MALAYSIANS should not be fanatical when practising their religion as this is a multiracial country, an interfaith group said.

Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism (MCCBCHST) president R.S. Mohan Shan pointed out that no religion required its followers to be fanatics.

“Every religion teaches us to be tolerant, so the tolerance must be translated into action,” Mohan Shan told The Malaysian Insight.
 
In welcoming the Malay rulers’ call yesterday for moderation, the interfaith group president said it was the duty of the rulers to put right what might have gone astray.

“It is their duty as leaders of Muslims and Malaysians of other faiths,” Mohan Shan said.

The Malay rulers yesterday endorsed Johor Sultan and Perlis Raja Muda’s decision to forbid Muslim-only launderettes in their respective states, while also highlighting the importance of practising the principles of the Federal Constitution and Rukunegara.

They said they took a serious view of the issues of unity and harmony,  and expressed concerns that recent actions in the name of Islam had threatened the harmony and unity among multicultural Malaysians.

“When we talk about fanaticism, it’s not only for Muslims, but for followers of other religions as well. 

“We cannot be fanatical when practising our religion because we are living together,” Mohan Shan said.

Former members of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) have also waded in on the issue, pointing out that Malay rulers are stepping into the leader’s role in the absence of clear leadership from the government on issues of unity and harmony.

They, too, say it is important that Malaysians heed the call of the monarchs to practise moderation. – October 11, 2017.