Church set on fire in Malaysia

(01-07) 11:56 PST KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) --

Unidentified attackers set fire to a church in Malaysia early Friday amid a growing conflict in the country over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims, officials said.

Only the first floor office of the Metro Tabernacle Church was destroyed in the blaze that started a little after midnight Thursday, said church spokesman Kevin Ang. The worship areas on the upper two floors were undamaged, and there were no injuries.

The church is located in a three-story building on a shopping street in Desa Melawati, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, the main city of this Muslim-majority country.

The attack on the Protestant church comes days after the Kuala Lumpur High Court struck down a 3-year-old ban on non-Muslims using the word "Allah" in their literature.

The government has appealed against the court verdict, which allowed a Catholic publication to use the common word for God in the Malay language, and the High Court has suspended its decision from being enforced until the appeal is heard.

Muslims argue that "Allah" is exclusive to Islam, and its use by Christians would confuse Muslims and tempt them to convert to Christianity.

The court decision has resulted in a rash of angry comments and threats by Muslims on the Internet. Dozens of Muslim groups are planning a protest against the court decision on Friday after weekly prayers. But it is apparently the first time the controversy turned destructive.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohamad Sabtu Osman told The Associated Press that it was premature to link the attack on the church to the protests over the Allah ban.

"We are still investigating," he said. He also urged Muslims not to participate in the planned protests, adding that police would be stationed at mosques to monitor the situation.

Another church official quoted a witness as saying she saw three or four men on a motorcycle breaking the main glass front of the church and throw something inside, possibly a gasoline bomb. The account could not be independently confirmed.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Malay Muslims, while the rest are ethnic Chinese, Indians and indigenous tribes, who follow Christianity, Hinduism and other religions.

The High Court ruling was on a petition by the Herald, the main publication of Malaysia's Roman Catholic Church. It uses the word Allah in its Malay-language edition, which is read by the indigenous tribes in the remote states of Sabah and Sarawak.

The tribespeople are Malay-speaking, so Catholic officials say "Allah" is the only word they know for God.

But many Muslims in Malaysia have refused to accept the argument that "Allah" is an Arabic word that predates Islam, and that it is used by Christians in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Indonesia regularly in their worship.

The backlash against the court verdict has reinforced complaints by religious minorities in Malaysia that they face institutional discrimination by the government.

On Thursday, the Malaysian judiciary's Web site was hacked and defaced with an apparent threat to Christians, the Star newspaper reported. The site, however, appeared to be normal on Friday.

The Star said the hacker, using the alias "Brainwash," defaced the site with a banner saying: "Mess with the best, die like the rest" and "Allah only restricted to Muslim only."

 

As of today, the total number of Christian churches firebombed since the Malaysian Judiciary decided it was ok for Non-Muslims to use the word Allah is four. If Islam is such a peaceful religion, why is it that it's followers are so prone to violence, regardless of whether they are in dirt poor uneducated countries like Afghanistan, or in more modernized countries like Malaysia?

 

This issue is nothing whatsoever to do with Islamic religion, it is act of some idiots who do not know what Islam really teaches.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/...church-arson-says-dialogue-key-to-allah-issue

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/...tackers-will-reap-what-they-sow-says-nik-aziz

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/...s-stop-to-all-speculation-over-church-attacks

Why is this particular news read in isolation and not read with Muslim public figures condemning these attacks already?? Shows that you are just plain ignorant.

 

I'm ignorant? Are you implying that Muslim public figures condemning these attacks are some sort of proof the attacks were not committed by Muslims? Why don't you explain that to all of us "ignorant" people.

 

Of course not.

 

A speech of wisdom, and a reminder of the true Islamic teachings & example for every Muslim, our beloved, the true, and last prophet of all mankind, Mohammad ibn Abdullah pbuh,

is what is needed now there, to cut the road on those haters, from both sides,

A copy of the document by which the Prophet Mohammed pbuh gave protection to the monastery
Source: romanvirdi.com

 

Out of curiosity, what type of punishment would Mohammad demand for those who violated his request in the above note? What type of punishment do you think they should get? If Mo was so tight with Christians, why do many Muslim states prohibit Christians from following what they feel are Christ's instructions to spread his word? Wouldn't those states that punish Muslims for converting and Christians from trying to convert also be in violation of the words you posted above? How do you feel about the issue at hand in Malaysia, where Christians, until very recently, were prohibited from using the word Allah in their literature, even though there is literally NO OTHER WORD FOR GOD in the Malay language? How do you feel about the more than 50% of Malaysians who are very agitated by the Malaysian court ruling stating that it is ok for Christians to use the dictionary word for God in their literature?

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with the words you just posted. I'm just very confused at the contrast between the words, and the actions of many Muslims.

