10 Point Solution on Malay Version of Bible by Cabinet of Malaysia

10 Points solution by Cabinet of Malaysia on April 3, 2011

1. Bibles in all languages can be imported into the country, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia.

2. These Bibles can also be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. This is a new development which should be welcomed by the Christian groups.

3. Bibles in indigenous languages of Sabah and Sarawak such as Iban, Kadazan-Dusun and Lun Bawang can also be printed locally and imported.

4. For Sabah and Sarawak, in recognition of the large Christian community in these states, there are no conditions attached to the importation and local printing of the Bible in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia and indigenous languages. There is no requirement for any stamp or serial number.

5. Taking into account the interest of the larger Muslim community, for Peninsular Malaysia, Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia, imported or printed, must have the words “Christian Publication” and the cross sign printed on the front covers.

6. In the spirit of 1Malaysia and recognising that many people travel between Sabah and Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, there should be no prohibitions and restrictions for people who bring along their Bible and Christian materials on such travels.

7. A directive on the Bible has been issued by the Ketua Setiausaha (KSU) of the Home Ministry to ensure proper implementation of this Cabinet decision. Failure to comply will subject the officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders. A comprehensive briefing by top officials, including the Attorney-General (AG), will be given to all relevant civil servants to ensure good understanding and proper implementation of the directive.

8. For the impounded Bibles in Kuching, Gideon, the importer can collect all the 30,000 Bibles free of charge. We undertake to ensure the parties involved are reimbursed. The same offer remains available for the importer of the 5,100 Bibles in Port Klang, which have already been collected by the Bible Society Malaysia (BSM) last week.

9. Beyond the Bible issue, the Govern­ment wishes to reiterate its commitment to work with the Christian groups and all the different religious groups in order to address inter-religious issues and work towards the fulfilment of all religious aspirations in accordance with the Constitution, taking into account the other relevant laws of the country. In order to bring urgency to this work, the Prime Minister will meet the representatives of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) soon to discuss the way forward.

10. The Christian ministers in the Cabinet will meet on a regular basis with representatives of the various Christian groups in order to discuss their issues and work with the relevant ministries and the PM in order to resolve them.

Case Study: Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) raid on Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) (Series 3)

Legal Implications

1.    The JAIS raid has brought into question the power of the religious authority, the jurisdiction of its control by the state and federal government, the Sultan of Selangor’s role in its authority and whether the state enacted law supersede Federal Constitution.

2.    The amendment proposed by 3 ADUN would only apply to Selangor.

3.    Conflict with Sultan and federal constitutional death lock, the Sultan may refuse to give his consent to the amendment of the bill under S78 (2B) of Selangor Constitution.

4.    Beside this, by allowing Sabah and Sarawak to use Allah wording in their bible but not peninsular would make Malaysia into a country that had 2 set of law, to resolve this problem, need to went back to emphasize the importance of tolerance in a multi-religion society.  

Possible solution

1.    "I believe tension can be defused if we settle contentions through dialogue engagement and the rule of law," Najib said at the Prime Minister's Department's first monthly gathering for the year yesterday.

2.    In calling for a more diplomatic approach in tackling sensitive issues, disputes must be settled in accordance with the law as the country's harmony was at stake.

Appendix

* subsection 9 of Non-Islamic Religions Control of Propagation among Muslims (Selangor) Enactment 1988, which states that a person commits an offence if he (a) in any published writing; or (b) in any public speech or statement; or (c) in any speech or statement address to any gatherings or persons; or (d) in any speech or statement which is published or broadcast and which at the time of its making he knew or ought reasonably to have known would be published or broadcast, uses the word “Allah” or 34 other Arabic words including Hadith, Syariah, Kalifah, Fatwa, Alhamdulillah, Insyaallah etc to express and or describe any fact, belief, idea, concept, act, activity, matter or thing of or pertaining to any non-Islamic religion.

