Citing examples from Prophet Muhammad and the caliph Umar Al-Khattabb, the group Muslims Professionals Forum (MPF) said the protesters against a church in Taman Medan yesterday deserves “unreserved condemnation”.

 

The group said that in one incident, the Prophet received a delegation of 60 Yemeni Christians at his mosque in Medina.

 

MPF said Medina Muslims had protested over this but the Prophet ordered that the Yemeni Christian delegation be left to their prayers and not be harmed.

 

In Caliph Umar’s case, MPF said the Prophet had ordered that no harm should come to the Christians and Jews in Jerusalem at the time, in effect ensuring their religious freedom then.

 

The Prophet's protection included property, places of worship and the order that “their churches cannot be occupied, demolished, or damaged, nor are their crosses or anything belonging to them to be touched.”

 

“It is evident that there is no room in Islam for intolerance towards other faiths and their places of worship and any form of disrespect and desecration is antithetical to the essence of Islam.

 

“We urge the authorities to take firm action against the said protestors,” MPF said in a statement today.

 

The statement follows a protest  by some 50 residents in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya yesterday, demanding that a church housed in a shoplot there remove the red cross it displayed outside.

 

The protestors claimed the area was a Muslim-majority one and that the display of the cross could influence Muslims. The church has removed the cross from the building.

 

Freedom of religion guaranteed

“This mindless act of hatred and incitement against another religion's place of worship has no place in Islam and deserves unreserved condemnation.

 

“Islam is rich with examples of respect for other faiths, their adherents and protection of their places of worship,” MPF said.

 

Bar Council President Steven Thiru said freedom of religion was guaranteed under the federal constitution and there should not be any narrow interpretation of it.  

 

“The fundamental right to freedom of religion under Article 11(1) read with Article 3(1) of the federal constitution to practice ones religion of choice in peace cannot be restricted or abrogated on the basis that some persons may be purportedly confused or others are allegedly influenced.

 

“Such a narrow or myopic interpretation of our fundamental constitutional liberties should be rejected as it reduces our constitution to a worthless piece of paper. It also serves to polarise and segregate us as a people.”

 

NGO Sisters in Islam said as the majority, Muslims in the country should respect the religious freedom of minorities.

 

“The cross has been in use for centuries but there has never been  any teachings in the Quran or the Hadith urging Muslims to protest  as what transpired in Taman Medan.

“Moreover, Islam has the highest growth rate in the number of adherents of all religions, according to a study by the Pew Research Centre […]

 

“As the majority in this country, we should be gracious and respect the religious freedom of minorities and not be arrogant and insensitive like what happened at Taman Medan.”

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