What Malaysians Have To Say About Muslims And Christians Holding Joint Buka Puasa Session
"This is how we should live. Keep it up guys!"
By Sadho Ram — 05 Jul 2015, 03:18 PM
Muslims and Christians held a joint buka puasa session on Friday, 3 July, at a mosque and church built next to each other near Miri City
Mosque and church leaders exchanging buka puasa goodies in front of the Good Shepherd Church (with red roof) and An-Naim Mosque near Miri City in Sarawak.
Image via The Star OnlineThe event, attended by Muslims and Christians from the Anglican, Catholic, SIB and Methodist churches, has become a unique tradition that reflects the special bond between people in Miri of all faiths.
Called the An-Naim Mosque and Good Shepherd Church, they are less than 100 metres from each other in the Lutong bazaar, located about 10kms north of Miri City, The Star reported. The management of the mosque and church share their car parks with each other.
On Fridays, the church will open its gate to let Muslims park their vehicles during prayer time. On Sundays, the mosque will open its gate to let Christian churchgoers use the car parks.
On special occasions such as the buka puasa sessions, both the Muslims and Christians will come together for dinner.
Yesterday, Imam Mohd Zulkifli Mohd Adnan and the pastor of the church, Donald Jute, along with their groups and other church and mosque leaders exchanged cakes and fruits before proceeding to the mosque compound to break fast.
The news was posted on The Star's Fan page, which at the time of writing this, has received over 12K Likes and more than 2K shares
Commenting on The Star's post, Ahmed Makhdoom lauded the effort. He said, "Indeed, this is really and truly heart-warming!"
"This is the actual 'Religion!' This is humanity! Let Churches and Mosques open their doors to other Faiths! Long live Religion!," Ahmed Makhdoom added.
Another reader Justin Tan echoed sentiments of many with his comment, saying that, "When will our politicians in west Malaysia stop politicising racial issues and let Malaysians live their life as how we used to be like our Miri friends?"
"Let East Malaysia be the model of racial and religious harmony for the Federation of Malaysia," commented Yehoshua Eric. He further added that, "Let the "East" show the way when the "West" is embroiled in endless infighting due to racial and religious tensions."
Facebook user Pathma Nathan hopes that other Churches, Mosques and temples will follow the steps and open their doors
In short, the overall reactions from Malaysians to the news was positively supportive. You can check out the original post here.