Day 24
Malaysia
Malaysia’s Kelantan state has recently ratified Islamic Sharia law for 24 new offenses. These offenses include converting out of Islam to any other religion, distortion of Islamic teachings, and disrespecting the month of Ramadan. Critics say in a nation already battling to maintain unity in its ethnic and religious diversity, this kind of strict Islamic law promotes intolerance. Pray that the Church in Malaysia will truly experience that it is God who works in them to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose to see His Kingdom grow (The Bible, Philippians 2:13).
Source: Malaysian State’s Latest Enforcement of Sharia Laws Makes Conversion Criminal (ICC)
Ismail Sabri Yaakob was recently appointed Prime Minister, the third in three years. Since the 2018 shock election victory over the coalition that had ruled the nation for the previous 60 years, the hoped-for changes were not forthcoming, and the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic attracted considerable criticism, resulting in political instability. Ethnic and religious divides characterize this nation. Fundamentalist Muslims carry a significant presence in Malaysia. Over the past decade, the government conducted widespread crackdowns to silence, harass and lock up hundreds of critics. It was found that authorities were behind the kidnapping of Christian pastors and outspoken activists in the last 5 years. The outspoken wife of Pastor Raymond Koh who was kidnapped and disappeared in February 2017, Susanna Liew, was named the International Woman of the Year in 2020 by the Annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards.
