Christian group to member churches: Deny entry to Islamic authorities
(MM) – The country’s umbrella body for evangelical churches issued an advisory last night to leaders of its member churches to deny entry to any state Islamic authority attempting to raid or enter a church or premises of a Christian organisation.
The unprecedented advisory was made to nearly 2,500 evangelical churches after the Selanor Islamic authority (Jais) on Thursday seized 321 Bibles from a Christian group because they used the word Allah to refer to God.
Lawyers have called the raid unconstitutional as state Islamic enactments do not cover non-Muslims unless there is evidence of attempts to propagate to Muslims, while critics and observers have said the raid signals growing intolerance that has already inflamed ethnic and religious tension.
Eugene Yapp the secretary-general of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) representing mainly churches not affiliated with the established Catholic and Protestant churches, said Muslim religious authorities had no jurisdiction with respect to non-Muslims.
“Christians therefore have the right to deny entry to any religious department officer who requests entry into a meeting at a house, church premise, or any private property used for Christian worship and activities.
“Should Jais officers or any religious officers accompanied by the police insist on entering your premises, non-Muslims must ensure their identification as authorized officers; and they produce a search warrant before obliging entry into your premises for a search. The validity of their actions can subsequently be challenged through legal recourse,” said Yapp in the advisory.
