This likely has to do with the fact that Islamic law forbids the construction of new churches. Christians are “forbidden to ring church bells or display crosses, recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals and feastdays, and are forbidden to build new churches” – Reliance of the Traveller o.11.5 (6,7)
In the Islamic scheme of things, the Islamic community must always grow, and the non-Muslim community always diminish.
“After Waiting 45 Years, Church Building Permit Rejected Again,” International Christian Concern, May 9, 2025:
5/9/2025 Indonesia (International Christian Concern) — After an astounding 45 years of waiting for a building permit, Catholics in Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, were told yet again that they couldn’t build their own place of worship. Residents of Jalanjang village in the Gantarang District voted against the construction, forcing the church to worship in empty homes and warehouses. Recently, the local government facilitated the use of the PKK building as a temporary worship space.
Efforts to build a church started in 1980. The church obtained a permit to build a church near the Bulukumba Regional Hospital, but the permit was cancelled after Muslim residents protested. Another location on Jalan Wahidin also suffered a similar fate.
Now, efforts to build a church in Jalanjang have failed.
Muhammad Rais, chair of the Indonesian National Youth Committee in Bulukumba, encouraged the local government to help resolve the issue fairly and transparently.
“Telling Catholics to move to build a church is not a solution,” he said. “Bulukumba is also their home. It should not be treated as a stepchild. They have the right to worship.”…
Isabella Hale says
Wow. Maybe the New POPE LEO can help!
rick says
The Catholics didn’t read the fine print which said in part
“we hate you almost as much as we hate Jews so don’t think we’ll ever let you build a church anywhere on holy Islamic ground. Don’t you recall the famous Palestinian slogan, “First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People” Unfortunately the Saturday People have shown a particularly strong resilience so we are putting you Sunday People first and the dirty Jews second in order of extermination .”
abu taleb says
Some time ago, a governor candidate in West Java, Indonesia, said that there were more than 100,000 mosques and musholla (praying place, but nor a mosque) that had no permits, but he would help obtaining the permits if he won. He did won, but I didn’t know the follow up.
I just want to make a point, mosques can be buld without permit and even against the regulation, but novody dares to touch it, and sometimes the local government helps while at the same time oppresses other religions.
It is very Islamic.
Gunter Deleyn says
Don’t forget former governor of Djakarta, Mr Purnama, who was put to jail for two years because of blasfemie. He claimed that verse 5:51 ‘don’t be friends with Christians and Jews’ didn’t mean Muslims couldn’t vote for him. By this act the Muslims showed how tolerant the Islam is.
Andrew Blackadder says
Malaysia is pretty much the same as it is ILLEGAL for any non muslim to use the word allah in public as the Government says this word is for use by muslims only even though the word allah is Arabic for God and Malaysia is not an Arabic speaking country.