INTERFAITH dialogues would not pose a problem in Malaysia if they are held at neutral venues instead of places of worship, Penang mufti Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor said.

The religious scholar told The Malaysian Insight such dialogues can be misinterpreted and be used as a political tool to create unrest if they were held at a church or even at a mosque.

“I have no problem at all with interfaith dialogues. I support such events but the matter has become an issue now because this one was held at a church.

“For me it is better to have it at a neutral ground. Not at a church, at a temple or even a mosque. It won’t be an issue if it was held at a neutral venue. People who don’t understand the concept will make it an issue,” he said.

Wan Salim said as a mufti, he did not recommend people who do not fully understand the religion to go to a church. 

“If a person has a strong understanding about Islam, then I would not be too worried. My concern is for Muslims who don’t understand or have knowledge about Islam,” he said.

He added that Islam promotes tolerance and it is not wrong for Muslims to attend such functions of other religions.

“In Islam we are taught to respect other faiths. We must not belittle other religions allows non Muslims to practice their belief and this was evident when Islam ruled half of the world from Africa to the borders of China once upon a time. No one was forced to convert and everyone was allowed to practice their own religion,” he added.

He was responding to the recent controversy over an interfaith event hosted by the Youth and Sports Ministry under its Impact Malaysia programme, which involved visits to places of worship.

PAS was the first to raise concerns, saying Muslim youth were also allowed to visit a church under the programme.

Its secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said the programme could be problematic if it was not able to achieve its goal, which is to create better understanding between people of different religious beliefs.  

In the Dewan Rakyat a few days ago, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the initiative was conducted by Impact Integrated, an agency affiliated with her ministry, to visit places of worship, but Muslim youth were not included.

She said this was contrary to allegations on social media and chat groups that she was using such programmes to expose Muslim youth to Christianity.  

Politically not right

For academic Dr Mazlan Ali, Yeoh’s initiative to foster understanding between religious ethnic groups in Malaysia could backfire as the perception of religious tolerance in Malaysia is not as open as Indonesia.

The academic added that Yeoh should have learnt from mistakes from the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

“The problem is that many of us do not understand the issue. Having it at a church can create unrest and this issue can be used by rivals to portray the government as not protecting the interest of the Malay-Muslims in the country.

“For instance, PH was accused in 2018 of not defending Islam, with their detractors using it successfully in their campaign against them.

“Politically it is not the right strategy. Don’t repeat the same mistakes,” he said.

Mazlan also said the ministry should focus on other matters instead of handling interfaith dialogues.

“Experts are needed in issues like this. The ministry should focus on its core role and let others handle this matter.”

Hisommudin Bakar of Ilham Centre held the same view, saying Yeoh should not be the one to issue statements on religious tolerance.

“It should be the duty of the religious affairs minister, along with the Unity Ministry. Her statement can be manipulated by others.

“The matter can lead to more unrest by some to widen the gap between Malaysians. We all know how certain groups would use DAP as a punching bag, so I think Yeoh should have known better,” he said.

Following Yeoh’s explanation in the Dewan Rakyat, Bersatu member Badrul Hisham Shaharin lodged a police report against the Segambut MP for allegedly proselytising Muslim youth through a programme initiated by a company affiliated with her ministry.

In a Facebook post, Badrul, better known as Chegubard, accused Yeoh of lying during her explanation on the Impact Malaysia programme in the Dewan Rakyat. – March 18, 2023.