The day Catholics welcomed a man from PAS in Shah Alam
PAS MP Khalid Samad gets standing ovation from 2,000 Christians attending a congregation at the Church of Divine Mercy in Shah Alam.
On March 27, YB Khalid Abdul Samad became the first elected Muslim Member of Parliament to step into the Roman Catholic Church of the Divine Mercy.
Perhaps more stunning is that Khalid is from Parti Islam SeMalaysia and was the one to initiate contact. And he reassured the Christians in attendance that they could continue to use the word “Allah” in their worship without fear of persecution.
Khalid said that in all Arabic-speaking communities, “Allah” just means “God”, therefore it is not “unique to Islam”. He had once attended church in the Middle East and heard a Christian priest preach in Arabic with no trouble.
“For us, the problem is we're not an Arabic-speaking country. Therefore some people question why non-Muslims have to use this word when it is not really necessary. People then make all sorts of speculations about ideology. But there's no reason for the word to be banned from Christian worship. We're quite happy if people use it.
“It's not just my personal opinion but is consistent with the party's view. Basically it shouldn't be any problem. And I made it quite clear to the people in church that night,” Khalid explained.
The parishioners were especially impressed that Khalid was the one who approached them.“It was his own initiative. He contacted our parish priest, Father Paulino Miranda, and said he wanted to come and talk to us,” Joseph Victor, chairman of the church's parish pastoral council told The Malaysian Insider on behalf of Father Paulino who is away on sabbatical till April 18.
“That's a good sign. Everybody was very happy. This is the first time a Pas MP is coming to a Catholic church. It shows they're not against Catholic churches,” he added.
A 9-minute video clip of the dialogue has been made availble on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpwAAWPK6pQ).
SHAH ALAM is not the only place in Selangor nor Khalid Abdul Samad the only representative of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas) who is actively engaging non-Muslim constituents since forming the state government last month.
His fellow Pas colleague and MP for Kuala Selangor, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, has been making inroads among the non-Muslim Malay communities in his constituency since March 16, barely 2 weeks after the 12th general elections.
He may have even set the precedent for being the first elected Muslim MP, let alone from Pas, to attend Mass in a Roman Catholic church.
Dzulkefly, who is also the head of the Pas Research Centre, the party think tank, candidly admitted he had gone for Sunday service at St Paul The Hermit in Ijok on March 16.
He remembers the date well because it was the week preceeding Good Friday, which coincidentally falls the day after Prophet Muhammad's birthday and a significant event on the Islamic calendar.
It was even reported in Harakah, Pas's official publication. Surprisingly, no Muslim from his organisation kicked up a fuss about it.
Dzulkefly told The Malaysian Insider he had made it his personal manifesto, not just the party's, to fight for the rights of all religious adherents in his constituency to be able to practice their worship freely.
“The right to worship is enshrined in the Federal Constitution. I just wanted to make a personal commitment to ensure that everyone can practise their religious worship,” he said.
He explained that he had been engaging the Chinese and Indian communities in his constituency which make up 40% of the electorate since the start of the election campaign. Many of them, especially the Indians who were of Hindu and Christian faiths, had approached him for help.
“Quite a number of churches in my parliamentary constituency are all in bad shape. For over 20 years, they've not been allowed to rebuild or erect a new building for worship
“After all, as I told the church people when I was there and quoted a verse from the Quran, we are all a brotherhood of men. God created us all,” he said.
“Islam encourages and enjoins a mutual respect and understanding. When people are religious, then they will be against all forms of discrimination and social ills, including corruption. It's for the betterment of society,” he added.
Source:
Source: The Malaysianinsiders
The day Catholics welcomed a man from PAS in Shah Alam
Dzulkefly may be the first Muslim MP at a Catholic Mass
When would Umno leaders learn to respect others? Remember the Umno MP from Johor who kick a fuss about the missionary schools, the cross and statute of Mother Mary? Remember the Umno chief minister who stop the Ma Zu statute project in Kudat, Sabah because he says the Imam of Kudat complain? Tok Guru approved the construction of a Buddhist Temple in Tumpat and allowed pork to be sold openly in Kelantan. PAS is an Islamic party and Kelantan is an Islamic State.
PAS MP Khalid Samad gets standing ovation from 2,000 Christians attending a congregation at the Church of Divine Mercy in Shah Alam.
On March 27, YB Khalid Abdul Samad became the first elected Muslim Member of Parliament to step into the Roman Catholic Church of the Divine Mercy.
Perhaps more stunning is that Khalid is from Parti Islam SeMalaysia and was the one to initiate contact. And he reassured the Christians in attendance that they could continue to use the word “Allah” in their worship without fear of persecution.
Khalid said that in all Arabic-speaking communities, “Allah” just means “God”, therefore it is not “unique to Islam”. He had once attended church in the Middle East and heard a Christian priest preach in Arabic with no trouble.
“For us, the problem is we're not an Arabic-speaking country. Therefore some people question why non-Muslims have to use this word when it is not really necessary. People then make all sorts of speculations about ideology. But there's no reason for the word to be banned from Christian worship. We're quite happy if people use it.
“It's not just my personal opinion but is consistent with the party's view. Basically it shouldn't be any problem. And I made it quite clear to the people in church that night,” Khalid explained.
The parishioners were especially impressed that Khalid was the one who approached them.“It was his own initiative. He contacted our parish priest, Father Paulino Miranda, and said he wanted to come and talk to us,” Joseph Victor, chairman of the church's parish pastoral council told The Malaysian Insider on behalf of Father Paulino who is away on sabbatical till April 18.
“That's a good sign. Everybody was very happy. This is the first time a Pas MP is coming to a Catholic church. It shows they're not against Catholic churches,” he added.
