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Friday, August 26, 2011

Asri on JAIS-DUMC: Mother of 3 has denied converting, stop blaming Christians

Asri on JAIS-DUMC: Mother of 3 has denied converting, stop blaming Christians

Former Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin has stepped out to clear the confusion over a lady who has been accused of having converted to Christianity or of being the 'dalang' or mastermind behind the proselytization of Muslims by Christians at the Damansara Utama church building in Selangor.

Asri said the lady had denied converting to Christianity. He also slammed the state Islamic religious authorities for blaming the Church for their own shortcomings.

A single mother of three, the lady was among the 12 Muslim guests at the AIDS dinner event held at the DUMC building in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The fund-raising dinner was interrupted by a JAIS raid on August 3.

"The single mother I met was deserted by her husband and had to raise three children. She could not afford to pay the rental for the house where she was staying and had gone to the Islamic authorities for help, but was turned away. Only after she got a support letter from a politician did she get zakat tithe. She was also turned down by the Welfare Department," Asri told the press.

"How can she experience the greatness of Islam when her fellow Muslims do not care about her and refuse to help her?... When her children are sick the church cares, her livelihood is supported by the church and even her daily needs were provided."

If you have proof, throw the book at them

Asri's revelation is timely given the red-hot accusations hurled by JAIS or the Selangor Islamic Religious Department over the matter. JAIS has denied raiding the church while at the same time insisted that its 'investigative action' was justified in the name of protecting Islam.

The department has also hidden behind the Selangor Sultan and is trying its best to delay handing over a full report to Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim over the raid. JAIS, while officially supposed to be under the purview of Khalid's administration, is also staffed by many UMNO stalwarts.

Its past director is the nototrious UMNO appointee Khusrin Munawi, who earlier this year created a controversy when Prime Minister Najib Razak forced Khalid to accept his promotion to state secretary.

By now, UMNO's hand in the matter is clear and Khalid Samad, the PAS MP for Shah Alam, has challenged JAIS to immediately charge the 12 Muslims or those found guilty of proselytization as it has claimed. The DUMC and the dinner organizer, Harapan Kommuniti, have both denied they had tried to convert the Muslims guests.

"Everyday, we read in the BN media about the JAIS-DUMC issue and they write as though there is already proof against the church and the organisers Harapan Kommunity. But if this is so, then it is JAIS' duty to immediately charge them for proselytizing Muslims. What is JAIS waiting for," Khalid Samad told Malaysia Chronicle.

Stop blaming Christians for everything

Meanwhile, the woman told Asri there were others who had embraced Christianity, but not her. She told the ex-Mufti, who is now a university lecturer, that a Christian friend had recommended her to seek help from the church. She admitted receiving aid from the church but denied it had tried to convert her or that she herself had converted.

Such conversions, Asri said, was the fault of the country's Islamic institutions for failing to help underprivileged Muslims. He slammed the Muslim authorities for picking on the Church for their own shortcomings.

"If we want to escape responsibility, it's easy, we blame it all on the church. We blame them for being the source of all problems. And then we demonstrate and fuel public sentiments against the church for carrying out charity and missionary work," he said.

"But when we do not help and carry out missionary work, we do not blame ourselves. Is this what we have become? If the zakat system is working, even non-Muslims will be attracted to Islam, but if the zakat system is not working, even Muslims will want to leave the religion."

For the lady, it was a matter of survival

According to Asri, the DUMC dinner was not the first time that the woman was caught by the Islamic authorities. The Zakat department had promised to help her open a kindergarden, but no action was taken. In the end, the church had to step in to help her pay her rent.

The former mufti urged Muslims to take responsibility for the situation rather than bashing Christians and churches. He said he was told there were many other underprivileged Muslims who were in a similar position. In the end, they converted because they were disappointed by the uncaring attitude of the Muslim community and were influenced by the church's goodwill, even though they were not forced to do so.

"Despite being a devoted Muslim, she often bring her children to church. Her children are instilled with Christian teachings by the church. They are taught hymns and certain moral values. For her, all this is done as a matter of survival," said Asri. - Malaysia Chronicle



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