Dear Friends,

After a tense situation in Malaysia with 9 churches and a school been attacked, we have finally experienced a calm atmosphere for the time being. The lastest attack two days ago was on a Sikh Temple. The Sikhs also use the word “Allah” in their Scripture. The police is trying to do their best to maintain order. Many negotiations are underway to defuse this situation. The political parties are doing their part and the government authorities are doing theirs. Church leaders have been meeting with the authorities to find a way forward for peace and harmony.

I sincerely wish to thank all the churches for staying calm and praying. Your prayers are indeed helpful and powerful. Violence will not bring peace. Though the solution is still far away, the present dialogues and meetings have certainly brought everyone into the picture to at least try to understand each other. We hope to work towards the idea from toleration to respecting each others presence, contribution and dignity. This is the concept of 1Malaysia.

I urge all churches to be vigilant. Archdeacon Steven Abbarow said this after visiting All Saints Taiping on Sunday 10 Jan: Yesterday, morning I visited Joshua Ong. When I arrived at All Saint’s Church. Joshua told me that the MB of Perak YB Zambri and the OCPD are on their way. This was a surprise, as we were not given any notice of this earlier. They came with reporters, politicians, special branch and police personnel.

The MB assured us of support, police protection and felt that this the work individuals who were emotionally upset and not a coordinated affair and expressed his firm stand against such actions and told us not to react. I thanked him for the assurance of support and assistance. I also told him that we have not and will not react emotionally but will pray for the peace of the country, and that I am very concerned about the situation and hoped the authorities will catch the perpetrators. He said they will do all they can.

In the meantime, I have been informed by the Lay Reader in COR, Kuala Kangsar, that he kept vigil in the Tadika room on Sunday night and noticed a motorbike and a car and the riders, driver and people in them were watching and looking at the church. He came out of the Tadika, and they just bolted off. He called the police and they immediately sent a patrol car and stationed two officers there. The leaders took these precautions as they heard that at the Police station people overheard that they were very concerned someone may try and do something on COR. They also were informed and heard from the neighboring bus terminal and stalls and the coffee table talk, mostly non-Christians, that the church next door will be in trouble.

Rev Alakumalai of St James KL related that he saw a few young people loitering outside the church. He went to them and was told that they were sent there to ‘protect the church’. Feeling uneasy over it, he reported to the police for the police station is only next door. Immediately seeing the police, the so-called ‘protector’ fled quickly. Two policemen were stationed overnight at the church.

I believe after the storm there will be some calm. God has a better plan for the Malaysian Church. Let us continue to discern His Will.

Those from overseas, let me assure you that we are fine and well, only a bit jerked and slightly shaken. If you are planning to visit Malaysia please do come, don’t change plan. Thank you so much for your prayers and e-mails of concerns and encouragement.

May the good Lord continue to lead and watch over you!

Shalom,

+Moon Hing
Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia

Background

Several Christian churches have been attacked since Friday in Malaysia in a dispute over the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims.

A High Court ruling overturning a government ban on the use of Allah by non-Muslims has raised concerns among Muslim groups that by using a name so closely associated with Islam, Christians are trying to win converts.

Here, Muslims and Christians in Malaysia discuss the issues behind the attacks.

Pat Lu, web consultant, Kuala Lumpur
I am one of the administrators of a Facebook group which calls for everybody in Malaysia to be allowed to use the name Allah. The group has been growing rapidly in the last few days and we now have more than 68,000 members.

Because of the Facebook group, people take me as a leader, so I’ve received many calls and messages from Christians from all over the country saying how concerned they are about the attacks.

A relative of a friend had their car smashed and we are advising Christians to remove all religious symbols from their cars.

Because violence triggers more violence we are discouraging all Malaysians, irrespective of ethnicity and religion, from joining any street protests. It’s better to participate in a cyber rally and have a dialogue online.

This has never happened in Malaysia before – attacking places of worship. Ours is a multi-cultural society, we’ve always lived in harmony.

The government should take responsibility for what’s happened. They should not mix religion with politics and they should allow people to practise their faith. It’s none of anybody else’s business how I call my God.

Hussin Zin, retired company manager, Petaling Jaya
I appreciate the concerns of some Muslims in Malaysia, but I do not condone violence. The general view here is that this is the work of extremists. Malaysian Muslims are peaceful people, we are not of the terrorist kind.
We enjoy religious tolerance in Malaysia and different religious groups celebrate their festivals together.

There are fringe elements in every society. I am not so concerned about the attacks, but about the way the government is handling this issue.

Instead of banning the word in a Christian journal, they should have pushed for an inter-religious dialogue and invited religious groups to discuss and come up with a solution.

Everyone’s been talking about this issue in the last week or so and there has been a strong reaction and many different views.

Most Muslim people, especially those who are well educated, are open-minded. The name “Allah” is used by Christians in the Middle East. Why should there be a problem? It’s between you and God.

Nordin Abdullah, businessman, Kuala Lumpur
There is a concern in the country that Muslims could be misled and confused with Christians using Allah to address God. There are concerns that certain Christian groups are trying to convert Muslims this way.

Many Muslims will agree that it’s not the use, but the misuse of the word. “Allah” means one, undividable God. It becomes misleading when used outside its historical context.

It’s against Islamic teachings to attack churches and I am sure the majority of Malaysians don’t think it’s acceptable.

The main problem is the idea of Allah having a son – this is not the original context of the word.

Whatever the views on this subject, nobody wants to see any kind of tension, whether it’s ethnic or religious. The attacks on Christian churches are not the right way to respond to the issue. They are not very Malaysian.

Differences should be resolved through an open discussion, not violent attacks.

It’s interesting that these attacks are happening at a time when our prime minister is promoting the idea of “One Malaysia”, where the emphasis is on the common ground, not on ethnic or religious divisions.

I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but it seems strange that this tension is happening at a good time, when things are beginning to get better for everyone.

No-one seems to have the answer. If you ask me – these attacks are not organised, they are not part of something bigger. It’s stupidity and it’s against Islamic teachings to attack churches and I am sure the majority of Malaysians don’t think it’s acceptable.

Waihon Liew, university lecturer of global religions, Rawang
The attacks are very sad because we have managed to live harmoniously in the past. I was a bit nervous that they could escalate and get bigger, but I am happy that didn’t happen.

The government is taking a lot of security measures around places of worship and I don’t feel scared about going to church. Our government is doing the right thing, they are looking to promote dialogue and better understanding of religious issues.

I believe there might be a different agenda behind these attacks, not necessarily to do with the religious issue. It’s still early to make a final decision, but it’s possible that behind it are people who do not want to see the country as a tolerant and harmonious society. But this is a small group of people.

I think the government is in a tricky situation, it is not an easy task to govern a multi-racial society and it’s not possible to please everyone. We need to find a middle ground, we need to cultivate peace and harmony, but we don’t want to compromise in terms of religious doctrine.

The name Allah belongs to Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Some Muslims may not even realise that it’s been used long before Mohammad by Jews and Christians. Allah cannot be called anything else.

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