KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — The consignment of Christian books and compact discs (CDs) that were seized last week at klia2 will be released to its Christian owner if they are meant to be used by those in Sabah, a Home Ministry officer said today.

When contacted earlier, the Home Ministry’s Hashimah Nik Jaafar told Malay Mail Online that the ministry was still probing and trying to ascertain the final destination of the hundreds of Christian books and CDs — which reportedly contain the word “Allah”.

She clarified that the Royal Malaysian Customs Department had seized the Christian materials at the main terminal of the airport, and had then forwarded it to the Home Ministry for further investigation.

“We are trying to ascertain if he is bringing it to Semenanjung or taking it to Sabah and if he’s on transit, why is it in the main terminal?

“We are trying to get verification from Customs and the person involved,” the ministry’s Publications Control and Al-Quran Text division head told Malay Mail Online, explaining that publications that are in transit to another destination would typically not be found in the main terminal.

Malay Mail Online understands that it is a common practice for Customs officers stationed at the country’s main entry points to pass materials to the Home Ministry for further study. The Home Ministry officers are also stationed at such places.

According to the federal Cabinet’s 10-point solution in 2011, the authorities cannot place “prohibitions and restrictions for people who bring along their bibles and Christian materials” when travelling between Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.

The 10-point solution also allowed for bibles in Malay and indigenous languages to be printed, imported and distributed freely in Sabah and Sarawak but in the peninsula, the holy books must be stamped to indicate that they are a “Christian publication”.

Last Saturday, however, hundreds of Christian materials belonging to a Christian man who was enroute to Sabah from Indonesia were seized at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) in Sepang.

Malay Mail Online understands that the man was trying to bring the consignment back to Sabah where he resides.

Sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Malay Mail Online yesterday that the Protestant church in Sabah that the man attends is attempting to negotiate with the Home Ministry for the return of the books and the CDs.

Today, Hashimah explained that there are no restrictions at all for Christian materials bound for east Malaysia, saying: “We don’t confiscate the Christians’ material if it’s meant to be used in Sabah and Sarawak.”

“So we have to determine whether these books and CDs, is it really meant for Sabah and Sarawak or they are bringing it to Peninsular,” she said of the current case.

Explaining the usual procedure for the importing of Christian materials into Peninsular Malaysia, she said Christian groups such as the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and Pertubuhan Bible dan Risalah Watchtower Malaysia would write in to the Home Ministry to get its permission ahead of the entry of materials.

While no permits are issued for Peninsular Malaysia-bound Christian materials, if the Home Ministry approves of the materials, it will write back to the importer to say that they can bring them in according to the amount requested, she added.

But for those seeking to bring in Christian materials to Sabah and Sarawak, no similar procedure or application is required, Hashimah said.

“So far we have not received any application to import these books into Malaysia,” she said in reference to the seizure of last week’s Christian materials.

For this case, the Home Ministry’s decision whether to release the boxes of Christian materials to the owner hinges on whether he can prove that he has a scheduled flight to Sabah.

“If the person is really taking the material to Sabah, he has to prove the ticket. We will release the material with him when he leaves KLIA,” she explained.

But if the materials were meant for Peninsular Malaysia, the Home Ministry will need to look into “different considerations” and “take another step by checking the content of the books”, she said.

When asked if the books and CDs contained the word “Allah”, Hashimah said she could not confirm it as the ministry’s officers have yet to check its content.

She said that the main title for these materials were in English, but the content was written in Bahasa Indonesia — a language largely similar to the Malay language used in Malaysia.

For seized personal belongings that usually compose of one copy or small numbers of each material, the owner would usually write to the Home Ministry to appeal for its release on the basis that those are meant for personal use, she said.

Such a release is usually granted with the condition that the owners use the materials for their own purposes and do not distribute them, Hashimah added.

Hashimah was speaking to Malay Mail Online in a phone interview conducted before Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said that efforts are now being made to release the Christian materials to its owner.

The incident last week is seen as illustrating an unresolved quandary in Malaysia, where the government has said regulatory prohibitions against non-Muslims’ use of the word “Allah” enforced in peninsular Malaysia, do not extend to Sabah and Sarawak.

Sabah and Sarawak has a large population of Bumiputera Christians, who have been using the Malay language and the word “Allah” to describe their God for generations in their holy scriptures and religious practices.