Council of Churches Press Statement

MAJLISGEREJA-GEREJAMALAYSIA

COUNCIL OF CHURCHES OF MALAYSIA


26 JalanUniversity, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan,Malaysia

Tel: 03-79608926 Fax:03-79560353 E-Mail:cchurchm@streamyx.com


"United to build and to be a Blessing"



PRESS STATEMENT

CONFISCATING OF CHRISTIAN LITERATURE

The Council of Churches strongly deplores the action of the state enforcement officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department under the Internal Security Ministry who recently confiscated English language Christian children's books said to contain offensive caricatures of prophets from several bookshops in three states; Johor Baru, Negeri Sembilan and Perak.

Such officials have no right and have overstepped their bounds by confiscating Christian literature.

It has been stated that illustrations of prophets depicted in the children's books are offensive to the sensitivities of Muslims.

In the first place, the Christian children's books are not meant for Muslims, so how can it be offensive to them?

Second, the illustrations contained in whatever form in such books depict biblical characters of spiritual significance for Christians.

By such an action the officials have offended the sensitivities of Christians because their publications and depictions of their biblical personalities have now become targets of unscrupulous Muslim officials bent on curtailing religious freedom in the country.

The Council of Churches strongly urges the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to take immediate action to put a stop to such actions by the said Ministry.

If such actions continue, it will undermine democracy and tarnish the good relations between the different religious communities in the country.

Immediate steps should be taken to amend administrative rules and regulations especially in the Internal Security Ministry that give a freehand to enforcement officials to act at their whim and fancies.




(signed)

Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri,

General Secretary

Council of Churches of Malaysia

17th January 2008.

A Good Lesson

The following news article is an outrageously true one extracted from Arab News. I call it a good lesson, especially for those who would believe living in a state like that of Wahabi Saudi Arabia is what Malaysians want.

Nigerian Lands in Jail for Helping 60-Year-Old Woman in Riyadh

A new convert to Islam, fired with zeal to do a righteous act, had no idea that he would pay a heavy price for helping a sick woman, one that has landed him 50 days and counting behind bars.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice found him guilty for committing a crime: Being in the presence of a woman who is not a relative (a so-called “illegal state of seclusion”).

Arab News tried several times to contact Ahmed Al-Jardan, spokesman for the commission, but phone calls were not returned. A written fax sent to the commission’s main center asking for comment was also ignored.

Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, a Nigerian student of Islamic studies at Badiya Islamic Center in Riyadh, learned that his neighbor, a 63-year-old woman, was indisposed and needed medical attention. So he took her to various hospitals in Riyadh, including the Riyadh Medical Complex at Shumaisy, all of which refused to treat her. It was only after the intervention of Sheikh Fawaz, director of Badiya Islamic Center, that the Badiya Hospital admitted the case. Despite the charitable act Mohammed
ended up in detention, accused of immoral behavior because he was neither married nor related by blood to the elderly woman.

Speaking to Arab News on phone from his cell in the Malaz prison, Mohammed said that after the woman received treatment and after he returned to Riyadh after three days in the Western Region, he was arrested after checking up on the woman’s health. In the woman’s apartment were three other women related to her.

“I was glad to note that the lady was making steady progress,” he said. “While we were chatting, there was a knock on the door. When this lady opened the door, four or five Saudis, whom I had seen outside the building before, barged in. They accused me of being alone with the woman unrelated to me and suspected my intention behind this visit to her apartment.”

Mohammed said the Saudis identified themselves as members of the commission and took him and the three women into custody and later to Malaz prison.

[…]

But before Mohammad can go anywhere, he has to figure out why he is in prison and how to get out. Mohammed, who embraced Islam recently, said he was unable to understand the reason behind his continued detention.“I wanted to do a good thing for a woman who was sick, and this is what I get in return,” he said. “I lost the support of my family in Nigeria, where my wife and children are upset with me — and here I am languishing in prison.”

If you're not convinced this is a true story, do go to Arab News, the leading English Arab paper in the Middle East here.
Click "Nigerian Lands in Jail"