The Malaysian Insight

AN INDEPENDENT religious activist described the alleged reciting of Christian prayers at the Methodist Girls’ School in Penang as “unacceptable” but urged all parties concerned not to sensationalise the issue any further.

Wan Ji Wan Hussin told The Malaysian Insight he did not agree with alleged events, given the majority of its students and teachers are Muslims.

“They should not be reciting Christian prayers, but I also think this issue is deliberately magnified.

“Naturally, any sentiment that could lead to speculation in the name of religion should be avoided as it has a negative impact on the relationship between fellow Malaysians,” the 37-year-old Wan Ji said.

The school came into the spotlight when a police report was lodged by a local man, Muhsin Abdul Latheef, 35, last Friday, claiming that Christian prayers were held during a prize-giving ceremony.

In his report, Muhsin accused the school of attempting to proselytise Muslim pupils there, adding there were 347 Muslim pupils and only 161 non-Muslims.

He also said there were 26 Muslim teachers and 14 non-Muslim teachers.

He added he had proof of the incident in the form of a video clip that showed a woman reciting a prayer, while saying the words “My Lord”.

The video is alleged to be a Christian prayer. However, the video’s legitimacy has not been independently verified.

Earlier today, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy said the offending passage read out during the event was a speech on unity, nothing more.

Ramasamy, who is in charge of the state education portfolio, said he was informed by the school authorities that the unity speech was read out because there had been some racial issues in the school.

“On that day, there had been no prayers at all. What they had was only a speech on unity which the school administration and board had planned.

“Two speeches were assigned to speakers: one to a Christian member of the school board and another to a Muslim member.

However, the Muslim member had not prepared a speech on time and only the speech by the Christian member was delivered,” Ramasamy said.

Wan Ji said that if the passage only had the words: “My Lord”, it was not wrong for Muslims.

“It may not even refer to Christian prayer. In Malay terms, there is a word ‘Tuhan’ that can be attributed to Allah,” he said.

Other religious activists in the state told The Malaysian Insight the incident had offended Muslims, more so when the event was largely attended by Muslim teachers, students, and parents.

International Association of Spreading Islam (IPSI) president Kamarudin Abdullah said based on the video clip that’s been making the rounds, a Bible verse was recited at the event.

“There is a recitation of Psalm 111, verses 1 to 10 from the Bible (in the video clip),” Kamarudin said.

“When there is a Bible reading at an official school event where there are majority Muslims, it breaks Education Ministry rules,” he said, adding this went against the norms of Malaysian society.

“Official government programmes often have prayer recitations in Islam.

“The question is: why is there suddenly a Christian prayer, while the majority of students and teachers are Muslims?” he added.

UMMAH Penang chapter chairman Akhir Che Mat said Muslims should be concerned as prayer is a big issue.

“It is very serious because it has never happened before and it is a concern for the Muslim community. This is a threat to the Islamic faith, Akhir said.

“Parents send children to this school for quality education and the future of their children, but their hopes are dashed by irresponsible actions.” – October 2, 2019.