PETALING JAYA, June 26 — No one in the world will accept the destruction of any religion’s sacred scriptures, Malaysia’s umbrella group representing Protestant churches told Selangor’s Islamic religious authorities today.
Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri highlighted the global condemnation that met the attempt by an American evangelical pastor who announced his plan to torch copies of the Quran last year as a reminder.
“There’s nowhere in the world where modern society is going to accept that somebody from another religion goes and destroys the sacred scriptures of another,” Shastri told a press conference organised by the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) here.
“A good example was the attempt to burn the Quran in the US,” the Methodist church pastor added.
International news network Al Jazeera reported last September that Pastor Terry Jones from Florida was arrested ahead of his plan to torch thousands of copies of the Muslim holy book to commemorate the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US.
Shastri also appealed to both the federal and state governments to uphold the constitutional freedom to worship of Malaysia’s religious minorities and to resolve the controversial seizure of Malay and Iban-language bibles containing “Allah”, the Arabic word for God, which Islamic authorities here argue is only for Muslims.
MCCBCHST president Jagir Singh, at the same news conference, told the Selangor Islamic authorities to comply with the Attorney-General’s decision not to press charges against the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) for possession of Malay and Iban-language bibles.
“The Attorney-General closed the file. No one can overrule him,” Jagir told reporters when asked to comment on the Selangor Islamic Religious Council’s (Mais) insistence on persisting with confiscating Christianity’s holy books containing the “Allah” word.
Yesterday, Mais chairman Datuk Mohamad Adzib Mohd Isa was reported saying the state Islamic religious authorities would also arrest those who distribute the “ Allah” bibles.