The People’s Majlis (Parliament) of the Maldives have been debating a bill to ban non-Muslim places of worship. According to Maldivian sources the bill, proposed by Ibrahim Muttalib MP, would make it illegal to build non-Muslim places of worship or to practise non-Muslim faiths in public, although foreigners would be allowed to worship in the privacy of their homes. Punishment would be a jail term of three to five years or a fine of between US$2,800 and US$4,700.
Muttalib’s rationale
When presenting the bill, Muttalib said that its purpose was to maintain Islamic principles in the country and to prevent the spread of non-Muslim faiths. He also said that the government had received enquiries about establishing places of worship and there was nothing yet in the law or constitution to prevent this. He mentioned too the phenomenon of “wedding tourism” and said that this would “indirectly set up churches in this country”.
Muttalib has explained that he proposed the bill because at present there is no legal barrier to the establishing of non-Muslim places of worship. He referred to Article 19 of the 2008 Maldivian constitution, which states that “No control or restraint may be exercised against any person unless it is expressly authorised by law.” His argument was that a law was therefore needed explicitly prohibiting non-Muslim places of worship.
Muttalib’s assumption that having non-Muslim places of worship would be unacceptable reflects the strongly Islamic nature of Maldivian society. His concern is how to safeguard against this happening.
What next?
The bill has now been sent to committee.
President Mohamed Nasheed has said that, before ratifying the bill, he will seek advice from Islamic religious scholars about what sharia (Islamic law) teaches on allowing non-Muslims to worship in an Islamic society.
According to sharia, Jews and Christians are allowed to keep their existing places of worship in an Islamic state but not to build new ones. “Pagans”, such as Hindus, are not even allowed to keep existing places of worship.
The higher percentage of Muslims in any Nation then the greater the demand to convert that Nation to Islam, and the more determined the fanatics like Choudary become.
It is high time that the UK government acted against this threat to the stability and peace of the nation as a whole. Get rid of the canker in our midst that seeks to destroy all that true members of the United Kingdom have fought for over the decades.
Be warned. If you do nothing then these evil men with their warped beliefs will ultimately succeed in taking over this nation. If you do nothing then you will be as much to blame as anyone else. Lobby your MP to take this matter up in Parliament as a matter of urgency, and keep on lobbying until something is done.
No comments:
Post a Comment