Jais Raid: What Were the Muslims Doing in Church?
They also found the Malay version of the Bible which is deemed illegal in Peninsular Malaysia. On top of that, were also claims that the Muslims who were present at the dinner had denied that they are Muslims and that the church did not have a valid license to operate. But the main thing is Jais is yet to produce any credible evidence to support the raid.
In the book ‘Prophet Muhammad’ written by Kais al Kalby, a particular chapter mentioned an incident where the second Khalifa, Umar al Khattab reached Jerusalem and he was offered to perform his prayers in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Umar then kindly declined the offer, on the basis that some overzealous Muslim in the future might destroy the Church and build a Mosque in his honor. The priest then bowed down before him for his gesture of good will, but Umar told him not to do so for according to him, all human beings are alike. The respect and good will showed by Sayyidina Umar proved that there is nothing wrong for a Muslim to enter a church. So what’s the real story behind the Jais raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC)?
PAS Secretary General, Datuk Mustafa Ali had claimed that Selangor Umno was behind the Aug 3 raid by Jais. And, in return, Selangor Umno is filing a RM10 million lawsuit against Mustafa for his allegations. Meanwhile, another PAS leader, Selangor State Executive Councilor, Datuk Hassan Ali had issued a public statement defending Jais’ act. Prior to that, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had responded almost immediately after the church raid by expressing his regret over Jais’ actions against DUMC. He gave his assurance that the state government fully respects freedom of religion and rights of religious groups to manage their affairs and that “the state is always open to engagement and dialogue regarding the harmonious and mutually respectful coexistence of different religious communities”.
Again, I would like to ask my earlier question which is what actually happened on that fateful evening on Aug 3? Jais claimed to be acting in response to a complaint and yet they failed to produce the alleged complaint letter. They claimed that there was evidence that showed the dinner event, at which 12 Muslims were present, was intended to proselytize and convert these Muslims.
Jais made many claims. They produced a scanned picture of a quiz on Islam and took offense that words like “Allahu Akbar” and “Alhamdullilah” that were used in a quiz during the church’s program. They also found the Malay version of the Bible which is deemed illegal in Peninsular Malaysia. On top of that, were also claims that the Muslims who were present at the dinner had denied that they are Muslims and that the church did not have a valid license to operate. But the main thing is Jais is yet to produce any credible evidence to support the raid.
Now there are also claims that PAS was the actual target of the church raid. As much as the Chinese voters are leaning more towards DAP rather than MCA, there is a huge possibility that Umno might lose a lot of the Malay votes to PAS. And this is the best opportunity to smear PAS’ reputation. If PAS goes against Jais they will be made to look like betraying the Muslims in this country and Hasan Ali as a senior member of the party is personally supporting the raid. To make matters worse PAS Youth had issued a statement agreeing with Hasan’s stand; However, PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar, when asked to comment on the matter the next day, said he was oblivious to the opposing stand taken by the party’s youth wing.
Now let’s go back to Mustafa Ali who has insisted he will not apologize and would rather meet Selangor Umno in court. The PAS leader also reiterated that he has proof Umno was behind the raid. According to Mustafa, normally, the Selangor Menteri Besar, the state Exco and Jais director would be responsible for the department’s actions but all three were only informed after the raid was conducted. He continues by claiming that the aim of the raid is to destabilize the Selangor government and create disunity among the Pakatan Rakyat component parties.
Two days ago the Khalid announced that the Sultan has agreed to form a special syura council to resolve the controversy, which would take matter out of Jais’ hands and into more neutral ground. This and the statements from the 12 Muslims who attended the event will hopefully shed some light into what actually took place during that fateful event.
It is a sad fact if once again religion is being exploited by politicians to gain political power. It is even sadder if everything that had happened are related to these two sacred words – the “General Election”. I’m sure that our FAITH is worth a lot more than that.
