Folks, I went to the Desa Melawati Metro Tabernacle Church this morning to take a look. What I saw made me want to cry. I have never seen hate like this in Malaysia in my entire life.
There were a few of my friends there as well as people who attended the church. Some people were quietly emotional but most were very sad but very calm. The press were there but they were more interested in Khairy Jamaluddin than me but that's OK. (It so happens that my assistant in my office, who has been with me for 20 years, attends the same church which I didn't know til I came back to the office.)
A Malay couple came up to me and said they were local residents and very sad by this stupid incident. They said that Desa Melawati is and has been very 1 Malaysia for a long time. Their favourite coffeeshop is right in front of the church. The church is on a corner. On one side it faces a field and on the other side of the field is what looked like a surau to me. Typical Malaysian neighbourhood.
This morning I sms'd lots and lots of people, all Muslims, to canvass them regarding condemning this terrible act. Unanimously they have all agreed that this act is unIslamic. I am trying to organise all those individual voices into a statement or petition of some kind and I hope more will sign up.
Meantime various friends and I have been encouraging people to find ways to show solidarity and support. These were some ideas:
* Some young Muslims are keen to go help clean up the mess after the fire at the church. It was not possible this morning because the area was still cordoned off but we are keeping tabs on when the churches will be ready to start clean up.
* Someone has asked for 1-3 minutes of prayer every hour on the hour to give people time to pause and reflect.
* Many of us have been tweeting what we know but also refuting some nasty rumours that are going around.
The best news was that the planned demos at the mosques have failed miserably. At Masjid Negara, there were only 200 people or so. At Kampung Baru there were about 20. I was at AlJazeera TV giving an interview this afternoon and the people there told me that the organiser of the Kampung Baru demo had said yesterday he was expecting 5000 people. Plus there were another group of people who urged people not to join the demo because they said the demonstrators are fanatics, and also accused them of the arsons.
Apart from political parties, groups like the Christian Federation of Malaysia and the Muslim Professionals Forum have issued statements condemning the arson.
One of the most anguished posts on this event comes from Art Harun here.
Tonight there will be a quiet prayer vigil at the Luther Centre in PJ.
Tomorrow a goodwill gathering at Jalan Bukit Bintang will take place. Info here.
Anas Zubedy has just posted an email I wrote Muslim friends to ask for their support to condemn the arson.Since he's done that I might as well reproduce it here:
Dear friends,
Today is a very sad day for Malaysia. Last night at least three churches were attacked by unknown people with incendiary devices. The ground floor of the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati was totally destroyed. (See pix). It was heartbreaking to see.
There is nothing in Islam that says that we are to treat the houses of worship of any faith with such disrespect. Surah 22, Verse 40 of the Quran says:
22:40 (Asad) those who have been driven from their homelands against all right for no other reason than their saying. “Our Sustainer is God!” For, if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another, all] monasteries and churches and synagogues and mosques - in [all of] which Gods name is abundantly extolled - would surely have been destroyed [ere now]. And God will most certainly succour him who succours His cause: for, verily, God is most powerful, almighty, -
Any place where 'God's name is abundantly extolled' must be protected.
It is time for the silent majority of Muslims, who reject fanaticism and extremism, who favour dialogue and debate rather than violence, to be heard. We can no longer remain quiet if we love our religion and our country.
We should not let a small gang of thugs and hooligans speak in the name of Malaysian Muslims. We are NOT a religion of gangsters. We are a religion of peace, justice and equality. Do not let these people hijack Islam for their own ends.
The Government needs to know that there is a substantial number of us who disagree with the violence and harsh words. Our fellow Malaysians especially Christians need to know that we deplore these acts and mean them no harm.
As Muslims, it is up to us to be magnanimous and to extend the hand of peace to our fellow citizens and reassure them that this act is an aberration and we abhor it.
Thank you.
Salams,
Marina
Posted by MarinaM
Article source:
http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/2010/01/update-on-arson-attacks-on-churches.html
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