‘Allah’ remains in Borneo prayers

The former federal minister said Putrajaya should be 'honoured' that the Malay language is used in churches in Sabah and Sarawak.

KOTA KINABALU: The Kuala Lumpur High Court can rule as it liked but Sabah and Sarawak will continue to use the word ‘Allah’ in the churches and in its publications, said respected former federal senior minister Bernard Dompok.

“This is a matter of language. If we are not allowed to use Malay, then maybe we need a new national language,” he said.

Dompok was responding to the high court’s ruling against the Sabah SIB church challenging the Home Ministry’s seizure of children’s religious books at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in August 2007. The books have since been returned.

The books, in Bahasa Indonesia, contained the words ‘Allah’, ‘Baitullah’, ‘Solat’ and Kaabah‘.

SIB (Sijil Injil Borneo) had filed a judicial review over the confiscation in December 2007.

Dompok said the government should consider it “an honour for the Malay language to be used in churches.”

“Sabah and Sarawak will continue to use the word “Allah” in churches as it has always been used even before Malaysia was formed,” said Dompok, who had in January this year accused Putrajaya of offering ‘lip service’  on the guarantee of freedom of religion.

At the time he said, the government must ensure that the principles upon which the country was formed are upheld and “not transgressed for political expediency”.

Dompok was at the time reacting to the Selangor Islamic Department’s (Jais) raid on the Bible Society during which they seized 300 bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and Iban containing the words ‘Allah’.

He said the Jais raid and yesterday’s ruling violated the Cabinet-endorsed 10 Point Resolution whichallowed for the import of the Bibles in all languages including Bahasa Malaysia and the Indonesia translations.The deal also states that Bibles can be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

Decision based on Herald ruling

But despite Justice Zaleha Yusof’s ruling, he was optimistic that the status quo will remain with churches in Borneo.

Justice Zaleha had said that she was left with ‘no choice’ and was ‘bound’ by last October’s Court of Appeal ruling, which held that the term ‘Allah’ was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice.

“Although the ruling was limited to the Herald all the learned judges ruled that the use of Allah is not an integral part of the practice and faith of Christianity,

“The lower courts are bound by the decision of the superior court, so the seizure by the Home Ministry is not unconstitutional,” she said in reference to last year’s Court of Appeal banning Catholic weekly The Herald from using the word “Allah” to refer to God in its Bahasa Malaysia publication.

A three-man bench chaired by Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali had ruled that the government did not violate the Church’s constitutional rights by banning the use of the word.

In overturning a lower court decision in 2009, Apandi said: “It is our common finding that the name Allah was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice.

“Such usage if allowed will inevitably cause confusion within the community.”

The Catholic church has since filed an appeal against the ruling but the Federal Court has yet to decide on the matter.