Govt unjust to Muslims too, says report

A study says there’s a culture of taboos at the expense of the right to religious freedom.

PETALING JAYA: Both Muslims and non-Muslims face discrimination from Malaysian authorities in the practice and propagation of their beliefs, according to a UK-based study.

The study, conducted by international human rights organisation Equal Rights Trust (ERT) and local rights group Tenaganita, found that Muslims who express beliefs not approved by “official interpreters of Islam” face discrimination from the state and federal government due to provisions in the constitution.

“In the Malaysian context, the belief that only the religiously learned (the ulama) are entitled to opine on religious matters in Islam has created a culture of taboos at the expense of the right to freedom of religion without discrimination,” said a report from the study.

“Today, those Muslims who do not follow the officially sanctioned religion can face persecution.

“As Sunni Islam is the officially accepted branch of Islam in Malaysia, any other forms, practices or schools of Islamic thoughts are vulnerable to being classified deviant.”

The government maintains an official list of 56 sects of Islam it considers deviant and a threat to national security. The list includes Shi’a Islam.

“The government, upon approval by a Syariah court, may detain Muslims who deviate from accepted Sunni principles and subject them to mandatory ‘rehabilitation’ in centres that teach and enforce government approved Islamic practices,” said the report.

In the case of non-Muslims, it said, Article 11 (4) of the Federal Constitution had been used to place discriminatory restrictions on the religious freedoms of Christians, including the freedom to propagate their beliefs.

Article 11(4) states that “state law and, in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.”

This article was used against Christians to ostensibly prevent them from proselytising to Muslims and threatening the supremacy of Islam in Malaysia, the report said.

Arrests
“Laws prohibiting the proselytisation by non-Muslims were reportedly used by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department to suppress the activities of the Damansara Utama Methodist Church,” it said.

“In 2009, nine Christians were arrested by Malaysian police at Universiti Putra Malaysia … for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.”

Article 11 (4) is also the basis upon which state laws have prohibited the use of words and phrases by non-Muslims, the report revealed.

“The Malaysian government has banned the use of the word ‘Allah’ by other religions, on the basis that Muslims would be confused by the use of ‘Allah’ in other religious publications.”

This led to the 2009 seizure of 35,000 copies of the Malaysian-language Bible, which the government finally released two years later on condition that each copy was stamped with the phrase “Not for Muslims”.

Non-Muslims continue to be prohibited from using the word “Allah” pending an appeal made by the government over the High Court’s decision in 2009, which granted a Catholic organisation the use of the word when referring to God in its newspaper.

In February this year, a concert by Grammy-award winning US singer Erykah Badu was cancelled because a publicity photograph showed her with a tattoo with the word “Allah” in Arabic.

Non-Islamic religions also face obstacles in establishing and maintaining places of worship, the report said, citing the destruction in 2006 of several Hindu temples, some of them almost two centuries old.

“In 2007, authorities demolished the 100 year old Maha Mariamman Hindu Temple in Padang Jawa, Selangor, and reportedly assaulted its chief priest.

“Later that year, the Sri Periyachi Amman Temple in Tambak Paya, Malacca state, was demolished by local authorities to make way for a development project.”

The report also said Christians in Malaysia often found it difficult to obtain a permit to build churches and faced restrictions with regard to the functioning of churches.

“For example, the ringing of church bells has been forbidden in some cases,” it added.

The report urged the government to repeal Article 11 and a host of other discriminatory provisions in the Federal Constitution, including articles 9, 10, 14, 15, 24, 26, 89, 153 and 161.