Malaysian Muslims stir anger with church article

Malaysian police were investigating Tuesday complaints against an Islamic magazine that reported two Muslim journalists pretended to be Catholic and took the Holy Communion during Mass to do research for an article.

Churchgoers Joachim Xavier and Sudhagaran Stanley filed a police report last week accusing the monthly al-Islam magazine of desecrating the Christian practice of Holy Communion in an article written by the journalists.

In it they described how they tasted the wafer, representing the body of Jesus, and spat it out to take a photo of it.

The two journaists went undercover and pretended to be Christians to infiltrate a church they claimed was converting Muslims into Christians.

However they wrote in their published article "Al Islam's investigation in church: Finding the truth behind youths' apostasy" that they found no proof of the church offering money to Muslim youths to convert to Christianity.

A journalist and his friend went into two Catholic churches in Kuala Lumpur and took the Holy Communion, describing it as a "white bread eating ceremony." They also criticized parts of the ceremony and wrote Christians strayed from the right path.

"Entering these premises with the intention to spy, and worse, to violate the sanctity of the worship only serves to incite anger and hatred that could lead to potentially dangerous consequences that would tear this country apart," Xavier and Stanley said in a statement.

Entering these premises with the intention to spy, and worse, to violate the sanctity of the worship only serves to incite anger and hatred that could lead to potentially dangerous consequences that would tear this country apart

Joachim Xavier, Christian

A Malaysian Muslim blogger by the name of Mahaguru58 likewise criticized the undercover operation and said the magazine "ought to issue an apology to the Christian community."

Mohamad Bakri Zinin from the police federal crime investigations said officials were looking into whether the two men had caused religious disharmony which could land them into jail for five years.

Xavier said non-Christians were welcomed to attend church ceremonies without taking communion.

"I have no objection to the Malay Muslim men visiting the church. But the issue is their intention of visiting a church to spy on its activities," Xavier said but added, "If everyone starts to intrude into each other's services and write about it, there will be chaos."

I have no objection to the Malay Muslim men visiting the church. But the issue is their intention of visiting a church to spy on its activities

Xavier