Hasan Ali wants meeting with Christian leaders and victims of apostasy

By Clara Chooi

January 07, 2012

SEREMBAN, Jan 7 — PAS leader Datuk Dr Hasan Ali is planning a meeting with Christian leaders and “victims of apostasy” to prove the existence of a movement to convert Muslims, Sinar Harianreported today. 

Claiming apostasy in Malaysia has become a serious concern, Dr Hasan said such a meeting was necessary to resolve the problem as soon as possible. 

“If they (apostates) agree to meet with these priests and religious leaders, a closed-door meeting will be held to prove the existence of a movement to convert Muslims. 

“I want Christian leaders, religious scholars, muftis and intellectuals to hear from the mouths of these apostates themselves, the mouths of those who have embraced Christianity, as proof that they have been ensnared in the religion and these conversion attempts,” the daily quoted Dr Hasan as saying during the Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Gathering of a Million Faithful) meet at Negeri Sembilan’s closed-door stadium in Paroi here. 

Dr Hasan (picture) however noted he was yet to obtain the permissions of the converts to hold the meeting. 

“This is because they are afraid to come forward as they fear the risk, threats from the community, their safety and they fear insults from others,” he explained. 

“It all depends on whether they are able to accept this meeting,” he added, said Sinar Harian. 

Dr Hasan said the effort to hold such a meeting was following claims on several websites that proselytisation activities do not exist in Malaysia. 

He claimed to have “concrete evidence” in the form of documents from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) to proof the existence of proselytisation here. 

But the best proof would be from those willing to come forward with their stories, he said. 

According to the daily, the “Unit Selamatkan Akidah” was formed by Dr Hasan in Selangor after 46 of 51 “victims of apostasy” approached him for help to return to Islam. 

In a separate article today, Sinar Harian also reported that there have been 686 conversion applications from Muslims in Malaysia to date. 

Himpun chairman Azmi Abd Hamid was quoted as confirming the information as true, claiming to have obtained the figures from the Syariah Court.