Malaysia refuses to release Bibles which use banned word ‘Allah’
By Julia Zappei, Herald Malaysia Online, 4 Nov 2009.
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia : The Malaysian government has refused to release 10,000 Bibles confiscated for using the word 'Allah' to refer to God, a banned translation in Christian texts in this Muslim-majority country, an official said on Wednesday.
An official from the Home Ministry's publications unit said the government rejected pleas by church officials to allow the Bibles, imported from Indonesia, into the country. Christians say the Muslim Malay-dominated government is violating their right to practice their religion freely.
Such religious disputes are undermining Malaysia's reputation as a harmonious multiethnic, moderate Muslim nation. About 30 percent of the country's 28 million people practice Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism or other faiths.
A Home Ministry official said the government told the importer last month to return the Indonesian-language Bibles, which are still with customs.
Psalm 24:7-10
"Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is He, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty -
He is the King of glory."
http://www.thenutgraph.com/no-to-intervenors-church-judicial-review
ReplyDeleteKUALA LUMPUR, 11 Nov 2009: Eight parties including seven Islamic religious councils are no longer intervenors in the Kuala Lumpur Roman Catholic Church's application for a judicial review over the usage of the word "Allah".
High Court judge Lau Bee Lan said based on the Federal Court ruling on 3 Sept in the case of Majlis Agama Islam Selangor vs Bong Boon Chuen and 150 others, the High Court had no jurisdiction to allow intervention in judicial review proceedings under Order 15 Rule 6(2)(b) of the Rules of the High Court 1980.
She then set aside her own order on 3 Aug, which allowed the eight parties to intervene in the new application by Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam for a judicial review over the usage of the word "Allah" in the church's weekly publications of Herald magazine.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/15/focus/5116043&sec=focus
ReplyDeleteHishammuddin must be commended for clearing the air with his statement that the printing permit of Catholic Herald, the country’s only Catholic publication, has not been revoked.
He said Catholic Herald still had its permit to print its weekly newsletter in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese and Tamil.
We hope the permit to print in Kadazan would be approved eventually too. Why should barriers be placed for Kadazans who want to learn about their faith in their native language? It is certainly unconstitutional.
The perception is that Catholic Herald has to fight its case annually to get its printing permit renewed. Why should it have to go through this annually?
Delays in renewing and seizures of Bibles have contributed to the backlash against the Government. It is unnecessary and would be perceived by fair-minded Malaysians as infringing on the rights of non-Muslims to profess their religion.
At the state level, Protestants continue to struggle over church buildings with most congregations having to pray in office complexes, which are hardly ideal locations for those in search of peace and calm.
Churches often encounter difficulties dealing with some bigoted officials at local authorities who seem to impose their religious bias even when politicians have given their support.
God surely does not need or want us to compete for His attention.