I thank Muhammad Zulkarnain for taking the trouble to clarify . I also wish to categorically state that in my brief passing mention of Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), I had not at all ventured to criticise its core activities. These are indeed laudable volunteerism by an NGO and as Zulkarnain says carried out for the betterment of the Muslim community that it serves.

Instead, what I raised in my article was the issue of Indian conversion to Islam. The very recent temple demolition in Kampung Rimba Jaya has a strong bearing on the issue of respecting minority faiths, including respecting the Indian Malaysian's access to Hinduism and for him not be unduly or insensitively-coerced in any way from the faith of his forefathers.

Other missionaries are not allowed to proselytise to Malays or Muslims on pain of punitive action, but clearly what's sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander in Malaysia.

I had earlier included JIM in the dakwah movement, along with Pertubuhan Kebajikan Islam Malaysia (Perkim) and Yayasan Dakwah Islamah Malaysia (Yadim). Zulkarnain's reply assert that his organisation's 'main agenda' is not to proselytise to non-Muslims and that JIM is not a dakwah body; I note and credit his explanation on their 'primary' objectives.

Nonetheless, to provide a more rounded picture, I will share some information gleaned from the JIM website on some of its recent 'secondary' activities. JIM has a unit called Nasyrud Dakwah (Pemangkinan Dakwah), ie. a section that functions as a catalyst for proselytising.

[My translations follow; I will use 'had' to denote programmes as announced online]:

According to its bulletin board, JIM had 'Program Da'wah: Sepetang di Kuala Lumpur sempena Merdeka!' on Aug 31 to "Mengedar risalah dan menyampaikan da'wah!" (distribute pamphlets on Islam to members of the public and proselytise) and where its dakwah activist Haji Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid was also to give a 'taklimat' (talk).

JIM had a half-day programme in Simpang Renggam, Kluang on Aug 5, which it said should appeal to those interested in proselytising to non-Muslims. The guest speaker-forum panelist Arif Wong was slated to discuss challenges facing new converts. JIM said the event was open to all Muslims who wished to help ignorant souls see the light.

In September, JIM addressed this statement to its members/supporters: "We see the number of Muslim converts increasing every year and this gladdens us very much. However, realise that we also owe a duty of care to our brother after conversion. It must remain our commitment to continuously guide and look after his welfare and this task requires direct interface".

"Through Hidayah Centre (HC), insya Allah , we will fulfil these demands to ensure that dakwah programmes continue to develop/spread unabated. Monetary contributions and volunteers are welcomed."

JIM has 10 Hidayah Centres nationwide. These centres facilitate conversion, train proselytisers and carry out support programmes for converts as described above ("Kini, permintaan untuk menguruskan pengislaman, menjaga kebajikan saudara baru, memberi bimbingan terhadap saudara baru, dan melaksanakan program latihan dakwah terus meningkat"), according to the website.

On Sept 29, JIM had a forum at Putrajaya in conjunction with its fundraising drive. The panelists ustaz Mohd Farid Ravi Abdullah and ustazah Nuraisyah Chua Abdullah (from their names, presumably Indian and Chinese converts respectively) were to speak on "Ke Arah Memartabatkan Saudara Kita" ('Towards Dignifying/Raising the Prestige of our [new] Muslim Brothers'). The third panellist was ustaz Yusuf Abdullah who, according to the programme notes, is a Jais proselytiser working with the Orang Asli.

On July 17, JIM had a talk entitled 'Understanding the Chinese Community' by Ann Wan Seng, a renowned author who is a Muslim convert.

Last year on July 23, JIM was co-organiser of a seminar titled "Dakwah dalam Masyarakat Majmuk" (Proselytising to a Mixed Community) where the speakers listed as Lim, Kamaruzzaman and Muhammad @ Nicholas Sylvester were to talk about preaching to the Chinese, Hindus and Christians respectively.

In January this year, JIM distributed for sale an autobiography titled 'Dari Kuil ke Pangkuan Islam' (From Temple to Islam's Embrace) penned by Indian convert Dalilah Abdullah. JIM said this motivation book is inspirational for purposes of proselytising.

JIM conducts free classes for new converts on 'Understanding Islam', 'Practical Aspects of Islam' and 'mengaji' (learning to read the Quran) at its community centres.

The organisation also carried this statement on why proselytising is every Muslim's duty: "If dakwah to non-Muslims is not carried out 'properly' (tak dilaksanakan dengan sempurna) and the light of Islam fails to reach those not yet Muslim, every Muslim will have to answer for this dereliction of duty on his day of reckoning.

"Let us carry out our responsibility to proselytise to every living being that is still not Muslim." ("Marilah kita tunaikan tanggungjawab dakwah ini kepada setiap insan yang belum Islam.")

The activities that I have listed above are merely a random sampling covering a brief period of time. There are plenty more. I leave it to readers to judge whether JIM should be considered as a proselytising body, albeit acknowledging that these are not the organisation's 'main agenda'.

As for Zulkarnain's second contention, my dismay with him equals his stated dismay with me. He has elected to read my statement "the state pumping the wind behind their sails" as meaning "funded by the government of Malaysia" or utilising "government's coffers funded by taxpayers".

Nowhere in my column did I use the words "funded"/"funding" or "coffers" or any phrases relating to government taxation. Nor did I ever make any reference to JIM receiving government handouts.

Nonetheless, since he has brought up the issue of taxpayers, I will now just observe that non-Muslim tax goes towards national funding for Islam. Whereas the zakat Muslims pay (which is tax-exempt) would not benefit the non-Muslim communities... unless one views missionary activities in that particular light.

On "the state pumping the wind behind their sails", I would reiterate that the administration, both at federal and state levels like municipal councils such as Shah Alam is the engine pumping the ideological current of 'creeping Islamisation'.

This 'wind' blowing the sail is the Islam Hadhari formulations of Abdullah Badawi and the Masyarakat Madani drive previously set in motion by Anwar Ibrahim which has legitimised the all-out, full-speed Islamisation drive.

The country's religious climate now, under Abdullah and earlier 'Mr Islamic State' Mahathir Mohamad who co-opted Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim)'s Anwar, is considerably different from Malaysia during Tunku's tenure.

It may also interest readers to know that JIM's vision statement is "to develop a country [community] which would see the full implementation of 'syariat Islam' (Allah's laws) by the year 2020".

You can watch JIM's video on YouTube .