MALDIVES: Legislators Seek to Increase Pressure on Non-Muslims

When presenting the bill, Muttalib said that its purpose was to maintain Islamic principles in the country and to prevent the spread of non-Muslim faiths. He also said that the government had received enquiries about establishing places of worship and there was nothing yet in the law or constitution to prevent this. He mentioned too the phenomenon of “wedding tourism” and said that this would “indirectly set up churches in this country”.

Muttalib has explained that he proposed the bill because at present there is no legal barrier to the establishing of non-Muslim places of worship. Muttalib’s assumption that having non-Muslim places of worship would be unacceptable reflects the strongly Islamic nature of Maldivian society. The bill has now been sent to committee.  President Mohamed Nasheed has said that, before ratifying the bill, he will seek advice from Islamic religious scholars about what sharia (Islamic law) teaches on allowing non-Muslims to worship in an Islamic society.

Source: Barnabus Fund