KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): A Sabah Christian group, Perpaduan Anak Negeri Sabah (PAN), has hit out at PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for his remarks against Christian missionaries, saying it was Muslim dakwah groups, not Christians, baiting their targets with money and other forms of aid.

PAN chairman Pastor Esther Golingi said Muslim preachers from the peninsula were known to enter interior areas in Sabah, such as Pensiangan, Pitas and Ranau, offering locals cash and other incentives to embrace Islam.

“It was only after the formation of Malaysia, that Sabahans experienced being offered inducement and bribery to convert to Islam.

“Creeping Islamisation from the peninsula into Sabah is as clear as day,” she said.

She said there were cases in which people converted based on the promises offered but the bargain was not reciprocated.

“An individual’s conversion to or out of any religion should be done out of free will – without inducement, bribery nor deceit.

“These conversion tactics have been raised time and again, but our cries seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

“As a matter of fact, these dakwah groups have intensified their operations here. What is our local government doing about this?”

Esther also asked if the dakwah groups were funded by taxpayers in the form of allocations from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).

She said teachers from the peninsula posted to Sabah schools repeatedly persuaded children to convert with Islamic teachings in classrooms and hostels.

“Our children’s history books have little on the history of Sabah.

“Textbooks and exam questions have been found to allude to the superiority of Islam and certain political parties.

“Islamisation exercises from the peninsula are clear and obvious,” she said, adding that parents were upset.  

She also warned Hadi to mind his remarks before making disparaging remarks against Christianity.

Hadi alleged that Christian missionaries have brought their work to Malaysia only after experiencing failure in the West.

“Christianity is no longer saleable in countries where the education level is high, such as Germany, France, Britain and other European countries,” Hadi had said in an article in the latest edition of Harakah, the party organ.

“They have also taken these teachings to the interior areas of our country, such as in Sabah and Sarawak.

“They have spread their religion not by using knowledge and reasoned argument, but by baiting their targets with money and other forms of aid. People who are hemmed in by the difficulties of living would easily accept their assistance and, in the end, become influenced by them.”

MCA leaders, including party president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and vice-president Chew Mei Fun, have also reportedly condemned Hadi for provoking Christians, creating distrust and conflict in the country.

“Hadi’s statement shows his conservative and narrow-minded thoughts and his complete ignorance of the Malaysian fabric and importance of unity in diversity,” Liow was quoted as saying yesterday.

Chew was quoted in news portal Malaysiakini as saying that the PAS government in Kelantan offered RM10,000 to each Muslim preacher who married an indigenous person and converted him or her to Islam.

The state also provides Muslim preachers with free accommodation, a four-wheel-drive and a fixed allowance of RM1,000, she was quoted as saying.