Too late, revoking ministerial ban on word Allah is not the solution, say lawmakers

Most opposition MPs are not convinced that revoking a ministerial ban made in 1986 on the use of the word Allah in non-Muslim publications would address the confusion created by the recent Court of Appeal ruling.

One PKR MP even said a "bigger monster" had been created with the court’s ruling. That’s because it was fundamentally flawed, he added.

One Pas MP, however, is totally for the ban to be revoked, complaining that the whole issue was brought into controversy by Putrajaya fishing for votes among Muslims.

"The government should have educated the rakyat (people) that the word is not exclusive to Islam. Instead, what they did was to manipulate the issue for votes. It was never about religion," said Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (PAS-Padang Serai).

He found an unlikely ally in Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (BN-Pulai) who, while declining to comment on a suggestion that the ministerial ban should be revoked, felt that the Allah issue was a "political move to appease a certain section of society".

"Malaysia has many laws but when it comes to implementation, it is not followed through. This is just a political move to appease certain people," Nur Jazlan said, adding that there could not be two laws for one country.

On October 14, a three-man Court of Appeal ruled that the Catholic weekly, Herald, was banned from using the word Allah, overturning a High Court decision in December 2009.

Since the ruling, many parties, including Cabinet ministers, have made conflicting and confusing interpretations of the court decision.

Earlier today, former attorney general Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman said the Home Minister can end the controversy over the Allah issue by revoking a 1986 ministerial order which banned the use of the word in all non-Muslim publications.

Also banned in the 1986 ministerial order were the words Kaabah, Solat and Baitullah.

Abu Talib said when this order is revoked, by extension the order on the ban of Allah in the Catholic weekly, Herald, will be academic.

N. Surendran (PKR-Padang Serai) said he only partly agreed with the former AG's suggestion, because it would not solve the problem.

"The home minister should revoke the ban as it is entirely in his power. The court merely upheld his order.

"But this is not enough. The court judgment still stands and it is fundamentally flawed," he said, adding that the government should reverse its position and argue for a reversal of the appeal.

R. Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) felt that even if the 1986 ban was revoked, it was too late as a "monster had been created with the ruling".

"A monster has emerged in the three judgments. Even if they revoke the ban, bigger damage has been done," he said.

Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) agreed, saying that while the government reserves the right to ban any publication, the grounds for it should be logical.

Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Lembah Pantai) felt that this was not the solution to the issue, saying instead a more comprehensive approach is needed to ensure overall acceptance.

"All sides should sit down and talk, without any political agenda. Even for us, when we made our stand, we were met with considerable hostility. So it is not easy," she added.

Nurul also said that before any laws or regulations are made, there should be careful deliberation on its potential effects.

Mohamed Hanipa, meanwhile, said that even if there was a misunderstanding among some over the word Allah, there was no reason to ban the Herald from using the word purely based on the perception that it would cause public disorder.

"Perception cannot replace evidence, and in the case of Herald, there was no evidence," he said.

Barisan Nasional MPs treaded carefully by declining to comment on Abu Talib's suggestion, but appeared to take a soft stance on the effects of the Allah ruling.

Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari (BN-Setiawangsa) said that to clear the confusion, Putrajaya should appoint one person to speak on the issue.

"There should not be two answers to this one topic; it is bound to cause confusion. This is a sensitive issue which must be handled with care. As such, there should be only one spokesperson," he said.

When asked if the spokesperson in this case should be the Prime Minister, Ahmad Fauzi said "not necessarily".

"It should be someone who knows every aspect of the matter," he said.

Datuk Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) also steered clear of commenting on  Abu Talib's suggestion but felt that, to solve the confusion, all Malaysians should just rely on the "PM's version" of the case.

The prime minister had said that Christians in East Malaysia were free to use the word Allah in their worship and in Christian publications as the word was only banned in the Bahasa Malaysia section of the Herald.