The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has suffered a serious
setback in his attempts to foster Muslim-Christian dialogue after the
Malaysian Government banned an interfaith conference he was due to be
chairing this week.
Christian and Muslim scholars from around the world had bought air tickets,
written papers and begun to pack their bags for the Building Bridges
conference, the sixth in a series intended to foster dialogue between the
two religions. It was cancelled with just two weeks notice.
The three-day conference was set up in the wake of September 11 and meant to
be an annual get-together of Christian and Muslim academics in an attempt to
find theological understandings that might help prevent future terrorist
attacks.
At the first conference, at Lambeth Palace in London six years ago, Lord
Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, fêted Tony Blair. In return, the
Prime Minister invited the Muslim and Christian scholars to a high-profile
reception at Downing Street.
Since then the scholars have met in New York, Qatar and Sarajevo. This year’s
seminar in Malaysia was to signal a breakthrough in Muslim-Christian
relations in a region where they are particularly delicate.
However, it is understood that some influential Muslims believe that
Christianity is “not a heavenly religion” and therefore they frown on
interreligious dialogue.
Although the Malaysian Government allowed Dr Williams into the country to
preach at the consecration of a new Anglican bishop, it said that it would
not permit the interfaith dialogue to take place.
Instead Dr Williams is taking part in a hastily convened visit to Sri Lanka.
Preaching a sermon there yesterday, he outlined the “terrible consequences”
of fear caused by division. He said: “We must keep our bridges in good
repair, the bridges for listening and sympathy, hearing the truth from one
another, learning what the other’s experience is like.”
Earlier this week it emerged that there are plans for Mr Blair to head a
global interfaith initiative when he leaves office.
Canon Guy Wilkinson, the Archbishop’s secretary for interfaith relations, who
has spent nine months organising the Malaysia conference, said that he hoped
that it would still take place, albeit in another country.
“All the papers will be used in other ways,” he said. “The situation [in
Malaysia] is delicate. A whole series of interreligious cases are in front
of the constitutional court and awaiting judgment. The view was that it
would be better not to have an international gathering of Muslims and
Christians at the moment in that context.”
The cases include that of Lina Joy, whose birth name is Azlina Jailani, who
has filed an appeal to have the word “Islam” removed from her identity card.
She wants a declaration that Article 11 of the Federal Constitution gives
her the right to convert to another religion. She is understood to have
become a Christian.
Islam is the official state religion in Malaysia and Muslims are subject to
sharia. Alongside this is a system of civil law that protects Christians and
people of other faiths, and the constitution technically allows some freedom
of religion. But there are internal tensions over conversions to other
religions and over whether Malaysia is an Islamic state or a secular one.
NonMuslims represent about 40 per cent of the 26-million strong population.
Angry protesters shut down one human rights event in May last year organised
by Article 11, a coalition of 13 religious and human rights groups named
after the constitutional article that guarantees the right of every
Malaysian citizen to “profess and practise his religion”.
Professor Mona Siddiqui, director of the Centre for the Study of Islam at
Glasgow University, who had been due to attend, said the conference was
formally cancelled with just two weeks notice.
“Many of us were rather distressed about it,” she said. “These conferences are
important on many levels. Malaysia would have been a litmus test to see how
the mix of different religions and different ethnicities worked. I do not
know exactly what happened, except there was contention at the highest level
in Malaysia.”
She said that past conferences had been “invaluable” in enabling Christian and
Muslim scholars to explore their different understandings of texts in the
Bible and the Koran.
Canon David Marshall, former chaplain to Dr Williams, said it was hoped that
the conference would still take place, possibly at Canterbury. “It has a
very specific contribution to make and it is important that it continues,”
he said.
The British participants
Michael Ipgrave Archdeacon of Southwark and an interfaith adviser to
the Archbishop of Canterbury. Edited a collection of papers from at least
one previous Building Bridges seminar.
Hugh Goddard Professor of Christian-Muslim Relations at Nottingham
University. Fluent in Arabic, he wrote his thesis on modern Egyptian Muslim
perceptions of Christianity.
David Marshall Former chaplain to Dr Rowan Williams and his
predecessor, he is an expert on Christian-Muslim dialogue. He organised the
first four Building Bridges seminars and was due to attend this one as a
consultant.
Michael Northcott Reader in theology and Christian ethics at the
University of Edinburgh’s divinity school, he taught practical theology at
the Seminari Theologi Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur before going to Scotland in
1989. He is also Associate Rector at St James, Leith, and Canon Theologian
of Liverpool Cathedral.
