KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — Sarawak will not seize any bible, an official from the state government said in the wake of a religious firestorm after Selangor Islamic law enforcers raided the Bible Society of Malaysia’s (BSM) office in Petaling Jaya.

As some Malay Muslim groups across the South China Sea demand a crackdown on non-Muslims who insist on calling their gods “Allah”, Sarawak told its Christian majority the state government understands their history and will not imitate the actions of its peers in Peninsular Malaysia.

“I can assure you that the government will not seize Bibles in the state because we really appreciate the spirit of tolerance.

“Christians in the state have been using Bibles for more than a century, and the government has never seized them,” Assistant Minister in the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Office (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman told The Borneo Post Online.

He urged Sarawak Christians not to be influenced by the incidents here and to refrain from taking part in activities that could destroy the racial and religious harmony in Malaysia’s largest state.

He also advised opposition leaders against using the issue to gain political points.

“We don’t want what is happening there (Peninsular Malaysia) to spread to the state. What is happening there (Bibles seizure) does not involve the state (Sarawak) government,” Daud was quoted saying.

On Thursday, officials from Selangor’s Islamic Religious Department raided BSM’s premises and seized more than 300 copies of the Alkitab and Bup Kudus, the bible in the Malay-language bible and the Iban-language bible respectively that contains the word “Allah”. 

Christians make up about 10 per cent of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million. 

Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.

Temperatures have risen of late over the so-called “Allah” row that remains unresolved four years after it shocked the nation and led to the worst religious strife in the country’s history.

Umno Selangor and Muslim groups have vowed to protest outside churches in the state tomorrow over Christians’ refusal to yield to their insistence that “Allah” was exclusive to Islam in Malaysia.

A legal dispute between the government and the Catholic Church over its right to print the word “Allah” in the Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia section is still pending before the Federal Court, which is set to hear arguments from both sides on February 24 before deciding on whether it will hear an appeal by the Catholic Church.

Two other lawsuits involving the use of the Arabic word for God, including one filed by Sarawakian Christian, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, are also pending in court although neither have a hearing date fixed since their filing over five years ago.