Islamic NGOs protest handling of Al-Kitab issue

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of Islamic NGOs will not let the issue of the Malay bibles go quietly. They gathered outside the National Mosque to protest at how the Christian community and the government handled the probem.

The organisers, the Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam (Pembela), a coalition of 20 Muslim bodies, claimed that the Christian community had gone overboard in defending the Malay bibles.

“In efforts to resolve this issue, we find that the statements being made and the actions taken have gone so far as to challenge the sovereignty of Islam itself,” Pembela spokesman Yusri Mohamad said.

“We believe that there is a hidden agenda to open the Islamic society in Malaysia to apostacy or at the very least inject pluralistic, secular and extreme liberal religious views that would erode the integrity and identity of Muslims in Malaysia,” he told a small crowd after Friday prayers.

Yusri said that if the Christian community continued their “provocative” and defiant ways, then some 100 Muslims groups that supports Pembela would quit from the Special Committee to Promote Inter-Religious Understanding and Harmony that was formed by the Cabinet.

Pembela also condemned the 10-point solution that the government has come up with, calling it the “Idris Jala formula”.

Yusri claimed that discussions were only made with Christian groups but neglected the opinions of Muslim groups. The law lecturer said that the release of the Al-Kitab for distribution went against the Federal Constitution.

“The Idris Jala formula is clearly a decision to stoop to the manipulative, confrontative strategies of the Christian groups; the Federal Constitution states that the special position of Islam should be respected,” he said, adding that Pembela is considering challenging the solution in court.

Yusri also condemned the way the government has “given in” due to the timing of the issue coinciding with the election in Sarawak.

He urged all politicians not to sell out Islam in favour of pleasing voters.

Yusri said all issues should follow due processes and this included the issue over the banning of the usage of the word “Allah” for Christians.

When asked about PAS leaders saying they had no problems with Malay bibles, Yusri said that was probably not the opinion of all PAS members.

Meanwhile, Muslim NGO Perkid president Masridzi Sat said Muslims would not compromise on this issue.
Also present was ex-Perkasa Youth chief Armand Azha Abu Hanifah and Jamaah Islah Malaysia organisation president Zaid Kamaruddin who stressed that the “status quo” should be maintained.

The Home Ministry caused a furore in the Christian community when it seized 35,000 copies of the Al-Kitab in Port Klang (in 2009) and Kuching Port (Jan 12, this year). The books were deemed a threat to national security.

After much public pressure, the government agreed to release the bibles but not before stamping the Home Ministry’s official seal on them, along with a “For Christians Only” label.

This angered the importers who refused to collect the bibles, with numerous Christian groups accusing the government of desecrating the holy books.

Earlier this month, the government issued a 10-point solution to solve the issue, and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak himself promised that the bibles will never again be impounded.

However, the solution has not pleased all parties as several Christian groups have rejected it. The Al-Kitab matter is not the first Christian issue to have been brought up in recent times. Last year, a massive row erupted over the use of the word “Allah” in the Malay version of the Catholic weekly newspaper, The Herald.
Subsequent events led to a number of churches being damaged. In December, one of Najib’s aides allegedly instructed Catholic church officials to remove crucifixes and to avoid singing hymns during Najib’s Christmas visit to the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur.