Council of Churches secretary-general Herman Shastri has called on Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala, who is the architect of the 10-point solution on the use of the word 'Allah', to come clean on whether the federal government is willing to stand by it.

Herman did not mince his words in urging the minister to break his silence, saying that it was also a matter of Idris’ own religious faith.

"It is the duty of those engaged in that dialogue to own up to that agreement, or consensus decision, that was made.

“Therefore, Idris Jala, who was the main architect of the negotiations, must stand up and declare (his position) or else he is not fit to be a Christian," Herman ( left ) told a forum on religious freedom in Petaling Jaya last night.

Idris, a corporate leader from Sarawak, was roped in by Prime Minister Najib Razak to help execute government reforms. He facilitated the drafting of the solution when a row over the use of the word 'Allah' resurfaced in 2011, ahead of the Sarawak state election.

The 10-point solution allows the Bible in the Malay language to be freely circulated in Sabah and Sarawak while those in peninsular Malaysia must carry a 'For Christians Only' stamp.

Herman said it did not matter to the Christian community if the 10-point solution had the force of law or not, but they wanted to know whether the government was sincere and committed in keeping its word.

'The race to be more Islamic'

Also at the forum was Islamic Renaissance Front director Ahmad Farouk Musa, who attributed the religious woes of today, including the ‘Allah’ fiasco, to the contest between Umno and PAS to appear more Islamic.

Ahmad Farouk said despite conservative forces demanding Christians to toe the line on the use of ‘Allah’ in the name of an Islamic state, the Federal Constitution, and not any religious text, remains the highest law of the land.

"To be a true Muslim, they must live in a secular state so what they do will be based on (their own) conscience and the fear of God.

"It should not be because they are scared that religious authorities in an Islamic state will catch them for not going to Friday prayers or for going to a pub," Ahmad Farouk said.

Another speaker at the forum, Archdiocesan Pastoral Institute director Clarence Devadass ( left ), said he could understand the anger of Muslims over Christians using ‘Allah’ to refer to God in Bahasa Malaysia after reading Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia .

"You know Christians are being created to be evil impersonators, the ( Utusan ) headlines are quite alarming.

"Christians are being made to sound as if we have this master plan to convert people (to Christianity)," Devadass said.

'Utusan demonising Christians'

Therefore, Devadass said, the people should not rely on politicians and urged Malaysians to build their own bridges across communities to foster trust.

"Let me say that if we are not part of the solution, then we are part of the problem," he stressed, adding that people should work to build trust among one another, even if the fruits cannot be seen in this generation.

Jihad for Justice chairperson Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim ( left ) in his presentation attributed the Allah row to ignorance.

"The core of the issue is ignorance and the will to stubbornly remain ignorant," Thasleem said.

He said international Islamic scholars are baffled at Malaysia's ban on Christians from using the word ‘Allah’.

"The 62 percent (Muslims) of a population of 27 million in Malaysia cannot possibly say that more than a billion Muslims in the world are wrong.

"Something must be very wrong with us," Thasleem added.

Three PMs, three broken promises on 'Allah'