Hisham says Alkitab decision ‘not finalised’ but will only be finalized after the Sarawak's polls

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — The 10-point “solution” announced by Putrajaya on Saturday to placate Christians unhappy with the government’s restrictions on Malay bibles has yet to be finalised, the home minister has said.

Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today that talks on the Alkitab issue were still ongoing, just two days after Datuk Seri Idris Jala assured Christians that a compromise formula had been decided upon by Cabinet.

“We’re still in the middle of negotiations. Nothing is finalised yet,” Hishammuddin told The Malaysian Insider.

He stressed that the government was taking a “fair and reasonable” step-by-step approach to address the Malay bibles issue, pointing out that nothing will get resolved if Christians and Muslims get bogged down by details.

“The main thing is that we have to move forward... in a reasonable, non-polemic way,” he said.

Hishammuddin (picture) also declined to comment on Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria’s challenge to Putrajaya to abolish Islamic laws on the use of “Allah” after the government said it would allow Christians to freely distribute Malay bibles across the country.

Harussani told The Malaysian Insider yesterday that the Cabinet decision contravened the Control and Restriction of the Propagation of Non-Islamic Religions Enactment, which bars non-Muslims from using “Allah” to refer to God in all states except Sabah, Sarawak, Penang and the federal territories.

“If the enactment already bans it at the national level, on what basis do we allow it? Is the enactment abolished automatically?” the mufti had said.

“If the government does this, just cancel the law. I feel disappointed with the government as the law already says it cannot be allowed.”

Hishammuddin, however, said there was no point speculating on what will happen later, stressing the need to focus on ongoing talks first.

“Let the negotiations go through. Let’s see what is the final outcome and then we work from there,” he said.

The Cabinet over the weekend put out a new list of suggestions to put an end to the month-long standoff over the use of Malay bibles in an apparent bid to head off a possible Christian backlash against Barisan Nasional (BN) in Sarawak ahead of state polls on April 16.

Nearly half the state’s one million population is Christian.

In a media statement, Jala spelled out the government’s 10-point formula to pacify Christians without incurring the anger of the majority Muslims over the religious controversy.

However, he made no mention of the word “Allah”, which both Christians and Muslims view as being the crux of the Alkitab row.

Jala also said the Cabinet’s decision will be gazetted through the Home Ministry’s secretary-general to ensure that the order is carried out and action will be taken against officials who breach these directives.

He added that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will meet the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) — which represents 90 per cent of all churches in Malaysia — to look for a way forward on outstanding religious issues beyond the Bible row.