI Publications, succesfully
pulled off the launch in KLSCAH where the 50-odd crowd were eager to hear her
views on Islam especially in Malaysia.
In
a brief interview after the book signing, Irshad told FMT that Malaysia’s
reputation as an “open, tolerant and pluralistic” country was long gone.
And
the reason for this, she believed, was because the moderate Muslims were in
fact not very moderate.
The
44-year old New York University (NYU) professor then
likened the Muslims in Malaysia to the Christians in America during the 1960s.
“When
(civil rights activist) Martin Luther King said that the Bible was being use to justify racism, the Christians told him to stop
creating tension,” she explained. “And he reminded them that tension already
existed if the Bible was being used for such purposes.”
“I
think the same message needed for Muslims today especially in Malaysia where
the word moderate seems to have this wonderful tone to it but the reality is
very different.”
‘Useless’
moderate Muslims
Irshad
said that the moderate Muslims in Malaysia were not only “useless” but that
their “silence and passivity” allowed extremists to get away with violence and
intimidation.
She
emphasised that the moderates should end their passivity
and start being of use to society and Islam which she equated to becoming
reformists.
If
they resisted this change, she warned, then Malaysia should brace itself for an
economic bust.
“The
thriving economy in this digital age requires a population that is able and
willing to think creatively and critically,” Irshad explained. “And as I
understand it, the education system in Malaysia is not so big on critical
thinking.”
“So this message is not just about faith. If Malaysians are
apathetic because they don’t want to rock the boat and lose their material
comforts then they need to understand that their children may not have those
same comforts if they have been raised in an education system that does not
encourage critical thinking.”
Irshad,
whose work is banned in most Arab countries, further urged Muslims to have more
faith in themselves.
“Many
Muslims think that they are practicing Islamic teachings by uttering Quranic
verses,” she said.
“And
then they allow their emotions to heighten and get defensive over a world event
that they perceive to be demeaning to them,” she added.
Malaysia
and the Myth of Islamic Tolerance
Posted
by Rich Trzupek on Jan 22nd, 2010
Frontpage.com
Malaysia
is often held up as the model of what a modern Muslim-majority nation can be.
The ruling class, the bumiputra
(literally “princes of the earth”) are largely, though not entirely, Muslim.
But when Malaysia’s High Court ruled in late
December to lift a government ban on non-Muslims using the word “Allah,”
Christian churches became the targets of fire-bombing attacks. This eruption of
violence suggests that there is trouble brewing just beneath the surface even
in this supposed paradise of Islamic moderation.
At last count,
eleven Christian churches and one Sikh temple have been attacked in Malaysia.
That makes twelve attacks against places of worship in half a month’s time.
What does it say about Islamic values when the impetus for these attacks was
the use of a particular word?
Everyone
agrees that the word “Allah” pre-dates the birth of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad. In Malaysia, as in most of the Muslim of the world, Allah simply
means God, the same God that, according to the Quran itself, both Christians
and Jews worship. Nonetheless, use of the word Allah among non-Muslims has long
been prohibited by law in Malaysia. A December 31 ruling by a Malaysian court
overturned that law, a move that upset many of the nation’s Muslims, who make
up about sixty per cent of the populace. They claim that non-Muslims will use
the word to corrupt Muslims into accepting infidel beliefs.
Once
again, we are presented with evidence of Islamic intolerance and insecurity. To
his credit, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd
Najib condemned the attacks,
which undermine both his “One Malaysia” policy and his re-election prospects.
But no matter how much tolerance the leader of this nation may preach, the
actions of his co-religionists speak much louder. Emboldened by an increasingly
aggressive, violent, world-wide Islamic resurgence over the last few decades,
this episode reveals what expatriates who have lived in Malaysia have long
claimed: that the supposed harmony of Malaysia is nothing but a glossy veneer
that barely covers up the inequities and prejudices of this society.
The
Malaysian constitution grants special privileges to
the bumiputra, or as they are called in the constitution, Malays.
Malays are defined as those citizens who profess the religion of Islam,
habitually speak the Malay language and conform to Malay customs. The
constitution directs the King of Malaysia (Malaysia is a constitutional
monarchy) to safeguard the special position of the Malays and to ensure that a
certain percentage of public services and scholarships and other similar educational
privileges are reserved by the federal government for the benefit of Malays.
