PM's Religious Advisor Says No Chinese Mosque

Middle East Times

A top religious official dismissed a request from Malaysia's Chinese community to build its own mosques fearing segregation of the country's Muslims, a report said Tuesday.

Abdul Hamid Othman, the religious advisor to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, called on the government to disregard such requests as there were sufficient mosques in the country for all Muslims, the New Straits Times daily reported.

"If this is allowed by the authorities, I am afraid it will lead to disunity and segregate Muslims in the country," he said.

Othman said that the request by Chinese Muslims for their own mosques was unthinkable and carried wide political connotations.

"Now they want their own mosques, the next time around they will be asking for leaders to represent their ethnic groups," he said.

Danial Hakim Boey, a Chinese-Muslim who has been trying to build a Chinese mosque in Kuala Lumpur, said that the issue of building a mosque with Chinese architecture had been misinterpreted by the authorities.

"We just want a Chinese-designed mosque. There is no reason to have only Chinese going to the mosque, that is too partisan," Boey said. "Islam is, after all, for everybody, so we can have any design and it should reflect the universality of the religion," he said.

Boey, a practicing Muslim for 13 years, chairs the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Community in central Selangor state, where a majority of the country's 60,000 Chinese Muslims reside.

Boey pointed out that Indian Muslims in Malaysia had their own mosque buildings that reflected their culture.

"At the end of the day, we all pray in Arabic. We are not trying to change anything," he said.

Boey said that there was an underlying notion that Islam in Malaysia belonged to the Malays, who are defined as Muslims in the constitution.

"Islam is not a religion reserved for Arabs or just Malays, it is for everybody," he said. "Confusion arises when some Muslims who lack understanding of Islam give a wrong interpretation," he added.

Boey's perception echoes that of an outspoken young Muslim cleric in Malaysia, who has said that the Chinese should be allowed to build their own mosques and to preach in their own language.

"Malays assume they are the only pure Muslims, although Chinese Muslims may have stronger faith," Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying in February this year.

Multicultural Malaysia's almost 27 million population is made up of 60 percent Muslim Malays, 26 percent ethnic Chinese, and 8 percent ethnic Indians. The latter two groups are mostly Christians, Buddhists, or Hindus.

Source: Malaysia-Today

When it comes to the propagation of Islam in this country we seem to be bogged down by conservatives in high places who seem to have lost touch with what’s happening on the ground. Hamid Othman places politics (UMNO politics, ie.) above the sanctity of Islam.

Islam is for all races. Tell me, how is the elderly Chinese or Indian auntie or uncle going to deepen his knowledge of Islam if his mother tongue is not Malay. Does he or she have to master Malay first?

Sure, we have Bahasa Malaysia to foster unity among Malaysians. That is for communication among Malaysians.

But when it comes to truly understanding your faith or belief, you need to grasp the deeper message of the religion. For those weak in other languages, they need to listen to sermons or khutbahs in their mother tongue. That's what the Chinese or Indian mosque is for.

No, Mr. Danial Boey is wrong. The Chinese community there does not just want a Chinese-designed mosque. They NEED a mosque which can provide sermons and lessons on Islam in the Chinese language whether it be Mandarin, Cantonese or Hokkien.

To Hamid Othman and his kind,
Bahasa Malaysia may be sufficient for Malaysians but Islam is for ALL Races of the world.

kilamxx