Catholic Bishop Emeritus Paul Tan Chee Ing hailed the urging by Permaisuri Raja Zarith Sofia of Johor for Muslims to show equal respect to non-Muslims as the most “radically inclusive statement ever to come from a major civic leader on the country’s most fraught subject - inter-religious relations”.

“It’s like life-giving water to a parched desert traveller,” opined the former head of the Catholic Church in the Malacca-Johor diocese.

“In these times of scriptural literalism and exclusivism, the Permaisuri’s statement reminding Muslims of the rule of reciprocity is balm for battered inter-religious spirits in Malaysia,” said the Jesuit-trained prelate.

In a Facebook posting yesterday, Raja Zarith said Muslims in Malaysia are “very lucky” because they do not know what it’s like to be part of a minority group.

“Those of us who have studied or lived abroad know what it feels like to be a minority, and we learn to adapt. At the same time, we see the kindness and the acceptance of those who are Christians, Jews, or of other faiths, when we are in their countries,” reads the post on Raja Zarith’s profile.

Bishop Paul said the last two lines of the above-mentioned statement “would sit uneasily with some of the verses of the Medinan sections of the Muslim holy book”.

“But there you are - one has to decide whether the Permaisuri’s statement is (a) repudiation or what is more likely a plea for the setting aside of scriptural literalism,” argued the prelate.

Bishop Paul said “conflicting signals” emanating from the government counselling religious moderation on the one hand, and sheltering people espousing exclusivism and scriptural literalism on the other, have rendered Malaysians pained and confused about “what is what”.

“In this disordered situation, the clarity and inclusivity of the Permaisuri is like balm for lacerated spirits,” he said.

He said the Permaisuri’s religious inclusivity reminded him of the Permaisuri’s late father, Sultan Idris of Perak, who was noted for the attention he paid to the beliefs of his diverse subjects.

“The Raja Permaisuri Johor is upholding the inclusive legacy her father bequeath(ed) and is displaying the humane values of her broad education, such that one could say she upholds her religion; while at the same time, her survey takes in all of the surrounding world,” noted the bishop.

“I feel it’s a feat of moral equipoise in these confused and troubled times. Daulat Tuanku!” he added.