Interfaith Prayers for YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed

By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy

Marina was kind enough to invite us to an inter-faith prayer session at Blog House this last Sunday. Marina and Tara have become fast friends ever since we met them during Just Heavenly's infancy. And on Friday 7 September, she smses us to ask if we'd like to come. Obviously, Allan and I felt we should. So at 7pm on Sunday 9 September, we turned up to be greeted by Ivy Josiah, Ria Thomas, Marina & Tara. We hadn't met up with Ivy & Ria for some time as well. So it was a welcome reunion. Ria quickly intercepts us and tells us that Marina has already performed her ablutions so please don't touch her or offer your hand for her to shake.

It was the start of an evening of possibility, of enquiry, and of heart warming togetherness.


The prayers were to start with the Maghrib prayers. Then each of the major faiths would say their prayers according to their tradition. The Christians were represented by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam who is actually my Archbishop, seeing as I'm Catholic. The Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, and the Bahai's were also represented. The Muslims were represented by an Imam Feisal of the Cordoba Initiative, an ecumenical organisation dedicated to multi faith understanding.

After the Magrhib prayers, we took our seats and each of the representatives of the religions said a prayer for the continued speedy healing of Marina's Dad as well as peace and harmony for all of Malaysia.

Allan, Ria and I sat together and the one thought that was going through my head was "this is how everything should be." It felt so right, so doable. Infinite possibilities opened up for our young nation. And for a moment, in this little corner of Malaysia, we had our Bangsa Malaysia. We were proud to be able to share in this moment where we could contribute to prayers for the Tun.

Imam Feisal said it best when he wrapped up the prayers for the evening by saying that while each religion had their own traditions, there is an ethical universality to all religions which we can embrace in these interfaith prayers. Read the Cordoba Initiative website linked above to understand more. There was such a serenity and gravity to all of the representaties and it was, in my mind, a moment of sheer possibility. And the power of that possibility drives me still. I hope we have more of these. Marina, thanks for organising these prayers for your Dad. We continue to pray for his continued and speedy recovery and we're heartened and gladdened by the new entry on your blog.