Kuching - Non-Muslims in the state have never been forced to embrace Islam, and those who have converted did it of their own free will, said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister‘s Department (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman.
He said Islam forbade the use of force in the spread of religion.
“The government never forced the people to be converted to Islam because by doing so it will only create tension among the people of various religions,” Daud told reporters during a site visit to the Islamic Centre at Jalan Upland here yesterday.
He stressed that the government would not force non-Muslims to embrace Islam, adding that the existing harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims was very good.
According to him, about six per cent of non-Malays in the state have embraced Islam debunking the belief among some that Islam was an exclusively Malay religion.
Daud, who is also Assistant Minister of Industrial Development, said Islam practised tolerance.
The assistant minister added that Islam was a universal religion for all races.
On the centre, Daud said it would network with other Islamic centres in the world through a website to be launched when the centre was opened on Aug 17 by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.
According to him, the RM13 million project was expected to completed this June.
It is funded by Baitulmal and donations from members of the public. He said the centre will become an important place to give correct information on Islam.
He also said non-Muslims who wanted to know more about the religion could turn to the centre for information.
Source: www.theborneopost.com (30 April 2008)
