Tag Archives: Country: Malaysia

UCanews.com: Leaflets inviting people to a “Bible-burning festival” have stirred outrage in Malaysia. This coincided with a nationalist group leader urging to “seize and burn” Malay-language Bibles, prompting calls for his prosecution.

TheSunDaily.my: A Puteri Umno delegate today called on the authority to take stern action against the individuals who belittle or tarnish the image of Islam in the country.

Radio Australia: Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr has announced an exchange programme between Australia and Malaysia, which he says aims to foster moderate Islam.

AP: A Malaysian court on Thursday dismissed an attempt by a group of transsexuals to challenge a law that bars Muslim men from wearing women’s clothes.

Catholic Culture: A leading Malaysian government official is warning non-Muslims that state governments can take punitive action against those who attempt to convert Muslims.

Malaysia Chronicle: He said the establishment of an Islamic state was not a political objective but a religious obligation, which was of higher priority for Pas. “There is no need for me to repeat it as it is nothing new and almost everybody knows it. Pas cannot avoid from implementing anything connected to Islam whether in the economy, social sphere or Islamic law.

Volokh Conspiracy: A bookstore manager was charged in the Syariah High Court here with distributing a banned book by Canadian author Irshad Manji.

Religion Clause Blog: A 5-judge panel of Malaysia’s Federal Court has upheld the constitutionality of Sec. 53(1) of the state of Negeri Sembilan’s Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992 which outlaws Muslims teaching Islam without accreditation by the state’s Islamic Religious Council.

Religion Clause: The New York Times reported yesterday that Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari was stopped by Malaysian authorities at Kuala Lumpur airport on Thursday and was deported back to Saudi Arabia at the request of the Saudi king where the journalist will face blasphemy charges . . .

Religion Clause: In Malaysia yesterday, an appeals court held that civil courts have jurisdiction to hear a case brought by a woman who is challenging the validity of her conversion to Islam as a child.

The Washington Post: Activists launched a rare legal case Tuesday aimed at fostering gay rights in Malaysia by challenging a police ban on an anti-homophobia arts festival.

News from The Associated Press: Islamic authorities will provide counseling to a dozen Malaysian Muslims to “restore their belief and faith” after they attended a community dinner at a church hall . . .

Religion Clause: The Merdeka Center for Opinion Research has recently released a survey of Muslim youth in Indonesia and Malaysia. The study, Values, Dreams, Ideals: Muslim Youth In Southeast Asia, reports on surveys conducted in October and November 2010 among young people age 15 to 25. A portion of the report deals with attitudes of those surveyed toward religion and government. Here is a portion of the report’s conclusions . . .

AP: A Malaysian transsexual who underwent sex-change surgery has lost her bid to officially change her gender, with a court ruling that a person’s sex is determined at birth, her lawyer said Thursday.

Religion Clause Blog: According to the Malay Mail, an appeals court in Malaysia yesterday rejected a claim that the protection in Art. 11(1) of the Malaysian Constitution allowing every person the right to profess and practice his religion precludes prosecution of a follower of Ayah Pin for apostasy by a Syariah court.

International News Network: A vast majority of young Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia disapprove of the traditional acceptance of polygamy. They are, however, reluctant to openly support interfaith marriages or premarital sex, says a new survey.

AP: A 25-year-old Malaysian transsexual wants a court to affirm she is a woman following sex-change surgery so she can change her name and gender on her identification documents, her lawyer said Thursday.

AP: Malaysia’s government sought to defuse new religious tensions Monday following allegations that church leaders were conspiring to make Christianity the official religion in this Muslim-majority country

AP: “Malaysian authorities have sent 66 Muslim schoolboys identified by teachers as effeminate to a four-day camp where they will receive counseling on masculine behavior to discourage them from being gay, an official said Tuesday.”

Catholic Culture: The government of Malaysia has announced plans to allow the importation of Bibles, without the warning label that had been required under an earlier announced policy.

Religion Clause Blog: A Malaysian government minister says that non-Muslims who quote verses from the Qur’an for ulterior motives or to question Islamic practices may be prosecuted under the country’s Penal Code (Sec. 295 – 298A) for insulting the Qur’an.

AP: After Christian leaders voiced anger over the detention of the Bibles, the government agreed earlier this month to release them, but stamped many with serial numbers and government seals that stated they were meant “for Christians only.”

