Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 218 | Wed 10 Jul 2013
EGYPT: ISLAMIC WRATH FALLS ON THE CHURCH;
plus update on Malaysia
By Elizabeth Kendal
On Wednesday 3 July the Egyptian military ousted the country's first democratically elected President, Mohamed Morsi, and placed him under 'house arrest'. Tanks moved into Cairo, the Parliament was dissolved and the Constitution was suspended. Whilst the military ousted Morsi in pursuit of its own interests, it did so under the cover of anti-Morsi protests, all but guaranteeing that Morsi's civilian opponents will suffer the reprisals. No soft target so clearly represents opposition to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as the Coptic Church, making it exceptionally vulnerable. The Coptic Pope compounded this vulnerability when he blessed the coup and supported the suspension of the Constitution. On Friday 5 July MB leader Mohamed Badie addressed a gathering of tens of thousands of justifiably enraged Islamists outside the Rabaa al-Adweya Mosque in Nasr City, Cairo. He slammed the Coptic Pope, condemned the coup and called on Muslims to rise up and not stop fighting until Morsi was returned to office.
UPPER EGYPT: On Wednesday 3 July Islamists in Minya Governorate attacked the evangelical church in el-Saleh, injuring two. In Delgia village dozens of Christian homes were looted at gunpoint and burned by Muslim rioters chanting anti-Christian slogans. Delgia's Coptic Church of St George was set ablaze. The priest survived only because his Muslim neighbours pulled him out of the inferno through a hole he'd made in the roof and gave him refuge. Most Christians have now fled the area. Further south in Qena, Islamic rioters attempted to attack the main Coptic cathedral but were repelled by the military. The rioters then looted and ransacked Coptic homes and businesses. Most Christians have now fled this area. On Saturday 6 July Christians in the village of Nag Hassan in Luxor Governorate came under attack from a Muslim mob; four people were murdered and three others injured while 16 Coptic homes and businesses were torched. The Church of the Virgin Mary was also attacked; most Christians have now fled this area too.
MEDITERRANEAN COAST: On 3 July the military repelled Muslim rioters who were stoning the Church of Holy Virgin in the coastal resort city of Marsa Matrouh, 240km west of Alexandria. On 9 July gunmen opened fire on the Mar Mina Church in Port Said (at the mouth of the Suez Canal); no casualties were reported.
SINAI: On 4 July at least two explosions were heard in the Israeli city of Eilat on the Red Sea. Remnants were found of a Grad rocket believed to have been fired by jihadists in the Sinai, Egypt. On 5 July the military opened fire on Morsi supporters who were demonstrating during Friday prayers in the coastal city of el-Arish, North Sinai, wounding at least 21. Jihadists immediately retaliated, expelling the military and raising the black flag of al-Qaeda. Salafi jihadist group, Salafiyya al Jihadiyya, slammed the 'crime' and announced the formation of a new group, Ansar al Sharia in Egypt, which it said was acquiring weapons and preparing to fight. The next day, gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a Coptic priest, Mena Aboud Sharoben (39), as he was walking through the Masaeed area in el-Arish.
JUST THE BEGINNING: Whilst the military may have ousted an Islamist President, dissolved a Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Parliament and suspended an Islamised Constitution, these actions have actually increased the risk to Egyptian Christians. Military violence -- such as the army's firing on pro-Morsi demonstrators in Cairo on Monday 8 July, killing 51 and wounding more than 300 -- is only further inflaming the situation. The coup will serve to radicalise many MB supporters, especially as Islamic groups from Tunisia to Somalia are citing the coup as proof that democracy does not work and that Islam can be established only by the bullet not the ballot. Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri (an Egyptian) has ominously warned: 'The battle in Egypt is far from over, it has only just begun.'
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL --
* pour out his Holy Spirit abundantly on the Church in Egypt, so that the fears of Christians would be calmed and so they will trust the Lord for their every need.
'I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.' (Psalm 121:1,2 ESV)
* shield, protect, sustain and deliver all who look to him in faith.
'Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfils his purpose for me.' (Psalm 57:1,2 ESV)
* use the present troubles to awaken Arabs not merely to the fact that Islam is not the solution, but to the truth that the solution and empowerment for transformation are found in Jesus Christ.
