Along the way, the AlKitab Injil issue has been morphed into an issue of religious freedom by certain quarters with vested interests, but the Government has taken steps to ensure that it is only about the the Injil/Bible, this is what our Gomen has decided:
KUALA LUMPUR: The government yesterday announced that Bibles in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, would now be allowed to be imported into the country.
The Bibles can also be printed locally, in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala, in a statement, said this was part of a 10-point solution reached following dialogues with Christian groups.
Idris said the government wished to reiterate its commitment to work with the Christian groups and all the different religious groups to address inter-religious issues and that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would meet representatives of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) soon to discuss the way forward.
"I hope this 10-point solution will be received positively by the Christian groups as being fair and reasonable. I think the Bible issue is very unfortunate and, in the spirit of Lent, it is time for sacrifice, reconciliation and forgiveness.
"In our history as a young nation, we've achieved a lot in a short period of time, but we have our shortcomings.
"The government and our civil servants are not perfect as indeed all human beings are 'beautifully imperfect' in the eyes of God.
"And for all our shortcomings in handling the Bible issue, I hope the Christians will find it in their hearts to forgive us," he said.
The 10-point solution includes:
- Allowing Bibles in the indigenous languages of Sabah and Sarawak, such as Iban, Kadazandusun and Lun Bawang, to be printed locally and imported;
- In recognition of the large Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak, there will be no more conditions, such as stamps or serial numbers, attached to the importation and local printing of the Bibles in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia and other indigenous languages;
- In the interest of the larger Muslim community, for Peninsular Malaysia, Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia, imported or printed, must have the words "Christian Publication" and the cross sign on the front covers;
- There will be no restrictions on people bringing along their Bibles and Christian materials when travelling between Sabah and Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia;
- A directive on the Bible has been issued by the Home Ministry's secretary-general to ensure proper implementation of this cabinet decision. Failure to comply will subject the officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders.
- For the impounded Bibles in Kuching, Gideon, the importer can collect all the 30,000 free of charge and the parties involved will be reimbursed. The same offer applies to the importer of the 5,100 Bibles in Port Klang, which had already been collected by the Bible Society Malaysia last week.
- Christian ministers will meet regularly with the various Christian groups to discuss their issues.
Source here.
I note that the Gomen Minister, Idris Jala issued an apology some more, baik punye, I hope his gesture is reciprocated by CFM.
I hope the CFM will accept this very generous decision, not forgetting that the Gomen will now be faced with other serious questions such as the pending KDN appeal of the High Court Decision brought by the Herald and also the various State Islamic enactments concerning the usage of the word "ALLAH" (I think this exclude Sarawak and Sabah where Muslims are not in majority).
Let us just remember and keep remembering that in a multiracial and multi religious country like Malaysia no one will be fully satisfied with what the Gomen can practicably decide.
We should be grateful that we have a responsible Government whose duty is it to ensure that Malaysia despite its diversity in culture and religion continues to grow in peace and stability.
May ALLAH bless this great country of ours.
KUALA LUMPUR: The government yesterday announced that Bibles in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, would now be allowed to be imported into the country.
The Bibles can also be printed locally, in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala, in a statement, said this was part of a 10-point solution reached following dialogues with Christian groups.
Idris said the government wished to reiterate its commitment to work with the Christian groups and all the different religious groups to address inter-religious issues and that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would meet representatives of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) soon to discuss the way forward.
"I hope this 10-point solution will be received positively by the Christian groups as being fair and reasonable. I think the Bible issue is very unfortunate and, in the spirit of Lent, it is time for sacrifice, reconciliation and forgiveness.
"In our history as a young nation, we've achieved a lot in a short period of time, but we have our shortcomings.
"The government and our civil servants are not perfect as indeed all human beings are 'beautifully imperfect' in the eyes of God.
"And for all our shortcomings in handling the Bible issue, I hope the Christians will find it in their hearts to forgive us," he said.
The 10-point solution includes:
- Allowing Bibles in the indigenous languages of Sabah and Sarawak, such as Iban, Kadazandusun and Lun Bawang, to be printed locally and imported;
- In recognition of the large Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak, there will be no more conditions, such as stamps or serial numbers, attached to the importation and local printing of the Bibles in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia and other indigenous languages;
- In the interest of the larger Muslim community, for Peninsular Malaysia, Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia, imported or printed, must have the words "Christian Publication" and the cross sign on the front covers;
- There will be no restrictions on people bringing along their Bibles and Christian materials when travelling between Sabah and Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia;
- A directive on the Bible has been issued by the Home Ministry's secretary-general to ensure proper implementation of this cabinet decision. Failure to comply will subject the officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders.
- For the impounded Bibles in Kuching, Gideon, the importer can collect all the 30,000 free of charge and the parties involved will be reimbursed. The same offer applies to the importer of the 5,100 Bibles in Port Klang, which had already been collected by the Bible Society Malaysia last week.
- Christian ministers will meet regularly with the various Christian groups to discuss their issues.
Source here.
I note that the Gomen Minister, Idris Jala issued an apology some more, baik punye, I hope his gesture is reciprocated by CFM.
I hope the CFM will accept this very generous decision, not forgetting that the Gomen will now be faced with other serious questions such as the pending KDN appeal of the High Court Decision brought by the Herald and also the various State Islamic enactments concerning the usage of the word "ALLAH" (I think this exclude Sarawak and Sabah where Muslims are not in majority).
Let us just remember and keep remembering that in a multiracial and multi religious country like Malaysia no one will be fully satisfied with what the Gomen can practicably decide.
We should be grateful that we have a responsible Government whose duty is it to ensure that Malaysia despite its diversity in culture and religion continues to grow in peace and stability.