AP: Malaysia’s main Christian grouping on Wednesday rejected a government attempt to settle a protracted row over seized shipments of Malay-language Bibles, calling instead for the right to freely practice its religion.

Religion Clause Blog: “In Malaysia yesterday, the High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) upheld the requirement that only Muslims can practice as Syariah lawyers.”

Religion Clause Blog: The Ministry has stamped on each Bible the warning: “The Good News Bible is for the use of Christians only.”

CNSNews: Malaysia’s government has agreed to release some 35,000 imported Bibles seized by customs officials amid a dispute over the use of the word “Allah” as a translation for God.

FreeMalaysiaToday: “Two DAP MPs take the government to task for holding on to the confiscated Malay-language bibles, and for making contradicatory statements.”

AP: “The main Christian grouping in Muslim-majority Malaysia said Thursday it was “fed up” with the government’s refusal to allow the distribution of tens of thousands of Bibles, saying this was an affront to religious freedoms.”

Associated Press: “In this Muslim-majority country, it’s OK to be Christian, Buddhist or Hindu. But not Shiite. Malaysian religious police raided a three-story shop-house last month and detained more than 100 Shiites who had gathered to mark the death of one of their most beloved saints, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was killed in the year 680.”

CathNews Asia: “A directive to remove crosses, other religious symbols and the ban on hymns at the 2010 Christmas Day celebration at the residence of Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Murphy Pakiam attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was the ‘arbritrary decision’ of an aide, reports say.”

Associated Press: “Shia Muslims in Malaysia have made a rare public plea for authorities to let them legally worship amid fears of a clampdown on outlawed religious groups.”

Associated Press: “A Muslim gay man in Malaysia says he fears for his safety after speaking about his sexuality in an Internet video that attracted online death threats and accusations by religious authorities that he is insulting Islam.”

Radio Netherlands Worldwide: “Malaysia’s law minister on Wednesday shot down calls to ban underage marriage, despite an uproar over the recent wedding of a 14-year-old Muslim school girl.”

The Straits Times: “Malaysia’s top court on Friday sidestepped a ruling on whether children can be converted to Islam by one parent, a lawyer said, in a case closely watched by the nation’s non-Muslim minorities.”

CBN: “A two-hour journey from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur revealed an isolated encampment where some Christian converts say they’ve been taken in order to be forced back to Islam.” (includes video)

Businessweek: “The High Court struck out an application by the Malaysian Assembly of Muslim Youths, which demanded that Sisters in Islam change its name because it was allegedly misleading people to believe that the group speaks for all Muslims, said Ratna Osman, program manager of the women’s group.”

Bernama: “Stern action will be taken against individuals or political parties which raise sensitive religious and racial issues when campaigning in the upcoming Batu Sapi parliamentary seat by-election.”

EducationNews.org: “Islamic leaders led by grand mufti Mustafa Cerić are working closely with the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) to establish an Islamic university. A close partner of Malaysia’s IIUM, the IIIT is a US-based non-profit organisation working towards Islamising ‘secular’ spheres. It was first set up with seed funding from the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamisation project of Bosnia’s new elite trained in Malaysia may complicate social harmony and its entry into the EU.”

Associated Press: “Malaysia’s prime minister called Monday for creation of a ‘global movement of moderates’ from all faiths to marginalize extremists from all religions.”

The Canadian Press: “A Malaysian court has awarded damages to indigenous villagers after ruling that authorities unlawfully demolished their Christian chapel, their lawyer said Thursday . . . The High Court ruled Wednesday that authorities had trespassed on their land and failed to honour a pledge made in 2001 to list the site as customary native land, lawyer Steven Thiru said. It awarded damages to the 51 villagers, with the amount to be decided later.”

Gulf Times: “Malaysia, the world’s largest market for sukuk, plans to improve its legal system to become an alternative location to the UK for resolving international Islamic finance disputes.”

AFP: “Homosexuality remains a social taboo across the racial and religious spectrum in Malaysia, a conservative country which is also home to large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities . . . there is a growing sense of activism among the gay community which is beginning to mobilise to fight for its rights.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of London-based Barclays Plc, is offering Shariah-compliant repurchase agreements to allow Islamic banks and investors manage their funds. Barclays introduced the product worldwide two weeks ago and is focusing on clients in Malaysia and the Middle East, where the largest Islamic financial institutions are based, Harris Irfan, the bank’s Dubai-based head of Islamic finance products, said in an interview.”

