The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
‘Allah’goes back to the court, 30 April 2010
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — “Allah” controversy pitting the government and Malaysia’s Christians is set for a rematch in court in June, after talks between a church and government officials broke down.
The High Court here today fixed June 24 for hearing after the Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church failed to reach an out-of-court-settlement with the home ministry for seizing a shipment of its children’s Christian books containing the word “Allah” three years ago.
In early 2007, customs officers at the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) airport in Sepang had confiscated eight religious books brought in by the church for its Sunday school classes for children.
The home affairs ministry, which controls the customs department, had claimed the books contained the word “Allah” which is barred from use by non-Muslims and seized them to prevent confusing Muslims.
The church objected, and claimed the books were teaching materials meant for Christian consumption and would not be used to preach to Muslims, as the ministry appeared to imply.
The ministry eventually returned the books to the church, on the condition that a cross and the words “Christian publication” were stamped on the covers to avoid confusing any Muslim who may happen to read the materials.
Pastor Jerry Dusing, who heads the Sabah SIB branch, told reporters at court the confiscation of Christian books remains a problem in Malaysia.
He noted that Christian books imported from neighbouring Indonesia to cater to the growing Malay-speaking Bumiputra congregation faced hurdles in passing through customs.
Dusing said all the church wants is a guarantee to avoid similar problems in future.
He added the church had two days ago written to the Prime Minister to step in but had yet to receive a response.
Among the suggested measures include stamping a cross on the cover of all Christian books and with the words “Christian publication” to avoid misleading Muslims, as had been done previously.
“We hope the government will take a sensible attitude towards this problem,” the pastor said.
The SIB was first set up in 1928 and has grown into the biggest Christian evangelical movement in Malaysia with members numbering some 300,000 people, mostly from indigenous Sarawak and Sabah communities but with a growing following among the Orang Asli in the peninsula.
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