Sultan embroils himself in 'Allah' controversy

YOURSAY 'So which takes precedent now - the High Court judgment on setting aside the ban of the use of ‘Allah' or the sultan's decree?'

Selangor sultan shocked at Guan Eng's 'Allah' call

Gerard Lourdesamy: Let Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah decree as much as he likes but his decrees are not worth the paper on which it is written. The relationship between Allah and mankind transcends any earthly power, including rulers.

The decree does not have the force of law and is unconstitutional since the ruler is the head of the Islamic religion in Selangor and not the head of other non-Islamic religions in the state.

By taking such a partisan stand that reeks of politics and pandering only to Muslim/Malay interests, the ruler has strayed from his constitutional position and his obligation towards his non-Muslim/Malay subjects.

This decree is clearly a serious threat to Article 11 of the Federal Constitution and devoid of legality.

Anonymous#007: Indeed, patriotic citizens of this country should not continue to argue with the people who are bent on creating and maintaining a split between the different religious factions in this country.

I urge the patriotic Christian Malaysians to respect the wishes of the sultan for the sake of peace in our motherland and beloved country, Malaysia.

But on the same note, I respectfully ask what the sultan has to say about the Orang Asli children who had been forced to recite the ‘doa' by the Muslim teachers?

In this case, can't the teachers be charged under Section 9 of the Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation amongst Muslims) Enactment 1988 that prohibits the use of ‘Allah' by non-Muslim in any matter related to their religions?

Not Convinced: The Selangor sultan claimed that he was above politics and denied he was an Umno man. But why issued a statement banning non-Muslims from using ‘Allah' when the Umno government is seeking to appeal against a court decision on the matter?

And why released the statement on the day Pakatan Rakyat was to discuss its stand on the controversy?

So please don't blame Selangorians for thinking that Your Highness was attempting to thrown a spanner in the works for Pakatan.
Your ploy did not work. But your ‘above politics' reputation and the respect Selangorians have for you have however taken a severe beating.

Kgen: If the statement had been made by an Umno politician instead of DAP's Lim Guan Eng, would his highness have come out with this statement? I wonder.

ABBN: A truly and highly worthy of respect ruler would never get himself exploited or messed up in politics. He is considered above politics but not above laws.

He shall treat all his subjects of different religion fairly and equally with no discrimination in order to receive reciprocated respect and acceptance from the people. Respect is to be earned and not to be forced.

Victor Johan: Oh my benevolent royal sultan, I beg for your forgiveness, but may I, your humble servant and slave, may I and all the subjects of your state have the privilege and the grant to hear you, the supreme lord of the Islamic religion in the state of Selangor Darul Ehsan, may we have the honour to hear your recitation of the Holy Quran.

And we will be utmost gratified when you translate each of the verses in English language and in Bahasa Malaysia as well.

Your Excellency, we are only humbly requesting this because we know you are very learned in the religion of Islam, and as the head of all Muslims in Selangor, you have been setting an exemplary conduct of a thoroughbred Muslim, a wonderful human being that the Almighty Allah has created in His own Eyes and Hands.

We pray that you do this recital session soon, much before you are prayed upon. I beg for your kind forgiveness, a thousand times over.

Abasir: Every BN representative should go to each constituency in Selangor to repeat the sultan's declaration. In fact MCA, MIC and Umno should jointly print and distribute pamphlets saying the same.

Of course, the pamphlets should carry the photographs of the representatives. The people of Selangor will then be truly informed and be in a position to make an informed choice during GE13.

Proarte: It is sad to see the royals being manipulated by Umno. Let the Quran have the last word over this controversy:

"Argue not with the People of the Book (Jews, Christians) except in the fairest manner, unless it be those of them that are utterly unjust.

"Say to them, ‘We believe in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to you. One is our God and your God; and we are those who submit ourselves to Him.'"

Toffeesturn: Back in the 1950s the Selangor sultan, the grandfather of the present sultan, visited La Salle School in Klang for our annual sports event.

Ours being a Christian brothers school, we got the St Johns Institution Band to play for us and we sang the anthem, ‘Allah Selamatkan Duli Yang Maha Mulia'. It was very different from the anthem you hear today.

Today his grandson is unnecessarily getting embroiled in an issue that is in the first place not even Islamic, as the term ‘Allah' - as Muslim scholars themselves will attest to - predates Islam, that means it was used by Christians and others before the Muslims used it.

His Highness is ruler of all his subjects and he must protect the rights of everyone, not only a small segment, because I believe many Muslims feel that we can use the word ‘Allah' too. Let ‘Allah' not be an issue. Indeed, it never should have become one in the first place.

Joker: We, the people of Selangor, hope His Majesty the Sultan of Selangor will issue a statement demanding the head of Selangor Wanita Umno to explain her involvement in the Puspahanas (National Defence Education Centre) scandal, which now threatens the hard-earned money of our servicemen under the care of Armed Forces retirement fund LTAT (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera).

We, especially us Cheras folks, also hope that His Royal Highness would speak up against Syabas for the protracted water disruption specifically and lousy water distribution generally. The water quality is very bad as can be attested by the roaring business done by water filter companies.

Anonymous_40a7: The biggest question of them all - who's the puppet, and who's the master?