Undercover Christian priests here as football coaches, Muslim NGO tells forum

Pertubuhan Muafakat Sejahtera Masyarakat Malaysia says today Muslims in Malaysia are so caught up with hedonism that they do not care about the Allah issue. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 6, 2014.A Muslim non-governmental organisation has warned of undercover Christian priests who have been sent to Malaysia under different guises to proselytise and convert Muslims.

Pertubuhan Muafakat Sejahtera Masyarakat Malaysia (Muafakat) president Abdul Karim Omar‎ said these "undercover priests" worked with Muslim children as football coaches and others.

"I know of one priest who was sent to Malaysia, who is now a football coach in Subang Jaya.

“What is scary is that there are many Muslim parents who send their children there‎," he said at a seminar on the use of the word "Allah" and Christology at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) today.

"What happens is that these kids are then brought over to Brazil under the guise of attending football training, but are instead brought to churches there."

Karim claimed he learnt of this "Christianisation strategy" from a Brazilian website which listed the names of Christian priests sent all over the world to proselytise.

‎"And there are a few in Malaysia and I have tracked them down.”

He went on to reveal that young graduates from the United States were also used to proselytise to Muslims here.

"These young graduates work for the church in the US and under the campus ministry, they come here.

"They make friends with Muslim students and under the pretence of wanting to know more about Islam, they proselytise. Some naive Muslims have even brought these Americans home for Hari Raya," he told the 1,000 crowd, consisting mainly of students.

Karim also lamented that‎ Muslims in Malaysia were so caught up with hedonism that they did not care about the Allah issue.

"And we were not serious about the threats from them (Christians). We didn't understand.

"Our Christian friends are using it as a‎ strategy to proselytise to Muslims," he said, adding that the Christians have even succeeded in the mission.

‎He called on Muslims to spread the "Christianisation strategies" to ensure other Muslims do not fall into the trap of Christians.

"I hope now that you know these things, you will spread the word to other Muslims," he added.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies, UiTM, Warisan Ibnu Aaby and the Selangor Islamic Council with the support of Utusan Malaysia, Kumpulan Karangkarf, TV Al-Hijrah, Zikay Group and Pantai Bharu Group of Companies.

UiTM said the seminar was organised to increase the understanding of Muslims about the issues concerning the hotly debated kalimah Allah.

Other speakers included Indonesians Masyud SM, Irena Handono‎ and Menachem Ali.

Masyud is a lecturer who has written books on Christology‎, including Misteri Natal while Irena is a former Catholic nun who converted to Islam in 1983. She is also an expert in Christology.