By Md Izwan. Published by The Malaysian Insider on 25 June 2014.
The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) today insisted it will continue to seize Bibles that contained the word Allah in the state, adding that it had every right to destroy the holy books it had already seized earlier this year from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM).
Its chairman Datuk Mohamad Adzib Mohd Isa (pic) said operations to counter the distribution of such Bibles in Selangor will continue and warned that it will not hesitate to arrest those distributing it. "This process will go on and we will also make arrests," he said in his speech at an event in the Tabung Haji Complex in Kuala Lumpur today.
Adzib also stressed that Mais will not accept the decision of Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail in the seizure of the BSM Bibles, adding that it will not return them to the BSM. Gani decided to close the case against BSM after finding the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had erred in the seizure of the Bibles, which he said were not a threat to national security as alleged. However, Mais has refused to comply with instruction from the A-G and the state government but instead said that it would be getting a court order to dispose of the holy books.
The religious council said that it will not close the case as was ordered by Gani and insisted that there is a provision in the 1988 state enactment to charge BSM. Adzib today said that although the council would accept the A-G's decision not to prosecute BSM but it maintained that the reason given not to take action against the society was not valid. "We accept the decision not to prosecute as it is under the purview of the A-G. But we do not agree with the reasons he gave," he added.
"On the seized Bibles, actually Jais could dispose it themselves. But because we care about harmony and justice, we leave it to the prosecutor to decide."
On January 2 this year, Jais seized the 321 AlKitab (Bahasa Malaysia Bible) and Bup Kudus (Iban-language Bible) from the then BSM office in Damansara Kim, sparking an outcry and criticisms aimed at the religious authority.
Read more here: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/we-will-continue-to-seize-bibles-with-banned-words-says-muslim-body
Published by The Malay Mail Online on 23 June 2014.
Malaysian Christians are free to call their God “Allah” in churches, a government official said today, reiterating the Najib administration’s commitment to its 10-point solution from 2011... The official stressed that the Federal Court’s decision only upheld a ban on the Catholic Church from publishing the word in its newspaper, Herald. “Malaysia is a multi-faith country and it is important that we manage our differences peacefully, in accordance with the rule of law and through dialogue, mutual respect and compromise,” the statement added.
Christians make up about 10 per cent of the Malaysian population of 30 million. Almost two-thirds of the Christians are Bumiputera and live in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, which include describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
Christian groups and churches nationwide voiced concern today over the validity of the government’s 10-point solution allowing the distribution of Christian bibles containing the word “Allah” in the select states in the wake of the Federal Court’s refusal to hear an appeal on the usage of the word.
Bishop Datuk Dr Thomas Tsen, president of the Sabah Council of Churches, said the Federal Court’s decision in dismissing the Catholic church’s application to appeal the government ban on the word “Allah” in its weekly was a “huge disappointment”.
“People will bring this decision of the highest court and say no, even though the prime minister has the 10-point solution, the highest court still says you cannot freely use the term ‘Allah’ to address your God,” Tsen told The Malay Mail Online today.
“Even though the prime minister did say this will not affect East Malaysia, it’s no guarantee because this is the law. And we wanted the guarantee from the legal side,” he said. Tsen said Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have for centuries worshipped in the Malay language and have been using the Al-Kitab replete with the word Allah to refer to God. “Our freedom of religion is being restricted,” he said. “Since we were born, we have been using the term. That is our language,” Tsen added.
He also expressed concern that the Selangor Islamic authorities might use the Federal Court ruling to justify their seizure of 321 copies of the Malay and Iban-language bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) last January.
A seven-member bench at the country’s highest court decided by a 4-to-3 majority this morning to deny the Catholic Church the right to appeal a lower court decision preventing it from using the word ‘Allah’.
Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar had rejected the Catholic Church’s application.
The dissenting judges were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, and Federal Court judges Datuk Zainun Ali and Tan Sri Jeffrey Tan.
Last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that “Allah” was not integral to the Christian faith and that the home minister was justified in banning the Herald from using the Arabic word on grounds of national security and public order... The Cabinet, through Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala, stated in the resolution that the large Bumiputera Christian population in Sabah and Sarawak could use their holy books in the Malay, Indonesian, and indigenous languages.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/selangor-sultan-hits-out-at-pas-mp-for-revoke-mais-powers-comment
ReplyDeleteSultan of Selangor Sharafuddin Idris Shah has expressed his displeasure with a PAS lawmaker for questioning the powers of the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and suggesting its executive powers be withdrawn.
The sultan said that although Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad was not a “Selangor born” he had been elected as a member of parliament in a constituency in the state, and so should have made an effort to learn about the history and laws in Selangor.
He said Khalid should have read the Selangor constitution and the Islamic Religion Administration enactment.
"The Shah Alam MP should not have questioned Mais' executive powers and suggested that the Pakatan Rakyat government abolish its executive powers.
"I am saddened and disappointed with this irresponsible statement,” the ruler said in a speech to inaugurate a mosque in Sepang today.
Khalid had on June 26 called for the Enactment on Islamic Laws Administration (Enactment No. 3, 1952) and the Islamic Religion Administration Enactment 2003 to be reviewed at a press conference.
He made the call after Mais failed to follow the attorney-general’s decision that the Iban-language and Bahasa Malaysia Bibles seized by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) be returned to the Bible Society of Malaysia.
Earlier in Parliament, Khalid together with three other Selangor PAS MPs had made a similar demand.
“This is an organisation which does not even want to listen to anyone and this results in a ‘government within a government’ situation in Selangor,” Khalid told a press conference in Parliament today.
“We, therefore, urge the Selangor government to unanimously review the enactment that allows Mais' executive powers and amend it where needed.”
The sultan said through his actions, Khalid was being rude and questioned his position as the head of Islam in the state.
"This is not the first time he had questioned Mais' powers and the enactments governing Islam in the state which he considered out of date,” the sultan said.
The sultan warned Khalid to be careful when he issued statements in the future about Mais and his role.
“I call on Khalid to be careful in future when he issues statements and not be rude and ignorant when discussing issues in relation to my powers and Mais' role in advising me about Islam,” he said.
The sultan said Mais would always guarantee that followers of other religions were allowed to practise their faith freely as provided for in the Federal Constitution.
He said all the actions by Mais and Jais were to protect the sanctity of Islam but without disrupting the followers of other religions from practising their faith.
"I call on everyone not to use Islam as political fodder and politicians should be responsible when making statements about Islam to ensure that the unity of Muslims in Selangor is preserved," the Sultan said. – July 15, 2014.