KUALA LUMPUR: After accusing Christians and Jews of trickery in last week’s sermon, Malaysia’s federal Islamic authorities today called for harmony among religions but laced its message with warnings against any encroachment of Muslim rights. In order to achieve harmony, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) insisted that Islam’s special privileges and rights, especially over the use of the word “Allah”, must not be disputed by anyone. “The tolerance meant by Islam is for us to not overstep boundaries in things which have already been agreed upon,” Jakim’s sermon titled “Harmony between faiths” said. “The pulpit also urges every party to not dispute things that are enshrined in the (Federal) Constitution and mutually agreed, in addition to not disputing Muslims’ exclusive rights,” it added. The sermon talked of attempts by unnamed parties intending to upset harmony and tolerance among the country’s various faiths. These attempts included so-called attacks against Muslims, with Jakim listing down cases where individuals called themselves messengers and ...
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