The
bumiputra enjoy other advantages as well. A certain percentage of stock in
publicly-traded companies is reserved for the bumiputra. Traditionally, they
pay less for real estate than other Malaysian citizens. This is clearly a
separate and unequal society. Which is not to say that Malaysia is not governed
in a more liberal fashion than reactionary Muslim nations like Iran and Saudi
Arabia. Western clothing can be found on the streets of Kuala Lampur. Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, if less than
equal compared to their Muslim masters, are at least allowed to practice their
faith in relative peace.
Or
rather they were allowed to worship in relative peace. The government of
Malaysia has officially condemned the attacks, even as it tries to have the
troublesome court ruling that set off the firestorm reversed. Troops have been
dispatched to protect non-Islamic houses of worship, but it seems unlikely that
many of the 2.3 million Christians who live in Malaysia feel safe going to church.
Even
in this most mainstream of Muslim-ruled nations, supposed Islamic tolerance has
been once again shown to be a matter of style, not substance.
Malaysian Unequal rights
1. Malaysian Muslim men can take up to four wives, and have an automatic right
to divorce.
2. Under sharia, a woman must prove her case before a judge if their husband
objects.
3. Malaysian men can divorce their wives by saying "I divorce you"
three times to his wife. This can be done simply by a text message in Malaysia
but it needs to be agreed by a court.
4. Sharia law in one state is not
applicable in another - a divorced man can avoid paying child support by
moving.
5. There were 16,509 Muslim divorces in 2004, more than 5 times the 3291
divorces among the non-Muslims who make up 40% of the population.
I divorce you,
I divorce you, I divorce you
MALAYSIA: Divorce for men is easy under sharia-but women are fighting back
by Elleen Ng in Kuala Lumpur
Aida Melly Tan Abdullah was in marital wilderness for
seven years because her abusive husband refused to give her a divorce-despite
beating her and secretly taking a second wife.
She lost count of the number of times she was in and out of sharia court,
unable to convince judges she was the aggrieved party, the victim.
"I was in a state of limbo . . . It was mentally torturous," recalls
Aida, 39, mother of a l year-old daughter.
Aida's case is not unique. Although Malaysia has been hailed as one of the most
progressive Muslim nations, women activists say the country has an outdated
sharia system that discriminates against Muslim women in family and inheritance
matters and violates their constitutional liberties.
Moreover, women say, the situation is growing worse as religious authorities
become stricter and political parties increasingly compete for the votes of
conservative Muslims.
"Muslim women here are only going backward," Marina Mahathir, an
activist and daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, wrote in the
Star newspaper.
Aida said even her lawyer, a woman, failed to fight for her rights advising her
to return to her husband. In desperation, she studied Islamic laws to represent
herself in court. After a high-profile legal battle that attracted nationwide
attention, she finally walked out of sharia court a single woman in October
2002.
"Our sharia system needs to be reformed. Malaysia's Islamic family laws
are not reflective of principles in the Koran that promise justice for women
and children," Aida said.
Religion is part of public life in this Southeast Asian nation, where more than
half of its 26 million population are Muslims governed by sharia laws in
personal and matrimonial issues. Chinese, Indian and other minorities come
under civil laws.
Under Islamic laws, Muslim men can take up to four wives. Men have the
automatic right to divorce but women must prove their case before a judge if
their husband objects.
An amendment to Islamic family law making it easier for Muslim men to divorce
their wives yet take a greater share of the couple's property was put on hold
and sent for review after widespread protests. Critics said the amendment
promotes polygamy.
Activists say the bill in its present form goes against the vision of
progressive Islam espoused by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Already, divorces among Muslims are high: 16,509 in 2004, more than five times
the 3291 divorces that year among non-Muslims who make up around 40 per cent of
the population.
Sisters in Islam, a women's group
leading the campaign for sharia reforms, said the rights of Muslim women had
been gradually chiseled away through various amendments to the Islamic family
law since the l990s.
"Malaysia once had the most progressive family law in the Muslim world.
Now, countries like Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia are way ahead of us," said
its director Zainah Anwar.
