Saudara,
I just read that recently you and a friend visited one of the churches that I belong to. I was surprised that you had to do it in disguise. You should have told the Catholic community there that you were coming and we would have given you a grand welcome.
Such was the experience of the MP for Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad from Pas, who was even given a standing ovation when he visited and had a dialogue with the parishioners of the Church of the Divine Mercy in Shah Alam last year.
Some time back I was attending a Mass (Catholic worship) in a Catholic church in Petaling Jaya and was very moved by the presence of a group of Muslim students together with their Muslim professor who had taken them there as part of their “exposure programme”. None of them were converted.
You see we are not an underground church nor do we function in a clandestine manner. Our hearts are on the holy and not on the hideous. We even pray for Najib the PM, though I feel we do not pray enough for the Opposition. We also pray for people like you who do more harm than good to the name of your religion of peace, tolerance and compassion.
Further, what takes place in Catholic churches is highlighted in our in-house newspaper which was quite unknown to the whole population and whose readers formed an insignificant number – until the Government decided to prevent it from using the word “Allah”. Alas, the Herald should thank the Government for making it so well-known today.
Religious Misfits
It is a pity that you have gone through so much trouble to “investigate” under guise what is going on in Catholic Churches or that “Muslim teenagers were being converted to Christianity in Kuala Lumpur’s churches every Sunday”. You should have gone directly to the Special Branch, which sends it officers to visit our churches occasionally. Surely they will be able to tell you that you would be
only wasting your time!
As for the information that Muslims are being driven in droves into Catholicism (which you have concluded to be “false” in your article) it has been a fallacious and stale rumour for quite some time, spread by those who have an obsession and paranoia or by the increasing number of lower echelon zealots or “Little Mullah Napoleons” running riot with their brand of religion.
In Feb. 2006, the Mufti of Perak, Haji Harussani Haji Zakaria, claimed that 250,000 Muslims (of which 100,000 were Malays) had apostatized themselves, while 100,000 more had submitted applications to do so. Of course he was unable to substantiate his claim because it was false.
In Nov. 2006, about 500 Muslims protested in front of the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Ipoh following a SMS wherein the same Mufti had disclosed that about 600 Muslim students of the Ungku Omar Polytechnic were to be baptized by national mariner Azhar Mansor!
The church was not converting Muslims but instead was holding the First Holy Communion Mass (one of the rites of initiation to the faith) for 98 Catholic children, many of whom were traumatised by the sight of a threatening mob. Imagine the very unfortunate impression the young Catholics would have got of Islam and of Muslims.
The mufti who had proven to be more of a misfit, was not man enough to own up. He blamed it on an SMS sent out by a woman! Why no action was taken against the mufti, and why the authorities remained mute (on both occasions) over his “mischief” remains but a mystery. You must have been motivated by the mufti.
If indeed the Catholic Church has the conversion of Muslims as its hidden agenda, it would surely have started converting hundreds or even thousands of impressionable young Muslims through its Catholic Mission schools which have existed for as long as 100 years, But no such thing has ever happened.
The Muslim classmates and friends that I had in St Michael’s Ipoh are still good and respected Muslims today, and such was their appreciation and respect for the La Salle Brothers that they made sure that their children in turn would attend a La Salle school or a Convent!
Sacrilegious
Sadly, your disrespect knew no bounds. You chose to abandon all human and religious decency with impunity as a journalist and a Muslim. Under pretense of being a Catholic you participated in the church service and even partook of the Holy Communion (a white and sacred wafer) strictly meant only for Catholics.
You consumed the white wafer which Catholics hold as very sacred and treat with utmost reverence, and both of you spat out the remnants, photographed it and published the picture in an article entitled “Tinjaun Al Islam Dalam Gereja:Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad” which was published in the May 2009 issue of the Al Islam magazine.
I shudder to think of what could happen if the reverse took place — if for instance two reporters from the Herald were to enter a mosque disguised as Muslims, partake of the rituals and desecrate something which the congregation considers very sacred.
