Battle to use ‘Allah’ can be raised in cases filed by East Malaysians, say lawyers

All eyes will be on two East Malaysian cases which law experts say can be relied on to obtain answers on the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, June 27, 2014.

The legal battle for Christians in Malaysia to use the word Allah in their religious practices and education is not over yet, lawyers said.

They said two cases brought by Sarawakian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill and the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Sabah branch could be relied upon to canvass administrative law and constitutional issues.

They were responding to queries on whether both cases could be relied upon for the Federal Court to finally answer to what extent non-Muslims could use the Arabic word to refer to God.

Last month, the High Court rejected a bid by SIB to get leave for judicial review to challenge the seizure of its religious books in 2007.

Judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof had said that she was bound by the Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Catholic weekly, Herald, that the word "Allah" was not integral to Christianity.

Next week, Zaleha will also hear further submissions on whether the Home Minister was reasonable to seize eight Christian CDs from Jill Ireland at the then Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) airport in Sepang in 2008.

The CDs, which she had bought on a trip to Indonesia for personal use, bore titles such as “Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah”, “Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah” and “Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah”.

On Monday, in a majority 4-3 ruling, the Federal Court had refused the Malaysian Catholic Church's leave applicaton to appeal against a ban imposed against the Herald on the use of the word Allah in its publication.

Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, who wrote the majority judgment, said the views expressed by the Court of Appeal judges on theological issues were mere passing remarks (obiter).

One of the three dissenting judges , Datuk Zainun Ali had also criticised the Court of Appeal and said the court should have confined its deliberations to legal issues.

Zainun had said that disputed tenets of religious beliefs and faiths were all beyond the competence of judges of fact and law.

Lawyer K. Shanmuga said generally remarks made in a leave application had no binding authority over lower courts.

"However, the remarks by Arifin, who represented the views of three senior judges, and Zainun are very persuasive for lawyers to convince the lower courts that it should hear the merit in the two cases," he said.

Lawyer Abdul Shukor Ahmad said the written grounds of the Federal Court judges were a legal authority for lower courts to follow or consider.

"The two cases are good platforms to persuade the High Court and Court of Appeal judges to hear legal and consitutional issues, an opportunity missed by the Federal Court in the Herald case," he said.

He said even religious issues in the 18-point agreement (Sarawak) and the 20-point agreement (Sabah), when both these territories became part of Malaysia in 1963, could be raised in court.

Shukor said attempt to review the Herald case before another Federal Court bench was remote going by past precedent.

"A better bet is to raise all issues from the High Court up to the Federal Court," he added.

Following Monday's decision, Putrajaya had said Christians in Sabah and Sarawak could use the word as stated in the 10-point solution and the court ruling to ban the use of the word Allah was confined to the Herald.

Lawyers told The Malaysian Insider that the Federal Court ruling which upheld the October 14 Court of Appeal decision gave the minister and state religious auhorities the power to restrict the religious freedom of non-Muslims.

This included stopping non-Muslim individuals and groups from using Islamic words and expressions.

Meanwhile, lawyer Annou Xavier said SIB had filed an appeal against Zaleha's decision not to grant leave for judicial review.

SIB had sought a declaration from the court that its congregation has the constitutional right to use the word “Allah” in all its religious publications and materials.

It also wanted a declaration that its congregation, a majority of whom are Bahasa Malaysia-speaking natives, is entitled to own, possess, use and import materials including those which contain the word “Allah”.

- TMI