January 27, 2010
Associated Press, 27 January 2010
Worshippers found severed heads of pigs at two Malaysian mosques
Wednesday following a spate of firebomb attacks on churches amid a
dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by Christians, officials
said.
The incident is the most
serious to hit Islamic places of worship following
vandalism and other assaults at 11 churches, a Sikh temple, a
mosque and two Muslim prayer halls across this Muslim-majority
country in the past three weeks.
The attacks followed outrage among Muslims over a Dec. 31 court
verdict that allowed non-Muslims to use “Allah” as a translation
for “God” in the Malay language. Many Malaysian Muslims believe the
word should be exclusive to their religion, and that its use by
others could confuse some Muslims and even lure them to
convert.
Several men who went to a suburb mosque to perform morning
prayers Wednesday were shocked to discover two bloodied pig heads
wrapped in plastic bags in the mosque compound, said Zulkifli
Mohamad, the top official at the Sri Sentosa Mosque on the
outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s largest city.
Pigs are considered unclean by Muslims.
Two severed pig heads were also found at the Taman Dato Harun
mosque in a nearby district, said the mosque’s prayer leader,
Hazelaihi Abdullah.
“We feel this is an evil attempt by some people to aggravate
tensions,” Zulkifli told The Associated Press.
Government authorities have denounced the attacks on places of
worship as a threat to decades of amicable relations between ethnic
Malay Muslims, who make up nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s 28
million people, and religious minorities, mainly ethnic Chinese and
Indians who practice Buddhism, Christianity or Hinduism. –
Associated Press
Are you freaking kidding me? Most serious?