May ALLAH bless this great country of ours.
6 comments:
Do you think this will close the issue? What will be next?
What about the responsibility of the government toward the Malays, especially Islam, as the official religion of Malaysia. This is enshrined in the Constitution, isn't it? The Malays & Bumiputera don't exist nowadays?
Don't you think one of the paramount responsibility of any Government is to uphold and preserve its Constitution? It is not only the official religion, but the National Language, Education System, Socio-economic etc as stipulated in various article of the Constitution.
Hallelujah
Treason
In the wrong hand
A simple answer to your question is no it won't Bro.
Next we have the Appeals Court decision on the suit brought by the Herald, the Courts can't decide as the date for the appeal is still pending. On top of that the Gomen needs to handle the various Islamic enactments in the various states(not including Sarawak n Sabah) which restricts the usage of the word "ALLAH" by others.
The Gomen in trying to find a resolution may be opening a Pandora's Box as not everyone will be satisfied with their decision.This is democracy ala Malaysia bro.
However, this is the Gomen that we elect into office Bro, I cannot fault them for trying their best, BUT if we are not happy then we will make our feeling known thru the ballot box. Unfortunately the alternative is far more bitter and divisive look at "direction-less" PKR, "anti Islam anti Malay" DAP and "don't know where I am" PAS.
Let us however find solace and confidence in our strong Aqidah and Jatidiri that our parents have imparted to us. If we fear that our children will be converted to Christianity or any other religion for that matter, then it is our responsibility as Muslim parents to give a good grinding of Islam to them from young.
We should not and cannot depend on just the Laws and the Gomen to shelter our children from the reaches of other religions. Times has change bro, the enemy could be just in our house just a "On" switch away of the computer we bought for our children.
Whatever it is we must remind ourselves that Islam is a beautiful religion.
There is no god but ALLAH, and Muhammad is the messenger of ALLAH.
May ALLAH guide us to the Straight Path.
May ALLAH bless us with stability on that Path.
Tq.
Thanks Bro!
Personally to me, it is not the question of aqidah as I have written somewhere in my post that, a faithful man needs not to worry of anything as his has his strong unshakeable faith with him. Be it in religious place or be it he was thrown to mother of all vices dungeon. His faith will remain strong and this al-kitab is nothing, actually.
Nothing about the faith or aqidah really.
To me, it is all about Malaysia. Its Rukun Negara and its Constitution; which our very own leader is "raping" these two "sacred text", "sacred" to the Bangsa and Negara. Isn't "Islam As Official Religion" enshrined in Constitution? Why are they (Najib's gomen) MENCABUL? Same as Bahasa Kebangsaan, pendidikan anak bangsa, Artikel 153 etc..? Now it is qute freely opened for those who really want to MENCABUL, isn't it?
Frankly, this nothing about religion. Isi hati siapa yang tahu. Faith is a matter of a man and his God, only he and his God.
Bro kata (pada 3 April 2011 18:04): "If we fear that our children will be converted to Christianity or any other religion for that matter, then it is our responsibility as Muslim parents to give a good grinding of Islam to them from young."
(1) Bila cakap pasal "good grinding" tu bro tersasul ke, ataupun sengaja berseloroh?
(2) Diharap bro akan merungkaikan perkembangan terkini perihal isu al-Kitab.
(a) Nampaknya CCM menolak syor-syor yang dikemukakan oleh Idris Jala,
http://ccm-youth.blogspot.com/2011/04/uphold-democratic-principles-full.html
(b) Baca juga komen-komen di blog LKS,
http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/04/04/bible-impasse-ccm-youth-reject-10-point-proposal/
(c) Di dalam suratkhabar Katholik Herald pula, penulisnya mimik cogankata DAP "enough is enough",
http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/A-clarion-call-to-the-Christians-in-Malaysia-8531-3-1.html
Cubalah bro baca ketiga-toga rencana yang saya berikan url di atas. TQ
Sdr Anon 18:19,
1. Serious Bro, a good grinding maksudnya ialah mengajar anak anak kita mengenali Islam dari kecil. Kalau kita sendiri tak pandai nak mengajar kita bertanggungjawab hantar mereka ke sekolah agama selain dari sekolah biasa. DiJohor senang sikit sebab memang ada Sekolah Ugama Islam dikelolakan oleh Jabatan Agama Islam Johor. Dirumah ibu bapa kena set example yang baik sebagai orang Islam sembahyang ikut waktu etc.
2.Kalau anak anak kita tak diexpose dengan Islam dari awal ada kes dimana bila masuk dewasa ada yang tak gerti sembahyang, mereka ini lah yang senang dipengaruhi. Salah mereka ke salah ibu bapa? Tapi Jangan salahkan mubaligh yang cuba menggoda. Memang mereka cari peluang.
3. Mlm ini kita dapat tahu pemgimport bible The Gideons dan Bible Society of Malaysia sudah ambil semua kitab Injil tersebut. Apparently 10 point agreement telah dipersetujui saya pun tak tahu nak cakap macam mana. Tak terungkai keputusan kerajaan. NGO Muslim akan berbunyi juga Mufti - Mufti Negeri dimana ada enakmen yang melarang penggunaan nama ALLAH oleh orang bukan Muslim.
Kita lihat lah nanti bagaimana Kerajaan melayan permintaan orang Islam yang tidak berpuas hati dengan tindakan kerajaan menangani hal Kitab Injil ini.(Lawat Face Book (PEMBELA ISLAM)
4. Bro boleh bacalah blog DAP ini tapi jangan ambil hati, membakar perasaan org memang kerja mereka.Kita kena fikir secara rasional dan ilmiah.
Thanks for the reply Anon 18:19
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