Bloomberg: “Emirates NBD PJSC of Dubai is waiving payments on personal loans for the holy month of Ramadan. Maybank Islamic Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur started automating charitable donations. Jakarta-based PT Bank Syariah Mandiri sponsors a television slot teaching Islamic banking. Marketing campaigns aimed at reminding the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims to follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammad that ban receiving interest have increased as the global economy recovers this year, according to the Pan Arab Research Center in Dubai.”

BusinessWeek: “Leading Islamic finance scholars are preparing the first global certification for Shariah experts, seeking to bolster the industry’s reputation and make it easier for banks to find qualified advisers. The International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance in Kuala Lumpur will pick a board of regulators by year- end to issue permits for scholars qualified to sit on Shariah boards, said Aznan Hasan, the president of the oversight committee. The scholars decide whether financial products meet the religion’s precepts, including a ban on interest payments.”

Bloomberg: “‘Emerging markets is where we see global growth going for the next couple of decades and the source for a lot better opportunities,’ Bryce Fegley, chief investment officer at Saturna Sdn., the Malaysian unit of Saturna Capital LLC, the biggest Shariah-compliant stock fund in the U.S., said in an interview on Aug. 10. Saturna’s expertise in Islamic finance ‘steered us to Kuala Lumpur as opposed to Singapore, Hong Kong or other emerging markets,’ he said.”

Associated Press: “A Malaysian state’s attempt to revive use of gold and silver coins common in early Islamic societies has run afoul of the country’s central bank, which said Friday that local governments have no authority to issue their own currency.”

Associated Press: “Two Malaysian Muslims testified in court Tuesday to deny charges that they torched a Christian church in an incident that set off a string of assaults on places of worship early this year.”

The Economist: “Officials are now keen to improve what they call the distorted image of Malaysian justice. Witness, they say, the arrival of two female sharia judges, a first for Malaysia, and a rarity in the Islamic world, who started work on August 2nd, the same day as Mr Anwar’s hearing. Liberals have long complained that such religious courts are biased, with women finding it hard to win a divorce from an absent or abusive husband. Another concern is that courts order insufficient alimony payments and too often favour men in custody cases.”

Associated Press: “A Malaysian court fined 12 Muslims on Tuesday and sentenced one of them to a week in prison for illegally protesting the construction of a Hindu temple and parading a severed cow’s head.”

NY Times: “Women’s groups have applauded the recent appointment of two female judges to Islamic courts in Malaysia, but its significance is not yet clear: The new judges will have to wait a month before finding out whether they will be prevented from hearing certain cases . . . ”

Boston.com (AP): “Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah courts have appointed their first female judges — a move praised by women’s rights activists Thursday as a boost for a judicial system often accused of favoring men.”

Bernama: “A non-Muslim woman lawyer who obtained leave in her preliminary legal bid to be a syarie lawyer, has filed a judicial review application to challenge a decision that only Muslim lawyers are allowed to practise at the Syariah Court in Federal Territory.”

Wall Street Journal: “Shamala Sathiyaseelan has spent the better part of her children’s youth fighting for the right to raise them. A Malaysian woman of Hindu descent, she was married to her husband, Jeyaganesh, in a Hindu ceremony in 1998. In 2002 Jeyaganesh secretly converted to Islam. Days later, he ‘converted’ his children to Islam without consulting his wife and consequently obtained custody rights over the children from a Shariah court. Shamala protested in the civil courts, arguing that she is not bound by Shariah court rulings as a non-Muslim and that her children’s conversion is void. Now, the country’s highest court is hearing the appeal.”

ABC: “Libya and Thailand are among 14 countries elected as new members of the UN Human Rights Council in a vote that rights advocates have criticised as stripping the meaning from the body. Angola, Mauritania, Uganda, Maldives, Malaysia, Qatar, Moldova, Poland, Ecuador, Guatemala, Spain and Switzerland have also been elected by the General Assembly for three-year terms on the 47-nation council, which is based in Geneva.”

The Gospel Herald: “Christian Federation of Malaysia Chairman Ng Moon Hing stressed that the Malay word for God is as much a part of the languages of indigenous Christians as it is a part of the language Muslims use. ‘Native Malaysians have been using ‘Allah’ for centuries and now you are saying they cannot any longer,’ he said to The Christian Post on the sidelines of a recent meeting of Anglican archbishops in Singapore.”