Case Study: Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) raid on Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) (Series 2)

Response from various parties:

2 January 2014	1.    DAP Tony Pua condemn JAIS as fanatic and it was an error, he point his finger to federal government that it was a trouble lashed out by federal government, it need to be solve by them. 2.    The Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew said The Herald would continue to use Allah.
4 January 2014	1.    Klang Muslim Solidarity Secretariat warned The Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew to apologise otherwise they would conduct a rally outside his church, Church Of Our Lady Of Lourdes. 2.    PAS Ulama chief Harun Taib said those who insist to use Allah word should convert to muslim. 3.    MCA Religions Harmony bureau chairman Dato’ Ti Lian Ker said JAIS never informed Selangor government on the raid was ridiculous.
5 January 2014	1.    Noh Omar prohibited UMNO member to join the rally outside the church, but they were allowed to conduct the rally on an empty field or outside Father Lawrence Andrew’s house. 2.    UMNO Kapar Division Deputy Chairman Datuk Saroni Judi appeared in the rally on that day. 3.    Marina Mahathir, member of Sister in Islam (SIS) presented flowers to the public who came to Church Of Our Lady Of Lourdes on that day.
6 January 2014	1.    The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) today described the raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department last week, as a blatant disregard of Putrajaya’s 10-point solution.
8 January 2014	1.    Dato’ Ti Lian Ker told the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) should have asked the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) to return the bibles. 2.    Ti said the bureau welcomed the criticism by the NUCC against the Jais raid and the call for all parties to abide by the Government’s 10-point solution.

PR’s leaders reaction on DAP ADUN’s proposal. 

3 January 2014	1.    Yeo Bee Yin, ADUN Damansara Utama, Rajiv Rishyakaran ADUN Bukit Gasing and Lau Weng San ADUN KampungTunku proposed to Selangor government to amend Selangor Non-Islamic Religions Enactment 1988. 2.    They would propose to amend the Subsection 9 of Non-Islamic Religions Control of Propagation among Muslims (Selangor) Enactment 1988 in the next state assembly sitting. 3.    They said JAIS reckless action served as a wakeup call for us to seek a review of *subsection 9 of Non-Islamic Religions Control of Propagation among Muslims (Selangor) Enactment 1988, which stated that “a person commits an offence if he uses the word “Allah” or 34 other Arabic words to express any fact, belief or pertaining to any non-Islamic religion.” 4.    Not only that, DAP would protect muslims from “murtad” means betray Islam, and at the same time ensure the right of non-muslims was safeguarded.
6 January 2014	1.    Anwar said he was disagreed with the 3 DAP ADUN’s suggestion because there was no need to be too hasty, on the other hand he wanted MAIS to solve the problem and Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) should not make Christian angry. 2.    PAS Vice President Datuk Mahfuz Omar expressed PAS was fully agreed with Anwar and blamed that MAIS was too rush in making decision. 3.    Yeo Bee Yin insist on her stand and said it was a collective decision and she said she respect all other view on this issues.
7 January 2014	1.    Anthony Loke, Seremban DAP MP said 3 ADUN want to amendment the enactment was merely suggestion and he said DAP CEC had not discuss on this issues.

Case Study: Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) raid on Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) (Series 1)

What happened?

2 January 2014   
1.    Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) in Damansara Kim was raided by police, and Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) at 1pm, JAIS confiscated more than 300 copies of bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and Iban language.
2.    JAIS claimed it was an attempt to convert muslim into Christian, not only that they tried to confuse muslim by Allah wording and Allah was a sacred word.
3.    BSM general-secretary Reverend Simon Wong complained JAIS team accompanied by two policemen raided the BSM offices without producing a search warrant or authorised letter were on aggressive behaviour during their course action.
4.    The raiding party took BSM chairman Lee Min Choon and office manager Sinclair Wong to the Damansara police station to record their statement and released later.
5.    Selangor State Exco in charge of religious affairs Salehan Mukhyi from PAS said the government was informed or awaken only after the ambush, he told Home Ministry (KDN) to explain why permit importation of Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and Iban language, because there were a chop on those Bibles.

8 January 2014   
1.    JAIS took it action after tremendous complaints from the public said Salehan Mukhyi, who was also a Selangor Exco in charge of religious affairs. He said Jais raid on BSM not illegal and it followed SOP process.