Mona Siddiqui, left Professor of Islamic studies and public
understanding and director of the Centre for the Study of Islam at Glasgow
University. She attended the previous seminars and writes regularly for the
specialist and national press, including The Times and is an expert
on classical Islam
Islam is fast becoming another Pakistan.
yash, London, UK
"And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers." (Sura 3:85)
The above is rubbish!! God is not heartless as written by uneducated person after the death of Muhammad.
In Malaysia , top policy makers are Malays and they in a way, are slowly planning to outclassed the Non Malays. Cases are still pending in courts. Lina Joy is a Muslim by birth but chose Christianity. Till today she is having tough time to declare herself as a Christian. Why? Where is the freedom or religion? Families are torn apart by religious authorities for the name sake of Islam? There cases after cases on religious matters that favours the Malays/Islam. The High Court Judges are gutless and controlled by the Executive. There is no 100% free Judiciary power.
NEP (New Economic Plan) is only to favour the Malays and Najib said it all. It is a planned discrimination policy to the Non Malays. HELP !!! the Non MALAYsians.
Gabbar Singh, Ipoh, Malaysia
Dear "Jesus is a Prophet",
Are you serious about having a dialogue? If the truth is on your side, what is there to lose to allow a dialogue? If you can determine the truth, do you think that other people can, too? Why is it that you, a Muslim, want to silence others? If Allah is all-powerful, do you think He can keep His truth from being undermined?
Layne , Midland, MI, USA
Malaysia has done the right thing. These Chirstian Evangelists have been doing their damnest to mislead the Muslims. Jesus is not the son of God and neither is he God. This is the Pauline nightmare that is imposed on the foolish Christians who are wittingly or unwittingly working with the Zionists to undermine Islam. Under the guise of building bridges and dialogue these Christians aim to hide the fact that even now the Judeo-Christian army is killing innocent Muslims in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. You Christians who are the pawns of your master, the Jews, are not sincere in wanting a dialogue
Jesus is a Prophet, Singapore, Malaysia
Ben, I agree. I always found a hint of 'zen' and pliability in my Buddhist friends. Even the atheist – the oldest and most resilient group still in existence – would say that a fundamentalist in any religion is an oddball, a comic at best, a veritable nuisance to himself and others at worst. Historically the concept of good and evil were imbued in man long before religions came into existence and ironically, man himself bore these groups to emphasize and arbiter these concepts.
Tommy Peters, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Malasia progressive? They have the death penalty for apostacy. None of the Abrahamic faiths are logical or 'heavenly', if you read that as "very good, sublime etc". Buddhism is the most peaceful religion for a reason - it teaches that God does not exist and humans have the choice to do the rigt thing.
Ben, York,
Malaysia is a progressive muslum nation and like another great Islamic dominated country Turkey, arguably one of the best examples of what can be achieved through education.
The cancelling of this summit has achieved about as much as what the summit could have achieved. It has gotten people talking about religious divide. These ebbs and flows of openness will continue until people achieve the freedom to make their own decisions.
My sense is that it is this very erosion of religion that some holy men are worried about. Controlling the population as they become educated gets more difficult. The West went from 90% church going at the turn of last century to 10% 3-4 generations later.
This is a serious threat to any religion which has historically had such a strong grasp on their people. Building bridges might just lead to personal choice, which is not consistent with some people's view of the world.
Craig, Sydney, Australia
Simon has a point. What he may be trying to say is that the Shariah in Malaysia just cannot run parallel with its secular constitution and that true adherents on the bench and in parliament just cannot be depended on to defend the constitution.
Tommy Peters, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
"O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." (Sura 5:51)
"Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah..." (Sura 3:28)
"And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers." (Sura 3:85)
Don't be so hard on these poor schmoes; they're jsut being pious.
Neil Stephenson, York,
Mr Feith: Definitely Shariya law is in force in Malaysia. It is supposed to apply to Muslims and Muslim matters only. We have a dual court system -- syariah courts for Musliams and civil courts for everyone else. And Malaysia is full of internal tensions of a religious nature, nothing to do with the military.
irene, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Every Muslim over 16 is under sharia law in Malaysia.
Over the last ten years I have noticed a steady polarization between the Muslim and the Chinese and Indian communities. Attempts have been made to impose Islamic morality in some states and there has been an increase in the activities of the enforcement officers of the religious affairs department. I worry about the future stability of Malaysia and the increasing intolerant wahhabi influence coming in from Saudi Arabia.
