KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 ― A two-day Muslim-only event on "Christology” will be cancelled, its organiser said today following controversy over its Indonesian Muslim speaker Irena Handono's credentials.

Nur Fitrah thanked all who had given cooperation and shown interest in attending the event scheduled early next month, but said it had to be scrapped.

"Due to several reasons that could not be avoided, Nur Fitrah announces that the ‘Kenali Kristologi’ programme on December 9 and 10 is cancelled,” it said on its official Facebook page, but did not elaborate on the reasons that led to this decision.

"We apologise and will contact all the participants that have registered. We regret all the inconvenience caused,” it added in the brief statement.

"However, as Muslims, we should always be confident with Allah's promise,” Nur Fitrah said, concluding its statement by quoting verse 61:8 of Quran: "They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.”

Yesterday, Nur Fitrah apologised over its use of the label "former nun” to describe Irena in its promotional materials for the event, asserting that Irena's representative had said she was a former nun.

Nur Fitrah chalked this down to a difference in understanding of the label "former nun” by Malaysian Muslims and Christians and said it would remove the term from its posters.

Nur Fitrah was commenting on posters of its upcoming event on December 9 and December 10 titled "Mengenali Kristologi” (Knowing Christology) previously posted on its Facebook page, which drew questions regarding Irena's status.

A check by Malay Mail Online yesterday showed that Nur Fitrah's three Facebook posts on November 8 and November 18 advertising the event and the accompanying posters have been removed.

The programme was advertised to be held at Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS) with only Irena listed as the speaker, and with two other groups called PERMADA and ALAM KUIS as co-organisers. The fee for students and the public were listed at RM30 and RM100 respectively.

Nur Fitrah yesterday said its event was for Muslims only and was aimed at Muslim students learning comparative religion and Muslim missionaries, with Irena invited in her capacity as a Muslim missionary to share her knowledge of Christology.

Christology refers to the field of study within Christian theology on Jesus Christ, whom Christians worship as God.

Irena was part of the controversial seminar on "Kalimah Allah dan Kristologi Nusantra” in May 2014 that was held at Universiti Teknologi MARA's (UiTM) Shah Alam campus, which drew criticism and attracted police reports over the event's alleged "Christian-bashing.”

Following the 2014 seminar at UiTM, the Bishops Conference of Indonesia was reported by the now-defunct portal The Malaysian Insider as saying Irena was not a former Catholic nun as alleged as she was only briefly with the Congregation of the Ursuline Sisters as a novice and "never completed” her education to be one.