SHAH ALAM, June 17 — Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said today that he will seek an audience with the Sultan of Selangor tomorrow to present options agreed by the state executive councillors in resolving the case of the bibles seized from a Christian group.
“The procedure, Mais’ stand on the issue and the state government’s view and also the decision by the AG will be considered in the implementation of the resolution.
“I will present the options agreed by us to the Sultan,” he told reporters after the Selangor state assembly concluded for the day.
“The option is of course to just return the bibles, but the process has to be done right,” he added.
Islamic authorities in Selangor seized over 300 Malay and Iban language bibles from the premises of the Bible Society of Malaysia in January because the books used the word Allah to refer to God.
Khalid met with Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) officials yesterday after the state religious authorities refused to return the bibles, despite the Attorney-General’s (AG) decision not charge the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) because the books contained the word “Allah” to refer to God.
AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had pointed out last week that the seized items were not “controlled items” and that it was not a national security issue but added that Jais would take the “next step” in accordance with the law.
In its response, Mais had reiterated that Jais, which comes under the council’s purview, will not adhere to the directive issued by the Selangor government because the state had “no power” in the matter.
Mais had also insisted that there are grounds to “prosecute” BSM under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988.
Today, Khalid said no agreement or conclusion was made from the meeting, but added that he will convey the religious authorities’ stance on the issue to the state executive councillors.