I can imagine Khairy Jamaluddin leading a group of Umno Youth thugs and burning the effigy of the Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and even threatening to set fire to a few churches, and Zulkifli Nordin rousing up a mob and invading the Herald’s office and demanding that it be shut down for good; or certain Muslim NGOs insisting that the two journalists be jailed under the ISA!
It makes me wonder how does a “creature” like you exist in this country? Are you the product of the educational, social or even religious system or process created by Bolehland’s leaders (also read as “Umno”) over the past 30 years?
How is it possible that you could blatantly trespass into a place of worship, violate its sanctity, insult its adherents, even publish your transgression and completely ignore the implications and consequences (will there be any)? What gives you such audacity?
It all points to the reality of you being a cog in Umno’s machine – a political party that has politicised religion for its survival by creating unfounded insecurities amongst Muslims and a distrust of other religions. Meanwhile it dominates, dictates, decides and even defines what non-Muslims can and cannot discuss, deliberate on, and display in print.
Najib’s 1Malaysia is really Malaysia in one big mess!
As I join my Catholic brothers and sisters in forgiving you (a Catholic duty we are reminded of!), I also pray that you will feel the full weight of God’s wrath upon you.
I feel sad for the many good Muslims in this country who have a respect for peoples of other faiths, for not only have you insulted Catholics but you have insulted them too. Islam would do well without religious misfits like you!
Martin Jalleh
(15 July 2009)
I only have one question: Why are Muslims in the world so scared of losing numbers? They throw out Christian aid workers saying aid is given with the cross. Why are Muslims so paranoid?
The why in Malaysia are Muslims are allowed to preach to others whilst its unlawful to preach to them? Why does the the Government allocate funding for assisting converts in their religious life as a Muslim. What is wrong with Muslims today? What would the Prophet Mohd say if he were here to see this?
The root problem is this in the Fed Const.
Like Indonesia has six equal status religions, M’sia must free itself from the sole superior national one.
pw: WASHINGi snivel
Entitlement, even religious ones, ALWAYS end up being screwed up by someone simply because there are just too many screw-ups around.
Those two muslims are no longer muslims as they have accepted Jesus Christ and the Christian faith when they participated in the Christian rite of communion. They are now muslim apostates and should suffer the prescribed punishment according to their former religion.
Hi Martin Jalleh,well said.I am with you and God is always wih us. I hope and pray that our muslim brothers and sisters do not think we the catholics are your enemy.We,catholics are followers of Jesus Christ and I qoute two of Christ Jesus’s ten commandments : Love your neigbours like you love yourselves,even love your enemies and don’t do to others what you don’t like others do to you.Similarly we are not judgemental only God judges.
Given half or even 20% of a chance, millions of followers of a certain religion will break away to join other religions. And you all know what that certain religion is.
Initially there was the snoop squad thing where certain people who may be frustrated with their personal lifes take out their frustration on norma, happy and affectionate people and now this transgression has been taken to new high, or in this case low.
The church can similarly point out that these 2 fellows have trespassed and insulted their religion given the way they treated the religious items.
I would very much like to hear the opinion and stand of Zulkifri Nordin, PAS, the Muftis, ABIM, Menteri Besars and the Sultans, given their prominent role in safeguarding the official religion of Malaysia.
If you are lazy and continue to depend on clutches, one day when there is no more food on the table, and God is nowhere to answer your call, even if you pray 24 hours a day, maybe you will decide to change your religion, and worship “FOOD”.
i agree very much with the writer above. the greatest threat to Islam is some of the muslims like these. perhaps their faith on Islam is too weak and they don’t believe that Islam is strong enough, that’s why they are always afraid. one word – sadist. i had at least 2 or 3 friends converted to Islam thru marriage, and their friends and family all seems alright. dear fellow extremist friends in PAS, pls stop stoking up tension. thank you.
Those 2 are not true Muslims … they are trouble makers!
