PAS activist Abdul Rahman Kassim, long an exponent of Muslim-Christian relations, was beside himself with joy when Bishop of Penang Sebastian Francis graced the PAS muktamar last Friday.
From Terence Netto
For nearly two decades now Abdul Rahman Kassim of PAS has been striving to better ties between his party and Christian groups in the north of the Peninsula.
His efforts have taken the form of organising dialogue sessions between his party’s leaders and priests and lay activists of mainly the Catholic Church in northern Perak, Kedah and Penang.
When Sebastian Francis became Bishop of Penang in 2013, Rahman found in the bishop, who was elevated to the office of cardinal in 2023, a ready interlocutor between Islamists like him and the Catholic Church.
Get-to-know-you sessions, dialogues, high teas, lunches, dinners and visits to architecturally interesting mosques, were organised by Rahman and his cohort for the edification of their Catholic counterparts.
Sebastian and his entourage, which included on occasion this scribe, were, at times, transfixed by the hospitality and goodwill exuded by their hosts.
With the vibes that good, Christian-Muslim relations appeared to be a cinch, but this reporter was sceptical because their theologies clashed on several fronts, too stark to ignore.
But Rahman, an optimist who declines to dwell on the problematic, is unfazed by these contradictions.
Once he even invited Cardinal Sebastian to grace his daughter’s wedding held at his home in Tasek Gelugor, Penang.
The prelate accepted the invitation, mingling and talking with Rahman’s guests during dinner, causing no small amount of surprise and delight among people unused to seeing a crucifix-wearing personage of the church at ease in their midst.
A PAS activist of more than four decades’ involvement, 70-year-old Rahman has shown no interest in scaling the party hierarchy which is probably why his colleagues view his exertions in promoting Muslim-Christian ties as something to be welcomed.
Rahman also knows that Sebastian is due for retirement at the end of this year when he reaches the church’s mandatory retirement age of 75.
Rahman had set, as a goal of his two decade-long effort at outreach to Christians, the cardinal’s acceptance of an invitation to attend the 72nd muktamar in Kota Bharu.
He wasn’t sure Sebastian would accept the invitation knowing that though the prelate’s jurisdiction as Bishop of Penang included Kelantan, he is too busy with church matters to find time for non-ecclesiastical matters.
Rahman was besides himself with joy when Sebastian called him on Thursday morning from Penang airport to say he is coming to the muktamar, being held at Dewan Putik, near the airport in Pengkalan Chepa.
In the event, the cardinal’s attendance was a landmark in that it was the first time in annual general meetings of the Islamic party that a high-ranking Catholic prelate graced the occasion.
The cardinal’s amiable and unassuming ways, familiar to Rahman, smoothed the introductions to the crowd of PAS grandees who were pleasantly surprised by his presence.
It has been Sebastian’s position that familiarity with PAS higher-ups was necessary so that should problems arise where and whenever PAS rules, communication would not be a problem.
Thus the cardinal has positioned himself and the Church in prescient anticipation. - FMT
Terence Netto is a senior journalist and an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
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