KUALA LUMPUR – Preacher Firdaus Wong says it is hypocritical to politicise the conversion of minors to Islam as the same questions are not raised about conversion to other religions.
Firdaus Wong said this in response to civil society group Global Human Rights Federation (GHRF) which expressed concern over the preacher’s video on TikTok in which he can be seen explaining to a man how non-Muslim children could covertly be converted to Islam.
He told Scoop that some non-Muslim children are curious about Islam because the religion is “attacked on the news”.
“They (children) did their own research and found that the religion is good and there’s truth to it, unlike how it’s portrayed by the media. Besides that, another factor is they socialise (with other Muslims) and notice the logic of having faith without an object to worship, as well as how devoted Muslims are.”
He also said the controversy and criticism over his comments in the TikTok video demonstrated a double standard against Islam.
“Many teenagers were converted to other religions, but we rarely hear complaints from parents. Why is it politicised when it involves Islam?”
When asked if the situation was being reversed, Firdaus replied that it would be illegal.
In response to Firdaus’ video, the GHRF had previously asked religious authorities and the Ministry of Education to investigate allegations that non-Muslim students were forced to convert to Islam.
Its president S Shashi Kumar claimed this violated the prerogative of parents to determine the religion of their children under 18.
He added that the organisation had filed numerous complaints against the preacher but the police have not taken any action.