PERMATANG PAUH - Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said that it will not support the call for a ban on the use of the word "Allah" if it is used with good intentions, properly and not in a degrading manner.
PR de facto head Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said PR and Christians in general had been unreasonably attacked over the matter.
"We should not let it (the Allah issue) be exploited by Umno or its media," he told a press conference today.
Although the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday prohibiting the use of the word "Allah" was limited to the Bahasa Malaysia section of the Catholic weekly The Herald, the implications on the grounds are far-reaching with some Malay rights groups calling for the ban to be extended to churches in Sabah and Sarawak.
Anwar said PR had referred the matter to religious experts, including PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, even before the ruling, and international Islamic scholars.
PR will issue a statement today on the opposition coalition's joint stand on the word.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) secretary-general Nicholas Mujah said calls for the ban to be extended to Sabah and Sarawak are uncalled for. "Unlike in Peninsular Malaysia, the Sarawak Muslims are not confused and the Christians are also not confused with the usage of the word," he said when asked to respond to a call by Perkasa to extend the ban to the two states.
He said the call is against the spirit of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and the Cobbold Commission Report on the formation of Malaysia.
Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) issued a statement that any ruling to stop Dayaks from using the word is tantamount to infringing Christians' constitutional rights.
Its president, Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom, who is state social development minister, said it is also against the fundamental right to freedom of worship.
Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) president Dr Dusit Jaul said he agreed with state Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing's stand that any ban on the use of the word is an infringement of the rights of Christians in Sarawak.
Constitutional lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the Court of Appeal's decision has set a precedent that may be used in the future to ban similar words or publications.
He said in The Herald case, the home minister was acting under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA).
"That is a federal law, which is also in relation to national security. That is why in the future, they may use PPPA to perhaps ban words in the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Gurdwara Council president Jagir Singh said the ruling will affect Sikhs in the country who also use the word in their prayers.
"Since the (judgment) is wide, it will affect us. If you go by the ruling of the court, there is no exemption for anybody. It is blanket and will affect every publication (which uses the word Allah)," said Jagir.
Sundaily
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