Reuters: “Malaysia’s highest court began proceedings on Monday on a landmark inter-religious child custody dispute whose outcome could further raise political tension in this mainly Muslim country.”

Malaysian National News Agency: “Sex education will not be taught as a specific subject in schools as it has been imparted through other subjects, the Dewan Negara was told Tuesday.”

Business Week: “A ruling party lawmaker and his second wife pleaded guilty Tuesday to entering into a polygamous marriage without official consent amid a debate in Malaysia over Islamic morality among politicians.”

AP: “A Muslim woman’s caning sentence for drinking beer has been commuted unexpectedly, ending a high-profile case that raised questions about Islamic laws intruding into personal matters in Malaysia.”

Reuters: “Foreign sex workers in Malaysia are paying local men up to $1,500 a month to become their husbands so that they can stay on in the country to ply their trade, the New Straits Times newspaper said on Tuesday.”

BBC News: “The Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia has criticised the authorities for not pressing charges against two Muslim journalists who took Holy Communion. The two apparently put communion wafers in their mouths and then spat them out.”

Religion Clause Blog: “The American Muslim on Wednesday published an interview with Prof. Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysia’s best known public intellectual, on the controversy over Christians in Malaysia using the term ‘Allah’ for God in their Malay language publications.”

Anwar Ibrahim writing in the Wall Street Journal: “Few Muslims around the world would endorse the claim that we have a monopoly on the word ‘Allah.’ It is accepted that the word was already in the lexicon of pre-Islamic Arabs. Arabic’s sister Semitic languages also refer to God as ‘Allah’: namely, ‘Elaha’ in Aramaic, and ‘Elohim’ in Hebrew.”

PTI News: “Two Muslim prayer halls in Malaysia were set on fire today, police said, following a spate of violence against churches triggered by a row over the use of the word ‘Allah’.”

NY Times: “Eight men were arrested on Wednesday in Malaysia in connection with the firebombing of a Pentecostal church last month, one in a series of attacks that has targeted a dozen Christian churches, the police said.”

Sydney Morning Herald: “A Malaysian man has failed in a bid to overturn a ban on sodomy, after a court ruled that the law criminalising the act was constitutional, his lawyer says . . . The Court of Appeal however rejected the defence arguments and upheld the verdict against Abdul Rahim, a city hall worker who was also sentenced to 22 strokes of the cane.”

Times Online: “Malaysian Christians will attend services in guarded churches alongside plain-clothes detectives tomorrow after another week of unsolved attacks on religious institutions provoked by a controversy over the use of the word Allah.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Malaysia, vandalism against Christian churches continue . . . Malaysian Insider today and the New Straits Times yesterday say that in fact the ban on use of certain words by non-Muslim publications is broader than previously reported. Guidelines issued to the Herald in 2007 also barred it from using three other words: Kaabah (Islam’s holiest shrine in Mecca), Solat (prayer) and Baitullah (House of God) . . . ”

“Christian leaders in Malaysia refused Tuesday to stop using the word ‘Allah’ for God despite attacks on churches in a religious crisis that has raised concerns about the erosion of minority rights in the Muslim-majority country.”

The Star: “Six Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGO) have offered their help to prevent any further attacks on churches. Their efforts would begin in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor but could expand to other states as well with the help of more Muslim NGOs.”

“Three churches in Malaysia were attacked with firebombs, causing extensive damage to one, as Muslims pledged Friday to prevent Christians from using the word ‘Allah,’ escalating religious tensions in the multiracial country.”

channelnewsasia: “A church in Malaysia has been fire-bombed in an attack that gutted its ground floor, church officials said on Friday, escalating a dispute over the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims.”

NY Times: “‘Men are by nature polygamous,’ said Dr. Rohaya, Mr. Ikram’s third wife, flanked by the other three women and Mr. Ikram for an interview on a recent morning.”

New York Times: “The Ikhwan Polygamy Club is managed by Global Ikhwan, a company whose businesses include bread and noodle factories, a chicken-processing plant, pharmacies, cafes and supermarkets. Mr. Ikram is a director of the company. While polygamy is legal in predominantly Muslim Malaysia, the club has come under fire from the government and religious leaders, who suspect it may be an attempt to revive Al-Arqam, a defunct Islamic movement headed by Mrs. Hatijah’s husband, Mr. Ashaari Mohamad, who is the founder and owner of Global Ikhwan. Al-Arqam was banned in 1994 for ‘deviant’ religious teachings.”