A 9-minute video clip of the dialogue has been made availble on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpwAAWPK6pQ).
SHAH ALAM is not the only place in Selangor nor Khalid Abdul Samad the only representative of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas) who is actively engaging non-Muslim constituents since forming the state government last month.
His fellow Pas colleague and MP for Kuala Selangor, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, has been making inroads among the non-Muslim Malay communities in his constituency since March 16, barely 2 weeks after the 12th general elections.
He may have even set the precedent for being the first elected Muslim MP, let alone from Pas, to attend Mass in a Roman Catholic church.
Dzulkefly, who is also the head of the Pas Research Centre, the party think tank, candidly admitted he had gone for Sunday service at St Paul The Hermit in Ijok on March 16.
He remembers the date well because it was the week preceeding Good Friday, which coincidentally falls the day after Prophet Muhammad's birthday and a significant event on the Islamic calendar.
It was even reported in Harakah, Pas's official publication. Surprisingly, no Muslim from his organisation kicked up a fuss about it.
Dzulkefly told The Malaysian Insider he had made it his personal manifesto, not just the party's, to fight for the rights of all religious adherents in his constituency to be able to practice their worship freely.
“The right to worship is enshrined in the Federal Constitution. I just wanted to make a personal commitment to ensure that everyone can practise their religious worship,” he said.
He explained that he had been engaging the Chinese and Indian communities in his constituency which make up 40% of the electorate since the start of the election campaign. Many of them, especially the Indians who were of Hindu and Christian faiths, had approached him for help.
“Quite a number of churches in my parliamentary constituency are all in bad shape. For over 20 years, they've not been allowed to rebuild or erect a new building for worship
“After all, as I told the church people when I was there and quoted a verse from the Quran, we are all a brotherhood of men. God created us all,” he said.
“Islam encourages and enjoins a mutual respect and understanding. When people are religious, then they will be against all forms of discrimination and social ills, including corruption. It's for the betterment of society,” he added.
Source:
Source: The Malaysianinsiders
The day Catholics welcomed a man from PAS in Shah Alam
Dzulkefly may be the first Muslim MP at a Catholic Mass
When would Umno leaders learn to respect others? Remember the Umno MP from Johor who kick a fuss about the missionary schools, the cross and statute of Mother Mary? Remember the Umno chief minister who stop the Ma Zu statute project in Kudat, Sabah because he says the Imam of Kudat complain? Tok Guru approved the construction of a Buddhist Temple in Tumpat and allowed pork to be sold openly in Kelantan. PAS is an Islamic party and Kelantan is an Islamic State.
10 comments:
Following posted in http://malikimtiaz.blogspot.com/2007/10/forgive-me.html
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Religion could be anything
But not the Sky nor Earth that give you everything.
From food to nerve if you have the heart to "earn".
To learn that will steer the spirit to pure
with a wisdom to peel what are real.
Not in isolation with classes
but in co-operation even with grasses.
Not only with glasses but with flashes.
To look for association for a better organization
with harmony with sympathy
taking minority helping disability.
Not a dream if fairness is the stream!
Not by luck but your heart
before it went dark!
Many thanks for Allah...to give us a gem (Kahalid Samad) among his followers.
I am sure many Christians will feel more at ease with our Muslim brethren.
This warms my heart.
As for the Johor guy who wants to remove the cross...it may do good to invite him to the church to see that they are fellow malaysians and have the right to worship.
Mav,
obviously PAS is now paving its way to make itself relevant to the masses.
“The right to worship is enshrined in the Federal Constitution. I just wanted to make a personal commitment to ensure that everyone can practise their religious worship,” he said (PAS MP Khalid Samad).
UMNO and other BN just ignore completely the content of the Constitution with regards to right to worship - big mistake!
probably the gomen of the past was to arrogant and ignorant, shooting at its own foot at the same time.
lesson learnt - just be a human.
If this is the case, then many non muslims would prefer the "Islamic PAS" rather than being "persecuted" by UMNO as the case in Johor UMNO MP & Sabah UMNO chief minister.
Of course, If ever PAS were to become extreme like UMNO in the future (I hope not), we could still vote them out like we did to BN in 12th GE.
wonderful... hope there will be one visiting my church too!
Other than YB Khalid Samad and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, the other person who held a dialogue with the parishioners of St Francis Xavier Church (Jalan Gasing) was Anwar Ibrahim in February this year.
The act of these three gentlemen is something that UMNO will find it hard to emulate, and it's too late even if they wanted to.
I shed a tear of joy knowing that there is hope in fostering togetherness by appreciating cross religious and cultural diversity. It is leaders like Khalid Samad and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad who show us the way and we must be indebted to their foresightness. I can assure you that like many other Malaysians I am going to tell my children and grandchildren how we come to think as true Malaysians through the efforts of these wonderful people. My vote (and my family's votes) in the last election were not in vain.
Sharing,
Thanks; I just went over to Malik's blog.
Artchan,
I am delighted too.
Ling Ling Chatt,
Ya, I hope PAS will be more liberal and provide a strong leadership.
Yan,
PAS is now the preferred Islamic Party for the non-Muslims.
Zewt,
Your hope will come true.
Billy,
Thanks for providing additional info.
My God, what a pleasant surprise. I thought after March 8th, and after BN was 'taught a lesson', I would go back to supporting BN. Now I am not too sure. I am not a Christian but now, come the next 13th GE, I think I may just support PAS. I had met some PAS fellows before and they appeared earnest and honest and straight-speaking. At least they don't call me a monkey or a pondan, though there is nothing wrong with being either. Just that I'm not.
it is disturbing that 99.99 mykmu.net forummers condemn that action. they surely need religious rehabilitation
UMNO is the real deviated extremist
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