Sabah truly epitomises teachings of Prophet Muhamad–Senator

KOTA MARUDU: Sabah is a good example of how multi­faith societies should exist side by side, peacefully, the very scenario envisioned by the great Prophet Muhamad, said a senator from the Peninsula.

Dr Muhammad Nur Manuty of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) said a peaceful multicultural society in the state is exactly what the prophet himself had promoted in Medina during his days.

“Prophet Muhamad promoted and, in fact, ordered Muslims to get to know and be friends with the Jews and the Christians. He never told the Muslims to hate the Jews and the Christians.

“Sabah is a good example of tolerance and this should be followed and should be studied further (how the societies managed to respect each other despite the different religions),”he said this in his "sirah nabi" talk at PKR's state­level Maulidur Rasul event held at Kampung Rasak Laut in Kota Marudu yesterday.

The senator also said that Prophet Muhamad had made it clear that when he said "ummah" he referred to all human beings, and not only Muslims, as some had promoted in Malaysia.

“Ummah, according to the Prophet, includes the Jews and Christians. Our struggle in Keadilan is in line with the teachings of Muhamad.

There is no need whatsoever to play the Malay and Islam sentiment,”he said, adding that even Muhamad had ordered his followers not to

 desecrate churches and synagogues.

“The Prophet also ordered his followers to return the Torah to the Jews. That is why the Selangor government, under Pakatan Harapan, had returned the confiscated Bibles to the Sarawak Christian leader recently,”said Dr Muhammad.

Also present at the Maulidur Rasul event were PKR election director Datuk Saifudin Nasution, and the party head for Kota Marudu, Datuk Maijol Mahap, both of whom spoke at the function.

In fact, Maijol, a Christian, officiated the Muslim function on behalf of state PKR chairman Datuk Lajim Ukin who was indisposed.

To this, Dr Muhammad acknowledged that it could be the first time in the party's Biro Pemahaman dan Pemantapan Agama's (BIPPA) history that a Christian was invited to officiate in such a function that it organised.

“I shall bring this good news to the knowledge of our national leaders, that Sabah truly epitomised the very teachings of Prophet Muhamad,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Muhammad and Saifudin later joined Lajim and hundreds others at a similar Maulidur Rasul event held yesterday in Beaufort, hosted by the three PKR divisions in the area ­ Sipitang, Kimanis and Beaufort.

Source: Borneo Post