Utusan defends Jais raid, asks if DAP is ‘anti-Islam’

(MM) – Utusan Malaysia quizzed today DAP on its stand concerning Islam after three lawmakers from the party proposed a change to a 1988 state law that empowered Selangor Islamic law enforcers to raid and seize hundreds of bibles.

Awang Selamat, the collective pseudonym of the Umno-owned newspaper’s editors, even went on to question if DAP was “anti-Islam” and asked if it had a hidden agenda to proselytise Muslims.

“Is DAP anti-Islam and why does it want to continue threatening the interests of Muslims that all this while have made many sacrifices and been tolerant?” Awang Selamat wrote in its column the weekend edition of the Malay broadsheet, Mingguan Malaysia.

“Questions still linger on what more does DAP want in the issue of the word ‘Allah’ when the party should be clear and understand in taking care of the sensitivities of Muslims,” it said earlier, having said that the DAP trio’s suggestion had left a “big question mark” hanging over the party’s tactics.

On Friday, DAP state lawmakers Yeo Bee Yin (Damansara), Rajiv Rishyakaran (Bukit Gasing) and Lau Weng San (Kampung Tunku) criticised the 1988 law as breaching the Federal Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom, saying that they will attempt to revise the law while still providing the necessary safeguards against proselytisation to Muslims.

The Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, passed by the then Barisan Nasional state government, prohibits 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).

It was used by Jais when it dispatched a team of 20 religious officials, who were accompanied by the police on Thursday to raid the Bible Society of Malaysia’s (BSM) office in Petaling Jaya where it seized over 300 copies of the bibles in the Malay language and Iban language.

Two top BSM officials were also arrested and ordered to report to Jais next Friday.

Awang Selamat also said today: “Does DAP’s stand in supporting the use of the word ‘Allah’ by the Catholic church have a larger agenda covering the printing and wider distribution of Bahasa Malaysia bibles to Muslims? Awang hopes not.”

The columnist also maintained its defence of Jais’ raid and seizure of bibles, which it suggested had averted chaos and said had managed to calm down Muslim anger over the use of the word ”Allah” in the scriptures.

“There were fears if the authorities were late in taking stern action, some of the Muslims will take the extreme path that can spark religious quarrels,” it said under a separate sub-heading in the column.

It added that no one should be allowed to affect public safety and peace.

While defending Jais as protecting the sanctity of Islam, it also cited the Selangor Sultan’s decree to obey a fatwa (religious edict) banning non-Muslims’ use of the word “Allah” in the state, as well as the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the dispute over the Catholic Church weekly Herald’s right to print the Arabic word for God.

Lawyers have questioned the authority of Islamic authorities to raid the BSM premises or seize the bibles, pointing out that Jais and other such Islamic departments have no jurisdiction over non-Muslims.

They also cast doubt on the validity and constitutionality of enactment that they say impinged on the right to religious freedom.

But Jais has decided not to reply to questions about its right to act on non-Muslims, with its director Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad citing the need to provide space for the police to act.

The Selangor government will not be commenting on the surprise raid on the BSM until they receive a formal report from its religious authorities.

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.