ANWAR FIRMS UP STANCE: PR to educate Muslims that SHARING 'ALLAH' won't harm Islam

PETALING JAYA - Amid calls for the Pakatan Rakyat to make clear its stance on the Allah issue following a recent and controversial raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim confirmed his coalition fully supported non-Muslims' right to use the word Allah to describe God so long as they did not abuse it.

Anwar slammed Prime Minister Najib Razak for stirring up the situation for political motives and allowing it to grow out of hand at the expense of national unity.

He vowed the Pakatan would go all out to educate Muslims, especially in rural Malaysia, that by 'allowing' other faiths to use Allah, they would not be falling into any trap designed by Christians to weaken Islam in Malaysia or other parts of the world,

"The Allah issue is a problem in the Muslim heartland. What is required is for us to continue with more effective to engage the Muslims. We have to work harder to make them understand that it is not an international Christian design to confuse the Muslims," Anwar told a press conference on Thursday.

"We have to explain clearly that it does not affect their faith and does not give room for Christian missionaries to confuse the Muslims. I believe if we continue with our effective information exercise, we can convince Muslims that it is not against their religion and not a threat to their faith."

Return the Bibles

Anwar also minced no words demanding that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) return the hundreds of copies of Bibles it had seized during the recent raid that had shocked the nation, escalating the ongoing row between Muslims and non-Muslims here.

JAIS had defended its actions, saying that it was in line with the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions Enactment 1988 (Control of Propagation Among Muslims), a law which prohibits non-Muslims in the state from using the word "Allah" and 34 other Arabic words.

"Give them back," said Anwar.

He slammed the JAIS move as being "high-handed", warning such a precedent if left unpunished was "very dangerous" as it failed to respect the rights and space of the other religions practiced in Malaysia.

"The question is not the law, but the manner it was being done," Anwar said.

"The role of the state government is to advice the ruler and make it known that whilst they respect state laws and position of Islam and there is no need to compromise on faith, we must be clear that every citizen in this country must be accorded the same respect and they must be of a certain decorum," he added.

Cheap politicking and real feelings on the ground

Indeed, the Selangor chief minister Khalid Ibrahim, who is a member of Anwar's PKR party, has come under heavy fire and accused of putting his personal political interest ahead of those of the non-Muslims in the state.

Khalid had refused to reprimand JAIS, saying they had not done anything wrong although he assured JAIS would in the future have to seek the state government's  approval before conducting such a raid.

Sad to say, Khalid had promised this before when a church, the DUMC, was raided by JAIS for suspected proselytization of Muslims. Yet, he was again ignored by IAIS, which comes under the direct control of the Sultan.

Khalid's appointment, while recommended by his PKR party and Pakatan coalition, still needs final approval from the Sultan, who in turn is seen as being supportive of Najib's Umno party.

Supporters of Khalid have tried to spin the negative publicity he drew for his perceived political cowardice as part of an Umno agenda to confuse Selangor voters so as to turn them against the Pakatan in the 14th general election, which must be held by 2018.

However, Pakatan insiders are more worried about the genuine disappointment spreading amongst Selangor residents, especially the non-Muslims who had mostly voted for them.

"I am sure Khalid did his best to sort things out. As for Umno, we don't care what they do, we are more concerned about the real feelings of the Selangor people. We are not going to go into Mahathirism and spin all sorts of surreal lies. We want to patch things up and assure our voters that we are sincere in all that we do and have promised to do for them.," Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"If we seemed to be slow in responding in this particular issue, it was because we wanted to get a better view before reacting. It is a serious issue and needs extensive, bi-partisan talks to resolve, not to mention input from all the major religious bodies." - Malaysia Chronicle