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Sabah group out to thwart efforts by Muslim groups to convert Christians

Sabahans slam Christian leaders in Cabinet for keeping silent on religious issues

A Sabah non-governmental organisation is working overtime to create awareness among the largely poor and illiterate Christians in rural areas of increasing efforts by Muslim groups to convert them to Islam.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one of the group's coordinators told The Malaysian Insider that political parties from both sides, churches and non-Muslim NGOs have banded together to thwart conversion efforts by Muslim groups.

"Half a dozen or so Islamic NGOs are behind this forced or induced conversion. They are intent on converting as many Christians to Islam as possible," the coordinator told The Malaysian Insider.

"These groups are hoping to convert these rural Christians, a large majority of whom are illiterate, to Muslims."

The coordinator said while the majority of the NGOs were peninsula-based, the most active was a Sabah-based group.

It is a local NGO whose "missionaries" are largely the indigenous people whom they had converted.

“Being locals who speak the indigenous languages, they have an advantage over the peninsula-based Islamic NGOs,” he said.

It is understood that some of the peninsula-based Islamic NGOs active in the conversion campaign use middlemen to persuade their target group to convert.

“They will look for poor villagers in rural areas and offer inducements, very often large sums of money," said the coordinator.

Earlier this year, a group of about 64 people, including children, from three villages in the remote Pitas district – Kampung Layung Maliau, Dowokon and Sosop – claimed they were tricked into converting into Islam.

They claimed a neighbour told them “some people from Kuala Lumpur” were offering them “financial assistance” of RM800 but only if they went to Pitas to collect it.

On New Year's Day, they did. Instead of receiving the financial assistance at the Pitas town hall, they claimed they were made to go to a nearby mosque instead.

There the villagers were given RM100 and asked to put their thumbprint on a document. They were then told to stand in a line and recite some "foreign words".

The villagers claimed they only realised they were converted when some of them brought home the document and showed it to their church leaders.

Protestant Church of Sabah president Rev Jensey Mojuin told The Malaysian Insider yesterday the church elders and parish priests would meet today to discuss the alleged conversions.

“We want to hear from the parish pastors what is happening in their areas,” said Mojuin.

Mojuin said he has heard of similar reports in parishes in Kudat, Kota Marudu, Kanibongan and Paitan.

“All that we heard are from the newspapers," he said, adding that PCS has about 43,000 members.

PCS is one of the four Lutheran World Federation member churches in Malaysia. – January 22, 2014.