Christian group concerned over Mais letter regarding returned Bibles

(The Star) – The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) has expressed concern over a statement by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais) on the return of the Bibles seized from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM).

“The return was enabled by the goodwill of His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor, Selangor Mentri Besar and other individuals,” said CFM chairman Rev Dr Eu Hong Seng.

“CFM appreciates the return of the Bibles but also supports the recent statement by BSM on the problems that have surfaced, he said.

He added that CFM viewed with concern a paragraph of the Mais letter which read that “the distribution as well as the printing of Bibles that contain the word Allah is no longer done in the State of Selangor, as it is an offence under the Non-Islamic Religious Enactment (Control Development Among Muslims) 1988”.

He said the blanket ban on the use of the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles in the State of Selangor was unrealistic as there were thousands of Sabahans and Sarawakians who reside and work in Selangor, besides thousands others conversant only in the national language.