No protest but unity at Church | Free Malaysia Today

No protest but unity at Church

Alfian ZM Tahir | January 5, 2014-FMT 

Christians performed their Sunday prayers without any disturbance, while solidarity groups offered support

KLANG: It was all calm at the Church of Our Lourdes, here, as parishioners peacefully attended Sunday mass despite earlier threats from far right Malay groups, linked to Umno, for  a demonstration outside the church.

Church goers described today’s mass as unique as they welcomed a group of mixed faith individuals including Marina Mahathir, the daughter of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who came to show solidarity to their fellow Malaysian Christians.

A group, known as “In the name of Allah” gathered in front of the church distributing roses to parishioners as a symbol of unity amongst the Abrahamic religion believers.

“There is nothing to be afraid of, today is a unique day and I am happy to see Malaysians from different faith together at one place,” said 55 year old Santana who attends the service weekly.

Santana said the whole Allah fiasco was an uncalled for,  and explained that it was just a matter of language differences.

“This is not a religious issue. It is a language matter. This whole mess is unnecessary,”

“Certain quarters tried to sensationalise this issue for personal gains,” Santana added.

When approached, Marina lambasted the authorities for failing to address the matter where she described Malaysia as a bible grabbing state.

“Forget Visit Malaysia Year. We are known as a country that grabs bible,” she shrugged.

Echoing Marina’s sentiment, the spokesperson for ‘In the name of Allah’ Nik Elin Nik Abdul Rashid said that both the Muslim and Christian faiths believed in one God.

“We belong to Allah and Allah does not belong to one group of people.”

“There is no other God but Allah,” she said.

Earlier reports claimed that the church would continue their Sunday rituals despite the Klang Muslims Solidarity Secretariat confirming that they will proceed with their rally against Christians over the latter’s insistence on using the Arabic word ‘Allah’ for God.

It was also reported that Selangor Police chief, Shukri Dahlan had also warned protesters not to proceed with their plan to rally to the church and has ensured safety for church goers on Sunday by deploying police officers to man the church area.

Among the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the Klang Muslims Solidarity Secretariat coalition are Jalur Tiga Malaysia (Jati), Selangor Perkasa, Klang Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), and Pertubuhan Ikatan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Selangor (IKDDAS).