I have read about the call for mosques for the Chinese Muslim community with great interest. It is important to me because I am a Muslim from Canada, who has grown up learning about Islam in English, and praying beside Muslims from all over the world.

If being a Muslim was just about standing behind the imam during solat , and mouthing the Arabic words of the solat , then everyone would be happy. But Islam is about personal knowledge and learning. Without effort and understanding the language, a Muslim cannot gain the fullest connection to Islam.

Most Muslims develop the ability to read Arabic, and commit the shorter verses of the Quran and most of the 'doa' to memory. However, their knowledge of Islam is limited because they do not fully understand the 'doa' and verses that they are reciting. Thus, Islamic practices become ritualised and their meaning and value is lost.

Short of becoming fluent in Arabic (which is recommended by some as the best way to understand Islam), the best way for a Muslim to understand Islam is in his or her mother tongue. In my own case, I have learned Islamic teachings in both my father's tongue (English) and my mother tongue (Urdu). Though I can understand some Arabic, my greatest understanding of Islamic teachings has been achieved through English.

I have lived in Malaysia for two years and attended 104 'solat Jumaat' and four 'solat Hari Raya'. Although I have learned some Bahasa Malaysia, it is not enough to understand the sermons or to participate in the 'dakwah' and 'halaqah' activities at the masjid. The fact is that I feel left out of the Islamic community because everything is in Bahasa Malaysia.

In December 2006, I went home to Canada for a short vacation. The three 'solat Jumaat' that I attended, and the 'halaqah' circles that I participated in reminded me of my connection to Islam. They also exposed a huge irony. For the past two years I had lived in a country with a 60 percent Muslim population and a strong Islamic society but my learning of Islam had become stalled because of the language barrier.

That is why I fully understand, and support, the call from the Chinese Muslim community to allow them to build their own mosques so that they can engage in a greater understanding of Islam. It is also why I am completely surprised by the attitude of some religious department officials, who wish to deny Muslims the opportunity to learn.

I always try to understand the viewpoints of those who disagree with me. I know that Islam has (naturally or otherwise) become synonymous with the individual and social identity of most Malay people. Therefore, I can understand that there is a fear that the Malay identity will be lost if Islam is practiced in languages other than Bahasa Malaysia.

This fear must be understood. Then there is the viewpoint that Islam should not be segregated among races, so all who wish to practice Islam in Malaysia should adopt the local Islamic practices.

These arguments are understandable, but they are also incorrect. Islam is universal and Islam in Malaysia does not belong to the Malay community alone. All mosques belong to all Muslims. Malaysia is supposed to be a progressive, forward looking, multicultural nation. If this is the case, then having mosques for different communities, open to all, and encouraging learning about Islam in all languages, should be an obvious no-brainer.

I am glad to say that there are some places like this already. The most Islamic knowledge that I had gained was from a 'tabligh jamaat' mosque in Seri Petaling where the commentary was translated into many different languages. But this is only one 'masjid', and it is not easy to reach.

The fact is that it is the right of every Muslim to learn about Islam as much as possible. If that comes from 'dakwah' and 'halaqah' in Mandarin, Urdu, Tamil or English, then so be it.