Christians have sent UNMISTAKABLE MESSAGE to Najib: Now up to Federal Court to correct Allah issue

Malaysia's image for religious tolerance has been seriously marred by the acrimonious "Allah" dispute between the state and the church. After simmering for years, the tipping point has finally been reached following the recent Court of Appeal judgment that angered the church. The state must act now.

In a carefully worded statement on Tuesday directed at Prime Minister Najib Razak, Sabah Council of Churches president Bishop Thomas Tsen said while Najib is inspiring people across the world in the fight against extremism, back in our own backyard, Malaysians are experiencing extreme action against the church.

In an unprecedented move and an equally hard hitting tone, the Bishop thundered, "We find the recent judgment by Court of Appeal wholly unreasonable, irrational and repugnant and hence we reject it."

He also called on the Prime Minister to "urgently rein in extremism in our midst as religious intolerance has reached a dangerous level."

It was only two weeks ago that the Anglican Archbishop, Bolly Lapok, who is also the Archbishop for Southeast Asia took umbrage at the court's judgment. Speaking as the president of the Association of Sarawak Churches, he said, "It is our view that the judges overstepped their boundaries in determining that using the word 'Allah' is not integral to the Christian faith. In deciding thus, the judges arrogated to themselves a right that does not belong to any human court of law — the right to determine religion."

This is the first time in local judicial history that a court judgment has been ferociously shredded, rendering the court's authority disastrously impotent. But the court must act. As Bishop Tsen puts it, "It is up to the Federal Court now to do the right thing."

Just a day before Bishop Tsen fired his broadside, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, said in statement that Malaysia should reverse a ban on a Christian newspaper using the word "Allah" to refer to God. The Court of Appeal ruled that word "Allah" was not an integral part of the faith in Christianity and that its use by the newspaper would cause confusion.

The rapporteur said, "Freedom of religion or belief is a right of human beings, not a right of the state. It cannot be the business of the state to shape or reshape religious traditions, nor can the state claim any binding authority in the interpretation of religious sources or in the definition of the tenets of faith."

It is not that the Prime Minister does not know what to do. On the same day that Bishop Tsen fired his broadside, Najib said at the National Unity Consultative Council launch, "It is my fervent wish to see that we will not see each other through racial and religious lenses."

Since taking office as Prime Minister on April 3, 2009, Najib has been quick off the block to regain the middle ground for religious tolerance.

Najib first mooted the idea for building a "Global Movement of Moderates" from all faiths to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalise the extremists in his maiden speech at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2010.

Two years later at the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of Moderates organised by the alumni of the International Islamic University of Malaysia. We were encouraged by his assurance then that "the time has come for moderates of all countries, of all religions to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalise the extremists".

The world has taken note of Malaysia's message of reclaiming the middle ground from extremists. It was only last month that British Prime Minister David Cameron praised Najib for uniting moderates in the fight against extremism at the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum in London and for inspiring people across the world in the fight against extremism.

What then is holding Najib back? I say without a doubt, it's religious bigots within Umno, the dominant party in the ruling coalition of which he is the head and the extreme right wing within the religious establishment.

Our search for religious tolerance must begin with, as Najib has rightly pointed, "moderates of all countries, of all religions to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalise the extremists."

This, then, is our common pilgrimage. - mysinchew.com