 

You certainly most are! Police are investigating still and we not know who behind it. And even if it is committed by Muslim, it not mean that other Muslims have agreed to burn churches. So yes, I say you ignorant!

 

These are not just words, proofs from history till this day, are so many, including the one below, while the Christians of Europe were raging crusades campaigns to force Muslims to leave the truth and follow the false, Muslims were protecting the Christians of the East, in themselves, their properties, and their worship places:

The message was to all Muslims anywhere, anytime where they live with Christians, especially where Christians are a minority and Muslims are a majority,

in an Islamic community where there are non-Muslim minorities, and if a Muslim violated a law, then the punishment will depend on the guilt, and is according to the Islamic laws, if a Muslim destroyed a property of another Muslim, he is fined, and the victim must be compensated, same if the victim was a non-Muslim, and so on, depending on the guilt, and the amount of harm that happened,

in short, there are no laws for when the victim is a Muslim and other different laws for when the victim is non-Muslim,

for the rest of your questions, if you were paying attention to what is being discussed rather than concentrating your attention on mongering hate, then you wouldn't have asked them, because they already been answered in threads you were participating in,

 

LOL Imad
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...with-Egyptian-police-after-Mass-shooting.html
(this is old news, today there are more dead).

Muslims think that Christians are idiots. They despise and ridicule their faith. we saw many examples also on this forum when muslim guys "explain" christmas, for example. We heard you justify "roads for non-muslims" in saudi arabia.

When will you stop this one thousand and one nights and look at reality , straight in the eyes?
How long will you be so deluded by this Arab bullshit narrative?

 

Did you read my posts, if yes, how can you explain the existence of the Eastern Churches till this day? 1001 nights?

btw, Saudi is 100% Muslims.

 

From the tone of your question I guess that the mere existence of churches is considered by you to be an achievement. Not the existence of a fast growing prosperous and influencial community. Oh no. Just the fact the a church is still standing. Great achievement. Those Christians should thank us, the great muslims (the "truth" vs. "false") that we didn't destroy their damn churches and slaughtered them all.

well of course.
If I was a Christian I wouldn't want to live there too - where my religion is considered to be something even worse than dog shit: the police won't detain me if my dog shit in the street, but they will arrest me if I wear a necklace with a cross or hold the Christian bible in my hand, or, heaven forgive me, drive one of the "muslim-only" roads, or, GOD help me, drive a car at all if I were a woman.

 

You did not answer my question, how can you explain their existence till this day? is it hard to answer? try to remember the discussion flow in your next post, and answer this question

nobody said anything about achievements, if you want achievements, check this post:

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=13321538&postcount=11

we are talking here about religious teachings, here is another example:

are your tries to defile the above teachings, is to hide these other teachings, or make them look OK?:

if so then you should know, bad reputing others, will not make you look good, what will make you look good, is to be good, not when there are so many testimonies, from history, old and new, like these ones by Jews like you:

Muslims and Jews: a historical perspective that reveals surprises

Jews Under Islamic Rule

and this one by .... YOU lol

glad that you agree that Saudi is 100% Muslim. Yes, indeed, I like to know now, if Saudi is 100% Muslim, how do they have the roads as "muslim-only"? is it on every road there? really interesting!

Now, can you continue what you started, and put a link to that thread and picture where this been discussed, instead of twisting it in another thread?

and do this exist in all Islamic countries, or there is a special case in Saudi Arabia?

I do not think so, because so many non-Muslims for example, want to live and living in Dubai, even though UAE is like Saudi - 100% Muslim, lets not forget too, that sooooooooooooooooooo many Jews wanted to live in Islamic countries, to escape Europe, as another Jew speaks:

 

Imad, You answered my all of my questions by pointing out (via a post from another thread) that the US supports Saudi Arabia? I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but there are MANY MANY Muslim nations that kill Christians for practicing their religion in the way they believe is right (Proselytizing). You are going to provide something better than the US/Saudi relationship as an explanation for why so many Muslim nations are so intolerant. I notice you also did not answer any of my other questions.

 

And the NASA Moon landing was a hoax yea? Wierdo.

 

Maybe you should watch this if you actually think that.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6981008.ece

Worthy of it's own thread, but there are so many, and literally thousands of examples of this type of idiocy, I thought I'd throw it on this bonfire. Another bitter reminder that money may remove the man from the ghetto, but not the ghetto from the man(or country). I take personal joy in knowing the majority of real estate development in Dubai has gone bankrupt. Hopefully this will kill any remaining tourism they have from the western world.

 

Probably worthy of action and outrage? Otherwise we can't follow up with all the bad headlines.

Dubai? It's a grilling station, grill the rich and wealthy , expect some 55 degree Celsius to stay for weeks during the hot season.
I personally know some nice blokes there, but they're not Muslims.