Paul, Singapore, Singapore
It is high time the world sees beyond the supposedly tranquility of Malaysia to the silent turmoil caused by racial and religious (Islamic) bigotry in this country.
Families are broken apart in the name of Islam, non-Malays are being systematically marginalized and people who speak up on these "senstive" issues are threatened with death by fanatics. The government stands by in silence when the schools are being systematically Islamized and the judiciary becomes bias and cannot dispense simple justice when Islam comes into the picture. All our tertiary students are forced to take an Islamic paper otherwise they cannot graduate. The 'doa' (Islamic prayer) is now obligatory in practically all government functions irregardless if citizens of other faiths feels comfortable or not. Practically all the top civil service positions in the country are held by Malay Muslims.
I think Islam is a beautiful religion but in Malaysia, it has subtlely become unaccomodating and even oppressive.
Tony , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Before the silent, gentle and peace-loving 'sufi' majority feel embarrassed and betrayed, it must be made aware that the Malaysian government, by canceling this programme, has preempted a potential violent Islamist’ mob on its soil. This mob is aware of the injunctions against parrying with the infidel and that such a dialogue fits the bill.
Tommy Peters, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
There is a group of Muslims from the very top levels both in the Executives and Judiciary who feel that non-Muslim should be governed and punished the same way like their Muslim countrymen. Many of them feels that those restrictive features in Sharia laws notably 'Khalwat" (close-proximity between man and woman), cohabitating, and divorce should equally applies to non-Muslim. There are few on going cases that need to be decided. One of them being a divorce case where a Hindu couple got married and the husband subsequently converted to Islam. The Federal Court, apex court of Malaysia, needs to decide whether a divorce case involving a Muslim and a non-Muslim should fall under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court. One must bear in mind that the Federal Constitution of Malaysia guarantees the freedom of religion and whenever a case involves a non-muslim the Syariah Court has no jurisdiction whatsoever. The cancellation means the aforesaid group do not wish to give room for criticisms.
Simon, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
To Douglas Feith: Please read more about Malaysia before you even speak anything about her. First of all, I can't understand from where you have heard about your so-called 'military tensions' and therefore non-sensical to lecture the big-boys not to come to Malaysia for your 'security' reason. And you talk about never heard any refusal for interfaith dialogue as if you have been reading a lot about Malaysia. And the most ridiculous one, Syariah law is not in force in Malaysia. No offence Douglas, but you seriously need to read more before you put in any serious comment.
Simone Limo, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Although the State's legislative and constitutional matters take precedence, it is nevertheless a shame that such a conference is cancelled.
Apart from the fact that Muslims are absolutely required to believe that both the Old Testament and the Gospels are the revealed words of God (although they may have suffered interpolation in their present forms) the comments that "some influential Muslims believe that Christianity is “not a heavenly religion” and therefore they frown on inter-religious dialogue" is unjustifiable. The issue is eloquently dealt with by the verse of The Holy Qur'an in Chapter 16, Verse 126, which categorically states:
"Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation and argue with them in a way that is best. Surely, your Lord knows best who has strayed from His way; and He also knows those who are rightly guided."
In this verse God promotes inter-faith dialogue and further assigns Himself, not muslims, to Judge between the guided and the astray.
Sirajul Haq Khan, Woodford Green, UK, www.muslimlawstudents.co.uk
sharia law is in force in malaysia and recently they have tried to extend it to cover non-muslims eg the 2 case where the spouse divorced then converted to Islam and their children forcing the other spouse to be subject under the sharia court.
the religious and racial divide in malaysia can only grow worse from now on. i fear there will be another riot like may 13 only this time it will not only be racially moticated but also involve religion.
alex, kl, malaysia
Malaysiah is ful of internal tensions of more a military than religious nature.I sucha country a large conference of holy people would not be necessarily the right place, regarding their security.
I have never heard the malaysian government refusing interfaith dialogue in official comments. I would put my trust in them.
AS far as I know shariya law is not in force in malaysiah.
please correct me if otherwise.
Douglas Feith, Townsend, US /Washington DC.
the racial and religious schism that defines malaysia has come to the notice of the world. it is also a sign that a struggle is simmering, and its outcome a proxy of islam's relation with the rest of humanity.
Ching Chee Choong, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
They should have allowed it and sent their own sharia experts from the Religious departments as observers and commentators.
The theme is Building bridges and the conference intends
to do just that. Why didn't the organisers shift the conference to Singapore or Thailand?
abraham, bandar seri begawan, brunei