Brunei: Where Celebrating Christmas Becomes a Criminal Offence

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)

Christmas in 2019 was a low-key affair in Brunei. Most foreign workers left so as to celebrate Christmas outside the country and evade a government-enforced ban on such celebrations. Those who would leave the country usually return after the New Year.

Brunei made celebrating Christmas a criminal offence in 2014. Muslims caught celebrating Christmas festivities face five years in jail and fines of up to US$20,000, or both. The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, introduced the ban over fears that celebrating it “excessively and openly” could lead the Muslim population astray. That same year, Brunei adopted a stricter penal code based on Islamic Sharia law.

Brunei is a Muslim-majority nation, which operates under a form of Sharia law that includes punishments such as stoning and amputation. The death penalty can also be imposed for breaches of Sharia law.  All of society including Christians are subject to Sharia laws and are forced to adhere to Islamic customs and rites.

Local imams have promoted the ban on Christmas celebrations, warning that adopting the trappings of Christmas is tantamount to imitation of another faith, prohibited in some interpretations of Islam. In Brunei, conversion from Islam is illegal, and believers from Muslim backgrounds come under intense pressure to return to that faith if they attempt to leave it.

Officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs have reportedly visited local businesses to ensure they were not displaying Christmas decorations, including Santa hats and banners with Christmas greetings.

Christians living in Brunei can still go to church for special services and celebrate with friends and family at home. Christians can celebrate Christmas within the privacy of their own homes, but only after they have alerted authorities. And, in certain communities with high concentrations of Christians, putting up a few public decorations could be allowed if the authorities are alerted first and if they provide permission.

However, Christmas activities such as singing carols, setting up Christmas trees, exchanging cards and gifts, and decorating the home with Christmas paraphernalia are strictly forbidden to Muslims since authorities believe they might damage the Islamic faith of Bruneians.

All churches, including registered ones, face restrictions and are closely monitored by the authorities. Non-traditional Christian communities cannot register as churches, but must register as secular organisations.

There are 57,400 Christians in Brunei. They make up 13.2 per cent of the total population of 434,000.

Dear Heavenly Father, we lift up your sons and daughters in Brunei who serve you faithfully. Please provide them with an extra dose of your peace, strength and courage to face those who persecute them and discriminate against them because of their faith. May they shine your light in the darkness of this strict Islamic culture. And may their persecutors see you in them, Lord, and convict them of their sins against the faithful and you, so that they recognise you as the one true God, and fall on their knees to ask your forgiveness. Please also touch the hearts of the government and Sultan of Brunei and let them see you as the one true King, and as the only one who can bring unity and peace to their divided land. We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Sri Lanka: Continued harassment of Christians

SRI LANKA: Continued harassment of Christians and fears for the future

Christians in Sri Lanka have continued to face attacks in 2019. According to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), there have been 83 recorded incidents in the country, including harassment by officials, abuse, and attacks.

In October, a Divisional Secretary, along with an officer of the Deniyaya police station, questioned a pastor about the legality of his church, the Hokma Bible Centre. They urged him to obtain authorisation from the Divisional Secretariat to conduct religious activities, even though the church has been operating at the location since 2007 and the pastor has valid papers for it. Until then, they demanded an immediate end to all services. They also insisted that they should be informed if any church is functioning in the area.

Attacks on Sri Lankan Christians came as Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the candidate representing Sri Lanka People’s Front, the Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist party, won the presidential elections in November. This took place amidst some of the worst political instability and violence the country has seen.

In a speech soon after he was elected, Rajapaksa called for future cooperation: “Even though I knew I could win the presidential election with the support of the Sinhala people alone, I made a special request to Tamil and Muslim people to be partners in that victory. But their response was not to my expectation.” He continued, “But as your new president I ask you again to rally around me as true Sri Lankans for the sake of the future development of our country.” Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalists hope Rajapaksa will usher in another golden era for the nation’s ethnic majority.

“We built an ideology that the country needs a Sinhala leader who does not bend down in front of minorities,” claimed Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, a monk and nationalist leader of Bodu Bala Sena (Army of Buddhist Power), a Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist organisation responsible for several anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots that went unchecked and is alleged to have the protection of the Rajapaksa government.

Many are justifiably worried about what Rajapaksa’s election will mean for religious harmony in Sri Lanka. Buddhist nationalism and violence against Christians have increased in recent years. Earlier this year, self-radicalised Islamist extremists bombed hotels and churches during the Easter Sunday attacks, killing more than 250 people.

HOME GROUP PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

We pray for your children in Sri Lanka. We pray that the new government will speak out and take action against those who persecute minorities and those of other faiths. We ask that acts of violence and harassment against our brothers and sisters in Christ in Sri Lanka end. We give thanks for the faith of our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka who have continued to praise you and worship you and spread their faith in the face of persecution and harassment. We pray that those who preach hate against minorities and those of other faiths will be silenced and Sri Lanka can be a place of religious freedom and ethnic peace.

We remember the violence and destruction which took place in a terrible civil war and pray for the victims of that period and those who still suffer its consequences. We pray that we will each love our fellow human beings for you have created us all in your image.

May the Christian message of peace spread throughout all of Sri Lanka and the rest of Asia wherever Christians face persecution. We give thanks for your steadfast love which sustains us through all the difficulties we face in life. We pray that you will watch over our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka who are doing your work and sharing your message for the benefit of all.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.