KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — After a shocking raid by Selangor Islamic authorities this month, the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) is formulating a fall-back plan to put itself and the bibles it distributes beyond the reach of the state’s religious enforcers.

It revealed that this would include utilising a depository in Sabah and possibly adding more from Sarawak as well as shifting operations to Kuala Lumpur, in its bid to continue importing Malay- and indigenous-language holy scriptures from Indonesia.

According to BSM general secretary Rev Dr Simon Wong, the group already has an existing depot in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah that can be used to distribute the bibles to Bumiputera Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.

“It’s worthwhile to consider having a KL address if things don’t work out as we hope for,” Wong told The Malay Mail Online yesterday.

“Surely we will take proactive steps to overcome whatever obstacles as and when they come along,” he added.

The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) seized over 300 copies of Malay and Iban-language bibles ― which refer to God as “Allah” and “Allah Taala” respectively ― from the BSM’s Petaling Jaya office on January 2 under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988.

The law, which was passed by the then Barisan Nasional (BN) state government, places a blanket ban on non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faith, including “Allah”, “Nabi” (prophet), “Injil” (gospel) and “Insya’Allah” (God willing).

Similar legislation has been enacted in nine other states in Malaysia, except in Penang, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories.

After it was raided, the BSM explained that they distribute most of their bibles to churches in Sabah and Sarawak, but also cater to Malay-speaking Christians in the peninsula, including the Orang Asli and those who come from East Malaysia.

While the BSM’s plan may circumvent the Selangor law, it is unclear what it would mean for the largely-Bumiputera Christians that worship using its bibles in the state.

Yesterday, Wong also questioned if Jais would target the BSM once more should Selangor endorse Putrajaya’s 10-point solution on the “Allah” row.

On January 8, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim ordered Jais to return the bibles to BSM provided the holy scriptures comply with the 10-point solution.

Jais seized over 300 copies of Malay and Iban-language bibles from the BSM’s Petaling Jaya office on January 2 under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988. — Picture by Choo Choy May

BSM president Lee Min Choon said last Friday that the society’s Malay bibles, the Al-Kitab, are imprinted with an image of the cross and the words “Christian publication” on the cover, as required by the 10-point solution for bibles distributed in the peninsula.

But Jais has yet to do so. Instead, it pressed ahead with questioning BSM’s Lee along with the society’s office manager, Sinclair Wong, over the bibles. 

The 10-point solution, issued by the Najib administration shortly before the Sarawak state election in 2011, allowed for bibles in Malay and indigenous languages to be printed, imported and distributed nationwide with certain conditions imposed for Peninsula Malaysia. 

Since October, Christian-Muslims ties have been strained following the Court of Appeal ruling then barring “Allah” to the Catholic Church, during which it also ventured that the word was not integral to the Christian faith.

The ongoing 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.

Christians make up close to 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.