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ISLAMIC WRATH FALLS ON THE CHURCH IN EGYPT
Egyptian Islamists are justifiably furious that their democratically elected President Morsi has been ousted in a military coup effected under the cover of anti-Morsi protests. The Coptic Church is clearly a soft target amongst the opposition to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, making it exceptionally vulnerable to Islamic reprisals. Since the 3 July coup churches have been attacked in the cities of Marsa Matrouh and Port Said on the Mediterranean coast, as well as in al-Arish, North Sinai, where a Coptic priest was assassinated. In Minya and Luxor Governorates, Upper Egypt, many churches have been attacked, four Christians killed and dozens of Christian homes and businesses have been looted and torched by Islamic mobs chanting anti-Christian slogans. Hundreds of Christian families have fled. Please pray for the Church in Egypt.
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MALAYSIA UPDATE
RLPB 217 (3 July 2013) called for prayer against the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 which would permit the unilateral forced conversion of minors. Praise God: on Friday 5 July, the Cabinet agreed to withdraw the Bill so that it might be reviewed by Cabinet. Groups that have protested the Bill are calling on the government to amend related laws that contain the same wording. Meanwhile, Islamic leaders who maintain that 'there is no need for both parents to consent to their children's conversion if one of the parents has already embraced the Islamic faith' are calling on Muslims to rise up and unite in defence of Islam. Pray that the government will have the courage to protect human rights and implement the law in the face of Islamic challenges.
RAMADAN commenced on 9 July and will run through to 7 August. Please pray for Muslims during Ramadan. For resources, visit 30 Days
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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
RLPB 217. Malaysia: move to legalise forced conversion of minors
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 217 | Wed 03 Jul 2013
MALAYSIA: MOVE TO LEGALISE FORCED CONVERSION OF MINORS
By Elizabeth Kendal
In early 2009 there was an outcry in Malaysia after three children born to an Indian Hindu couple were converted to Islam by the father without the mother's consent after he converted to Islam. At that time, the Cabinet discussed the case and decided that the children of an estranged couple should remain in the 'common religion of the parents at the time of their marriage'. In Malaysia, Cabinet decisions are essentially unwritten laws that civil servants are obliged to implement. Despite the April 2009 Cabinet decision, Islamic officials have continued to convert minors at the request of one parent, without the consent of the other. For example, in April 2013 an estranged husband, who converted from Hinduism to Islam in prison, secretly took his two children aged 5 and 8 to an Islamic Centre where they were officially converted to Islam and given Islamic names. When their Hindu mother sought redress she was told that because her children were now Muslims she would have to go through the Sharia courts. Believing that to be futile and possibly even dangerous, in early June she opted instead to lodge a complaint with the police. This case triggered a fresh outcry when it was exposed in the media. [Note: in Islam, the Islamic State determines and manages a person's religion; it is not a matter of personal freedom.]
In Malaysian politics, a draft law or 'bill' is discussed and approved by the Cabinet before it is submitted to the Parliament. Yet on Wednesday 26 June a bill permitting the unilateral conversion of minors into Islam went to the Parliament without first going to the Cabinet. If passed, the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 will replace the 1993 Act. This bill would further Islamise Malaysian law by mandating that a minor may be converted to Islam by 'his parent' (singular). The bill employs the same language as the Constitution (Article 12(4)). However, Article 160(1) of the Constitution clarifies that the Constitution is to be interpreted according to the 'Eleventh Schedule' which states: 'words importing the masculine gender include females'; and 'words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular'. As such, it has always been understood that where the Constitution says 'his' it includes 'her' where relevant, and where it says 'parent' it may be interpreted as 'parents' where both parents are alive.
Because the bill bypassed the Cabinet it was introduced into Parliament without any scrutiny from the Cabinet's non-Muslim members, leaving non-Muslim MPs feeling betrayed and marginalised. Malaysia is 50 percent ethnic Malay and 60 percent Muslim, but a significant proportion of those Muslims would be nominal or secular. The government was wrong if it thought it could get passage of this bill by stealth, for the bill has caused an outcry, particularly amongst Malaysia's non-Muslims. Despite this, the government is standing firm. On 1 July Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin insisted that the bill would proceed despite it being contrary to the April 2009 Cabinet decision, maintaining it is based on the Constitution, court precedents and present realities.
