Malaysia

Christians in Malaysia face an environment that, while not open to outright persecution, often makes life difficult. Malaysian Christians were recently informed that they could not use the word "Allah" to refer to God and leaving Islam to convert to Christianity is illegal. In addition the government chooses to hold elections on Sunday, making it difficult for some Christians to get out and vote.

In Malaysia it has recently became illegal for any group except Muslims to use the word Allah when referring to God. For Malay Christians this is difficult to avoid because their version of the Bible uses the Arabic word for God (Allah) to refer to God. Some believe that Islamic militant groups will use this as an excuse to persecute the Christian population. 

Although Christians in Malaysia have not recently faced outright persecution on a large scale, the debate over the use of the word 'Allah' by Christians and a new fatwa issued by a Malaysian sultan may prove to be the basis for future conflict. Malaysia is predominantly Muslim and Christians can face imprisonment for attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity. 

Although Muslim-majority Malaysia keeps a pretty low profile when it comes to persecution, restrictions against Christians do exist. This article details a recent change in restrictions against Christians traveling to Israel. Up until recently, only 700 Christians per year could travel to Israel on "pilgrimage" and only for one week. The limit has been removed and the allowable visitation extended to three weeks. Earlier this year a Muslim blogger accused of blaspheming the Prophet in Saudi Arabia tried to escape to the West through Malaysia. Malaysia however held the blogger and delivered him to Saudi authorities, where he will probably face the death penalty for his "blasphemous" Facebook posts.

A Malaysian singer was accused of insulting Islam for singing a Christian song with the lyrics “all races in this country hope in you, Jesus,” the Malaysian Insider reports. “Can a singer sing any song even if (it) hurts the feeling of others?” said Syed Hassan Syed Ali, the secretary general of Perkasa, a Malay Supremacy organization. “Malays, who are Muslims, do not put their hope in Jesus!” While Perkasa boycotted the musician, Senator Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon responded by saying it is Perkasa’s right and that freedom of speech must be defended. “[Perkasa] can boycott as they like. It’s a free country,” Tsu Koon said. The complaints were the latest accusations of “offending Islam” in Malaysia and across the Islamic world in an ongoing debate over the limitations of free speech when religion is insulted.

In Malaysia, it is illegal to convert Muslims to another religion. "The problem of Christianization has been around for a long while, it is real," Datuk Sheikh Abdul Halim Abdul Kadir, president of the Malaysian Ulama Association, told the Malaysian Insider. "You need to educate teachers, especially the young ones who are unaware of this problem." 

It is illegal in Malaysia to try to convert Muslims to another religion. Muslim leaders said the government of Muslim-majority Malaysia has a duty to defend the religion while Christian leaders called the seminar inflammatory.

Parliamentarian Ibrahim Ali is calling on the federal government to come up with an Apostasy Act in response to 21 Muslim NGOs who had urged the government to formulate anti-apostasy laws, Yahoo! News reports.

 “In the past year … we have witnessed unprecedented incidences where Christians have been made victims of unwarranted and unfounded accusations, vilification, insults, even police reports,” said a CFM statement released yesterday

“There are reports from parents of school children that their children come home from school and recite the Islamic ways of praying at home."

In Malaysia, the sultan is the head of Islamic affairs in all states where the sultans rule. According to local laws, evangelization of Muslims is an offense punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. Muslims who try to convert out of Islam are also subjected to all kinds of hardships, including having to attend rehabilitation camps.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party is lobbying to have Islamic law expanded in Malaysia to cover criminal offences as well as civil legislation. Although the proponents point out that the law would not apply to non-Muslims, cases of Islamic law dramatically effecting religious minorities exist. A recent rally in Malaysia by Muslim groups protested the perceived expansion of Christianity.

The gathering ended with a 10-point declaration that included calls for new laws to curb proselytizing by non-Muslims and a review of the national education system to make sure Muslim students aren’t exposed to information that can erode their faith.

The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday a planned gathering of a million Muslims this Saturday to rally against Christians “challenging the sovereignty of Islam”, a momentous event that could raise religious tension that has intensified in recent months after alleged proselytising by Christians.

Sultan Sharafuddin has expressed concern that Christian's hosting the dinner may have been trying to influence and even convert Muslims who attended the event. Proselytizing of Muslims is punishable by prison terms in most Malaysian states.