"The religious belief of subservience to men is still dominant."
Anwar blamed growing religious conservatism and exploitation of faith for
political gains for the worsening legal status of Muslim women.
The latest family law amendment "seems to thumb a nose at the huge strides
and contributions women have made in this society by telling them that 'Hey, no
matter what you are, you are still under our control'," she said.
The Sisters in Islam group said its legal clinic for Muslim women deals with an
average of 700 sharia court cases each year, most of them divorce or child
support disputes.
Cases are often lengthy because there is no one single set of laws, experts
say. Religious matters come under state jurisdiction, leading to different
interpretation and enforcement of sharia in the country.
As such, errant men can circumvent the law because the ruling of sharia court
in one state is not applicable in another. For instance, a divorced man can
avoid paying child support by moving to another state.
Two states have archaic laws that give Muslim fathers the right to marry off a
daughter without her consent.
Malaysia is also one of few Islamic countries which allows Muslim men to make
divorce pronouncements outside of a court situation.
A Muslim man can annul a marriage by uttering "I divorce you" three
times to his wife.
In Malaysia, men can do so by sending mobile phone text messages, although the
divorce needs to be confirmed by the court.
One victim of such loopholes, a 46 year-old woman who
would identify herself only as Zainib, wary of using
her full identity for fear it would complicate her legal problems.
Despite being divorced for eight years, she says she is still seeking child
support for her five children after her ex-husband remarried and moved from the
central state of Selangor to eastern Terengganu.
"Why is it so easy for men to run away from their responsibilities while
the women and children suffer?"
By Ioannis
Gatsiounis
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 4, 2006
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia --
At a time of rage and intolerance throughout much of the Muslim world, Malaysia
stands out as a source of hope that Muslims and non-Muslims can live together
in a Muslim-majority nation.
The Southeast Asian nation, whose flag bears the Muslim crescent and moon, has
made considerable economic gains.
Its majority Muslim
population has coexisted peacefully with the 40 percent non-Muslim population,
mostly Chinese and Indian.
In addition, no major incident of violence has been committed in the name of
Islam on Malaysian soil.
It's no wonder Muslim and Western leaders hold Malaysia in high esteem.
The hat-tipping is set to continue when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi delivers
a keynote address at the sixth Asia-Europe Meeting in Finland next month.
The European Union wants Mr. Abdullah to share Malaysia's success in the areas
of race relations and interfaith issues.
If the past is any
indication, Mr. Abdullah will claim tolerance and unity as enduring traits of
the Malaysian people. He will swear by Islam Hadhari
(Civilizational Islam), a political and ideological interpretation of the faith
that stresses moderation and technological and economic competitiveness.
But back home a different reality is unfolding under Mr. Abdullah's watch, one
that raises questions about his commitment to Islam Hadhari
and may have far-reaching implications for what is known as a "model
Islamic democracy."
Hard-line Muslims have
grown irate in recent months over efforts to establish a commission to enhance
understanding among Malaysia's various faiths.
The latest protest was on July 22, when a private organization named Article 11
gathered in an upper-floor hotel ballroom in the state of Johor Bahru.
The organization wants the Malaysian government to guarantee equality and
freedom of worship as the supreme law of the land. About 300 Muslims scowled
from behind a police line at the hotel entrance, brandishing signs that said,
"Don't touch Muslim sensitivities," "Destroy anti-Muslims"
and "We are ready to sacrifice ourselves for Islam."
In May, hard-liners
threatening to storm an Article 11 venue brought the
forum to an abrupt end.
Mr. Abdullah has responded
to the tensions by cracking down -- not on the hard-liners, but on Article 11.
"Do not force the
government to take action," he warned the organization.
He accused Article 11 of playing up religious issues and threatening to shatter
Malaysia's fragile social balance by highlighting "sensitive" issues.
It is an article of faith in Malaysia that "sensitive" issues should
not be discussed openly.
Yet it is these same
issues -- race, religion and a longtime affirmative action program benefiting
the majority Malays -- that are dear to many Malaysian hearts.
The issues are discussed
passionately, albeit behind closed doors, within one's own racial community.
Mr. Abdullah has issued a stern warning to journalists to stop reporting on
issues related to religious matters.