The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) has slammed the 'stealthy' tabling of the bill. As MCA vice president Gan Ping Sieu notes, 'It contains controversial provisions that affect the constitutional and religious rights of the non-Muslim. This will seriously and irredeemably affect the religious harmony and national unity of our country.' According to the Malaysian Bar Council President, Christopher Leong, the unilateral conversion of minors is unconstitutional. Roman Catholic Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing comments: 'I understand this amendment contravenes a decision by the Cabinet announced on 23 April, 2009 that a single parent cannot convert a minor. If so, this would not be the first time that the Cabinet is overridden by civil service functionaries -- the main drivers of creeping Islamisation in this country.'
It is not uncommon to find non-Muslims (including nominal and backsliding Christians) converting to Islam for personal gain: in particular, men converting to Islam so they can take another wife. If passed, this bill will legalise the forced conversion of non-Muslim children. And as the bill states (Article 99): 'From the moment of his conversion, a mualaf (convert) becomes subject to the same duties and obligations as any other Muslim.' For the sake of vulnerable children, we must pray against this bill.
'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.' (Jesus: Matthew 19:14 ESV)
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT ---
* the Spirit of the Lord will arouse passionate indignation in all Malaysians who treasure personal liberty and the fundamental human rights of children, so that this bill will not pass and the loopholes will be tightened to protect vulnerable children from Islamic mischief.
* God will halt the Islamisation of Malaysia and that the Malaysian Church looks to the Lord of Hosts who has promised to be 'strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate' (from Isaiah 28:5-6 ESV).
* our faithful Lord Jesus Christ will establish justice for all Christian children and parents who have been robbed through Islamic mischief, not only in Malaysia, but in Egypt (where it is also uncommon) and throughout the Islamic world.
----------
Ramadan commences on 9 July and will run through to 7 August. Please pray for Muslims during the 30 days of Ramadan. For resources, visit 30-Days.
-----------
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
------------------------------------------------------------------
MOVE TO LEGALISE FORCED CONVERSION OF MINORS IN MALAYSIA
On 26 June a bill that would further Islamise Malaysian law went to the parliament. It provides that a minor may be converted to Islam by 'his parent' (singular) without the consent of the other parent. Thus a parent who (for whatever reason of self-interest) has converted to Islam could get their children registered as Muslims. (Christian parents and children suffer this mischief throughout the Islamic world.) The government was wrong in thinking it could get the bill through by stealth as it has caused an outcry, particularly amongst non-Muslims. May the Malaysian Church, amidst all this, look to the Lord of Hosts to be her strength. Please pray against this bill, for the sake of Malaysia, its children, the Church and all others vulnerable in this situation.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
MALAYSIA: MOVE TO LEGALISE FORCED CONVERSION OF MINORS
By Elizabeth Kendal
In early 2009 there was an outcry in Malaysia after three children born to an Indian Hindu couple were converted to Islam by the father without the mother's consent after he converted to Islam. At that time, the Cabinet discussed the case and decided that the children of an estranged couple should remain in the 'common religion of the parents at the time of their marriage'. In Malaysia, Cabinet decisions are essentially unwritten laws that civil servants are obliged to implement. Despite the April 2009 Cabinet decision, Islamic officials have continued to convert minors at the request of one parent, without the consent of the other. For example, in April 2013 an estranged husband, who converted from Hinduism to Islam in prison, secretly took his two children aged 5 and 8 to an Islamic Centre where they were officially converted to Islam and given Islamic names. When their Hindu mother sought redress she was told that because her children were now Muslims she would have to go through the Sharia courts. Believing that to be futile and possibly even dangerous, in early June she opted instead to lodge a complaint with the police. This case triggered a fresh outcry when it was exposed in the media. [Note: in Islam, the Islamic State determines and manages a person's religion; it is not a matter of personal freedom.]
