UMNO'S UNTRUSTWORTHINESS EXPOSED! 3 PMs, 3 broken promises on ALLAH

While the Christian community looks to the 10-point solution to resolve the ‘Allah’ row, two similar solutions hammered out under two different prime ministers in the past also fell apart, lamented Council of Churches secretary-general Herman Shastri.

Herman said the Church had, over the years, engaged with several prime ministers over fears that the use of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians in the Malay language Bible could confuse Muslims but history was repeating itself.

"We had long conversations with then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad... he shared the Muslim mind with us and we said we had no intention to confuse anybody.

"It was the understanding that Christians would be allowed to use the Bible in the Malay language within the church compound, but Mahathir's remark was what if Muslims take the Bible out, read it and get confused (by it).

"...In order to show our commitment, we said we would put a cross on the cover of our Bible. If they (Muslims) cannot recognise that for a Christian book, I don't know what they can recognise. So it was done," he told a forum on freedom of religion last night.

However, Herman said the problem persisted under the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who took over from Mahathir, where several the Bup Kudus (the Bible in the Iban language) with the word ‘Allah’ for God were confiscated.

"We went to Abdullah and shared the same thing with him and, being the nice man that he is, he said he understood our concern, but we also had to understand his situation and his people...

"It was during his time that it was reaffirmed we will put a cross, but since the cross is not understood universally as (a) Christian (symbol), we will also put the word ‘Christian publication’ on the cover," he said.

'Reaffirmed but reneged'

Herman held up a copy of a 2003 article of the New Straits Times entitled ‘Bup Kudus' ban lifted, says Abdullah’, pointing out that that was the second solution, which again failed to live up to its promise when Najib Abdul Razak became prime minister.

Under Najib, the cabinet approved a 10-point solution in 2011 which allowed the Malay language Bible to be freely circulated in Sabah and Sarawak, while those in Peninsular Malaysia must have a "For Chirstians Only" stamp.

Despite the third solution, the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) raided the Bible Society of Malaysia two weeks ago and carted away over 300 copies of the Bible in the Malay and Iban languages.

"The point I want to make is, as the Christian community, we have been committed to peaceful negotiations and because of the sensitivity of the matter, we have dealt (directly) with the prime ministers.

"But perhaps we must change our strategy because it is not helping us too much," said a frustrated Herman who was among those consulted when the 10-point solution was drafted.

Herman said the government already had sufficient laws to curb the propagation of other religions to Muslims, but it still appeared dissatisfied.

'Promises not kept'

Despite the Christian community being demonised and accused of seeking to proselytise to Muslims, he said, no evidence was ever presented.

Likewise, in the issue of child custody where one parent had converted to Islam, Herman said, the government had made a "good decision" by declaring that any child dispute must be resolved in the same court where their parents were married.

However, the government later reneged on this promise as well, he said.

Herman said solutions hammered out by the ruling coalition, especially among its component partners, did not hold as there appeared to be forces working to undermine these cabinet decisions.

"Even if there is a decision made by the cabinet that is collectively represented by ministers from the coalition partners of every culture and religion, there is something working within our society that can supersede it to make life difficult for all of us," he lamented.

He added that international religious scholars signed an open letter in 2007 called ‘A Common Word’ to highlight the common ground of the Abrahamic faith, but few in Malaysia appeared interested in it.

Among the signatories to the letter is Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Also present at the forum were Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) director Ahmad Farouk Musa, Jihad for Justice chairperson Thasleem Mohamed and Archdiocesan Pastoral Institute director Clarence Devadass.

The forum was jointly organised by IRF, Pusat Komas, and the Community Action Network (CAN). - Mkini