‘Why can only Islam proselytise?’
Why should Islam in Malaysia prohibit proselytisation but enjoy ‘special privilege’ to convert those of other religions? asks priest.
Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT
The Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) has questioned Malaysia Islam’s “special privilege” to proselytise those of other faiths while maintaining its strict “no conversion of Muslims” policy.
“Why should one religion prohibit proselytising but enjoy special privilege to proseletise everybody else?” CCM vice-president Herman Shastri questioned during the forum ‘Freedom of Religions in Malaysia’ last night.
“Any Muslim anywhere in the world can take any scripture from any religion and read for himself or herself, and if convinced there is truth to it, he or she can adopt it. This is something that is accepted universally,” he added.
Referring to the ongoing “Allah” issue, Herman pointed out that many other countries use bibles containing the Arabic word for God without problem or dispute.
“So the argument (Allah only for Muslims) will not hold,” he lamented.
“The argument that Christians are using it to proselytise Muslims is also not substantiated. They have not shown us any proof,” he added.
Herman describe the country as being “in a mess” with politicians invoking the name of religion to “make the mess even messier”.
“One of the ways of dealing with interfaith matters is to engage in dialogue. That is why the Christian community is committed and place this priority above everything else,” he said.
“However, it is of great difficulty here when they continue to accuse Christians of proselytisation and use laws to control and instill fear in the people,” he lamented.
“There is no way discourse can go on if Muslims themselves are proselytising others,” he added.
Herman then said the solution to the dispute would be for both Muslims and Christians to publicly deny the act of proselytising those of other faiths.
“The solution is for Muslims and Christians to declare ‘we don’t proselitise each other’ and live in peace,” he said.
