“Officers from Jais will visit the temple and discuss with the caretaker of the temple to remove the Quran and other elements related to Islam from the altar of the deity.
“We will be having a discussion without being harsh and neither will we seize the Quran,” said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Islamic Affairs Department) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman.
Yesterday, the Sarawak chapter of Malay group Pertubuhan Peradaban dan Warisan Melayu (Adab) lodged a police report claiming that a Quran and an Islamic prayer mat were placed at the altar dedicated to the deity.
Daud explained today that several temples in Sarawak had incorporated elements of Islam in their deity worship.
Earlier this month, Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and several Muslim NGOs had slammed reports of a pair of deity statues dressed like Muslims that were depicted as performing a haj pilgrimage.
The statues were allegedly placed in a shrine in Lumut, Perak, according to Facebook posts.
In an unsubstantiated report this week, Malay daily Utusan Malaysia claimed that the International Full Gospel Fellowship held a closed-door function at an unnamed hotel in Klang, where the Christian group purportedly sang songs containing the word “Allah”.
Following that, two Malay-Muslim groups — Pertubuhan Ikatan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Selangor (IKDDAS) and Selangor Perkasa — had pushed Jais to investigate the Christian gathering as they insisted the organisers had broken state law.
Post a Comment