With my close Muslim friends, whom I can openly say my views, I always ask them this question:
“If your God is so omnipotent, so all powerful, He should be able to change the minds of the non-believers? He should be able to enter the minds of these non-believers. There is no need to use violence? Why is it that each time, someone criticize your religion, you threaten to use force, threaten to kill them?’
siamo … its called being a ‘good believer’. Kill all who oppose Islam. That is in their minds. There is no such thing as FORGIVENESS or let God sort them out. And then these same people want others to respect them.
I read somewhere before there are passages in the Koran that tells the Muslims to basically destroy/kill those who oppose Islam. That may be said in a bigger context and I am unsure. Maybe some Muslim here who is well versed with the Koran can enlighten us.
the two guy will be treated as their hero….no action further, as usual.
Sometimes i wonder how our prime minister can come out with the 1Malaysia concept when the so called malay muslim still holding the bumiputera tag? Can he imagine if he is not a bumis, how do he feel? after 50 years of independent and many years of NEP implementation, do they really still need it? i don’t dare to comment on the religion part but why there is always war happen between muslim and others religion. See what had happen in Southern Thailand, Israel, Philipine and the latest China. For me, every religion teach us to be good, have they forgot?
#12
I had ask my muslim friend about “kill those who oppose Islam”, yesterday and he said you refer to the wrong book. FULL STOP!
p/s: he do not understand Koran.
For the greater good, everyone should read this. The ‘evolved’ solution IMHO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism
#14
my religion teach me to be good, and i understand my Holy Book.
what had happen in Southern Thailand, Israel, Philipine and the latest China? …every religion teach us to be good, have they forgot?
-the answer is, they never forgot what religion teach them. that’s why they fight.
David Copperfield is a “God”
Islam would do well without religious misfits like you!
100% agree. Islam is a very beautiful religion. I am sad those misfits can stoop so low to spy at a church.
My muslim friends are ashame of those ‘spies’
martin had also sent me this same time he sent to LKS and i had also put it up on my blog.
i echo what the first commenter, speakup said… the Qs i mean. exactly what i would ask and would like to know too.
why are muslim so scared of losing numbers? if they really are losing, who’s to blame but themselves! thing is all these incidents serve to confirm to us how insecure some muslim are.
Maybe some questions are not meant to be answered, when its all over here and we meet our Maker … then … then we know.
I got tons of Muslim friends and they don’t care about other religions and we bother to ensure that whatever we eat they can join in. I think this sickening religious fanatics are so happy thinking they are doing Allah’s work but in reality they are driving the wedge in deeper and deeper.
One thing I must say, the article is very ‘innocent’, they are curious to investigate but their ignorance as to what harm they are doing is amazing. Ignorance is bliss …
Let him come in, anyway! Perhaps he will find TRUE God in a Catholic Church someday in the future!
This is the country that the government of the day proudly declares that we are a model multiracial, multicultural, multireligious, multilingual nation on this planet.
The Christian community should brief and educate its members of this serious and sacrilegious incident. The Christian community should show the rest of the country and the world that it is reacting to this serious incident in a rational and matured manner, and not by taking to the streets. God Almighty will handle the rest, including the two culprits.
negarawan Christians have hardly rioted/protested over such matters, you know who does.
Where are the muslim officals from islamic dept who go round looking for dead muslim converts for burying them? Now show what you can do to the two muslim who are now coverted to Christians after taking the Holy Communion.
Make a study on all the male muslim coverts as to why they converted ?. 99% is to marry a muslim girl he loves not because of legion but the country law say so. It’s just like taking a driving liscence to drive a car. Once the car is lost or of no use in your life, you dont have to renew it. Just throw it away and take the bus as you did before.
It happened to a very good friend who had passed away in a forgin country and buried according to his original religon. From day one of his so called converion, he drank,ate pork and not pray as a muslim. His muslim wife and relation had no objection for he had so much money which they were living on his.
If no action is taken on the two, we know how the system works.
Problem will be solved when Jesus Christ comes back to rule the world, and the God of Wealth is appointed as his deputy.