PETALING JAYA, Aug 14 — There is a limit to religious tolerance and those who allowed Buddhists to use a Muslim prayer room have crossed it, the youth wing of right-leaning Malay group Perkasa has said.
Stern action must be taken against the resort management to protect the sanctity of the Islamic prayer room, the hardline Malay activist group demanded as it waded into the latest religious row involving a Buddhist tourist group that had been captured on video meditating in a surau while on holiday in Malaysia.
“Whatever reason given by those responsible for permitting the surau to be used by non-Muslims is something that is unacceptable,” Wira Perkasa chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris said in a statement yesterday.
“Where is the sanctity of the surau? If it is free to be used by non-Muslims,” he asked.
Irwan took the resort management to task over the controversial incident, reminding them that profits should not be placed above religion.
“The management’s actions are clearly something that cannot be accepted by all Muslims, where this matter can create racial tensions.
“Tolerance in religion has its limits and compromises, don’t only think about profits from the financial aspect, religion is seen as number two issue,” Irwan said.
Irwan also observed that there have been more “insults towards Muslims” recently, saying that the authorities should probe and punish offenders to serve as a lesson for everyone to be more sensitive when handling religious issues.
On Monday, the resort owner was arrested after police reports were lodged over the incident that purportedly happened in the surau within the resort’s grounds last week. He will be remanded until Friday for police investigations.
The 45-year-old man, with a permanent resident status in Malaysia, is being probed under section 295 of the Penal Code, which comes under the heading of “injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class”.
His arrest also comes after several media reports highlighted the incident on Monday, with video recordings on YouTube showing an external shot of a small building and a close-up of what appears to be a sign in Arabic script over a doorway.
The video then shows what appears to be a prayer session inside the building by a dozen white-clad people led by a monk in red and saffron.
In a Monday report, Berita Harian quoted the resort owner as saying he did not expect the offer to lead to the controversy now.
“I do not think the action of giving permission to believers of other religions to use the surau is wrong. This is because they only wanted to use the surau for meditation.
“I have no intention of hurting anyone’s feelings. My intention is to show that Islam is universal and tolerant,” said the Singapore-born Muslim.
Yesterday, the Buddhist Maha Vihara — a group representing Malaysian Buddhists — apologised over the prayer session in the surau.
In a brief statement, Chief High Priest of Malaysia Datuk K. Srï Dhammaratana expressed his group’s regret while urging followers of the religion to be mindful of others in their worship.
“We would like to apologise to our Muslim brothers and sisters for the actions of a certain Buddhist group from Singapore in having their meditation session at the surau of a resort in Kota Tinggi.
“I advise Buddhists in Malaysia and Singapore to respect the religious sensitivities of other religionists while carrying out our own religious obligations and responsibilities,” Dhammaratana said.