In Malaysian politics, a draft law or 'bill' is discussed and approved by the Cabinet before it is submitted to the Parliament. Yet on Wednesday 26 June a bill permitting the unilateral conversion of minors into Islam went to the Parliament without first going to the Cabinet. If passed, the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 will replace the 1993 Act. This bill would further Islamise Malaysian law by mandating that a minor may be converted to Islam by 'his parent' (singular). The bill employs the same language as the Constitution (Article 12(4)). However, Article 160(1) of the Constitution clarifies that the Constitution is to be interpreted according to the 'Eleventh Schedule' which states: 'words importing the masculine gender include females'; and 'words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular'. As such, it has always been understood that where the Constitution says 'his' it includes 'her' where relevant, and where it says 'parent' it may be interpreted as 'parents' where both parents are alive.
Because the bill bypassed the Cabinet it was introduced into Parliament without any scrutiny from the Cabinet's non-Muslim members, leaving non-Muslim MPs feeling betrayed and marginalised. Malaysia is 50 percent ethnic Malay and 60 percent Muslim, but a significant proportion of those Muslims would be nominal or secular. The government was wrong if it thought it could get passage of this bill by stealth, for the bill has caused an outcry, particularly amongst Malaysia's non-Muslims. Despite this, the government is standing firm. On 1 July Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin insisted that the bill would proceed despite it being contrary to the April 2009 Cabinet decision, maintaining it is based on the Constitution, court precedents and present realities.
The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) has slammed the 'stealthy' tabling of the bill. As MCA vice president Gan Ping Sieu notes, 'It contains controversial provisions that affect the constitutional and religious rights of the non-Muslim. This will seriously and irredeemably affect the religious harmony and national unity of our country.' According to the Malaysian Bar Council President, Christopher Leong, the unilateral conversion of minors is unconstitutional. Roman Catholic Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing comments: 'I understand this amendment contravenes a decision by the Cabinet announced on 23 April, 2009 that a single parent cannot convert a minor. If so, this would not be the first time that the Cabinet is overridden by civil service functionaries -- the main drivers of creeping Islamisation in this country.'
It is not uncommon to find non-Muslims (including nominal and backsliding Christians) converting to Islam for personal gain: in particular, men converting to Islam so they can take another wife. If passed, this bill will legalise the forced conversion of non-Muslim children. And as the bill states (Article 99): 'From the moment of his conversion, a mualaf (convert) becomes subject to the same duties and obligations as any other Muslim.' For the sake of vulnerable children, we must pray against this bill.
'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.' (Jesus: Matthew 19:14 ESV)
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT ---
* the Spirit of the Lord will arouse passionate indignation in all Malaysians who treasure personal liberty and the fundamental human rights of children, so that this bill will not pass and the loopholes will be tightened to protect vulnerable children from Islamic mischief.
* God will halt the Islamisation of Malaysia and that the Malaysian Church looks to the Lord of Hosts who has promised to be 'strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate' (from Isaiah 28:5-6 ESV).
* our faithful Lord Jesus Christ will establish justice for all Christian children and parents who have been robbed through Islamic mischief, not only in Malaysia, but in Egypt (where it is also uncommon) and throughout the Islamic world.
----------
Ramadan commences on 9 July and will run through to 7 August. Please pray for Muslims during the 30 days of Ramadan. For resources, visit 30-Days.
-----------
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
------------------------------------------------------------------
MOVE TO LEGALISE FORCED CONVERSION OF MINORS IN MALAYSIA
On 26 June a bill that would further Islamise Malaysian law went to the parliament. It provides that a minor may be converted to Islam by 'his parent' (singular) without the consent of the other parent. Thus a parent who (for whatever reason of self-interest) has converted to Islam could get their children registered as Muslims. (Christian parents and children suffer this mischief throughout the Islamic world.) The government was wrong in thinking it could get the bill through by stealth as it has caused an outcry, particularly amongst non-Muslims. May the Malaysian Church, amidst all this, look to the Lord of Hosts to be her strength. Please pray against this bill, for the sake of Malaysia, its children, the Church and all others vulnerable in this situation.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
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