DESPITE an outcry from Christians, the lawyer representing the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) has refused to back down for suggesting Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) produce an official Malay translation of the Bible.

Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, instead, welcomed “intellectual” feedback on his comment in court on Wednesday that DBP can prepare an official Malay translation of the Bible to correct Christians’ alleged error in using the word “Allah” for God.

Political and Christian leaders, including an interfaith council, blasted Haniff’s statement, saying it was offensive.

“As a practitioner of the law and an officer of the court who respects the rights of all parties to give fair comment and intellectual remarks, I wish to reiterate to everyone involved that I will hold on to my statement in court,” Haniff told The Malaysian Insight.

“I cannot apologise to Bishop Melter Jiki Tais, who requested that I say ‘sorry’ to him based on what I have said in court,” he said, referring to the president of the Sabah Council of Churches.

“I welcome the feedback as it is an intellectual discussion, and fair comments given by parties related to the court proceedings. 

“Such discussions should be encouraged and should not be regarded as a form of sub judice as the court has yet to come to a decision regarding the case. 

“I urge all parties to wait and respect the decision that will be reached by the Kuala Lumpur High Court,” he added. 

Haniff made the suggestion at the hearing of the suit brought by Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill against the home minister and the government to uphold her constitutional right to use the word “Allah” in Christian publications.

Haniff said Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have wrongly used “Allah” to mean God in Bahasa Malaysia, arguing that they should instead use “Tuhan” and that this would not deprive them of their rights.

Tais said Haniff’s statement was “very insulting” to Christians.

“We are indeed very much offended by his statement and demand an apology from him.

“Let it be known to Mohamed Khatri Abdulla that his suggestion that Dewan Bahasa can prepare a Bahasa Malaysia Bible reflects his ignorance of theology and the true and proper interpretation of the original language of the Bible,” he said.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), dismissing Haniff’s suggestion as “not logical”, said if DBP is allowed to translate the Bible, holy books of other faiths may suffer the same fate. – November 17, 2017.