The Selangor government will only meet the attorney-general (AG) to discuss the status of copies of the Bible confiscated in the state after investigations are completed.

Exco member Sallehin Mukhyi, who is in charge of Islamic affairs, said the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) was still studying whether the use of the term ‘Allah’ in the confiscated copies of the Bible had violated laws governing publications.

“The issue now is that investigations are yet to be completed... I believe that once this issue is resolved, then the Menteri Besar’s Office can meet the AG to discuss the release of the confiscated copies of the Bible,” Sallehin told reporters on the sidelines of the Selangor state assembly sitting yesterday.

Jais had on Jan 2 confiscated 321 copies of the Bible in the Malay language and 10 copies of the Bible in the Iban language from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

BSM president Lee Min Choon and a BSM staff member were detained by Jais staff as well, raising questions about whether Jais had such authority over non-Muslims.

As Islamic law is enforced at a state level, Jais had argued that BSM had infringed the law by possessing publications containing words exclusive to Muslims.

However, BSM argued that they were merely acting as importers and were not propaganding the Christian faith.

The issue has become a political hot potato for Selangor Pakatan Rakyat. Thus far, Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has urged BSM to approach the AG themselves to have the confiscated Bible shipment returned.

Pakatan component DAP has rejected this and urged the state government to act instead.