Muslim group backs Jais over church raid

Jais' investigation into the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya for alleged attempts at converting Muslims to Christianity should not be politicised, said the Malaysian Muslim Solidarity (Isma).

“Isma hopes the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) will continue to investigate without interference from outside parties, in accordance with its scope of duties and the laws,” said Isma president Ustaz Abdullah Zaik in a statement today.

“This case concerns a sensitive issue covered by the constitution, and should not be politicised.”

He also questioned certain news reports earlier that he said portrayed a “negative image” of the incident portraying Jais (Selangor Islamic Affars Department) to have “desecrated the sanctity” of the holy place and suggesting that the religious authority had contravened laws in the process.

Abdullah urged Muslims to be more wary of “any form of violation of the dignity of their religion”.

"I regret that some leaders seemed to lost sensitivity towards their own religion, to the point of seeming as if they are more interested in taking care of other religions on the pretext of human rights or preserving harmony amongst religions,” he said.

'Tolerance worrying'

He added that the attitude of “excessive tolerance”, whether out of political reasons or other factors, was “worrying”.

“It will lead to a syndrome of cowardice amongst Muslims to the point they remain silent when the dignity of Islam is molested before their very eyes,” he said.

While saying he supported racial and religious harmony, he reminded that it had to be done within the framework of the law and “in the defence of the dignity of the religion and race”.

On Wednesday night, Jais and police officers barged into a 1Malaysia dinner attended by multiracial, multireligious guests held on the DUMC premises.

Church officials said that the officers had questioned the guests and seized programme booklets during the incident.

NGOs blasted the authority for acting without a warrant and for its "arbitrary" actions.

While Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim had expressed regret over the incident, exco member Hasan Ali went on record that Jais had found evidence to support their actions. - Malaysiakini