Native churches in East Malaysia have vowed to continue to use Bibles with the word Allah, saying it is 'their fundamental right'. – The Malaysian Insider pic, October 14, 2013.Inside the spotless white walls of the All Saints' Church tucked in the largely Dayak village of Kampung Tabuan, the common voice of the faithful at morning mass throbbed the walls.
In the Sunday service yesterday, the 400 or so said in one voice the word, Allah, no fewer than 100 times. It reverberated off the rafters in the church, which is literally going to raise its ceiling as the church builds a new roof.
Whatever the High Court rules on the “Allah” issue today, churches in Sarawak like this one that conduct their services in the native languages have no plans to change the way they worship, with many saying that “Allah” will continue to be used in their prayers.
At this church in Kampung Tabuan yesterday, which caters to the largely Iban villagers in the surrounding areas, the service was conducted in Iban.
The liturgy alone – the booklet that sets out the fixed set of Eucharistic rites and words to be used in worship – contained no fewer than 80 of the words “Allah Taala”, which means God Almighty in Iban.
The word was also used in the hymns and in the sermon of Reverend Nelson Sinken.
The secretary of the Parochial Council of Churches, Maxwell Landong, told The Malaysian Insider after the service, “Since I started going to church, the words Allah Taala have been used by the church to refer to God. It’s our language and there are no other words I know that were used to refer to God.”
He added, “We have been using Allah in our liturgy, our Iban-language Bibles, publications, prayers and sermons for as long as I can remember. The Muslims in Sarawak have accepted that. So what is the fuss? Why now?”
He pointed out that if the court ruled against the Catholic Church’s use of the word, it would be difficult to enforce the ruling here.
He said that on a personal basis he would still pray to Allah Taala and read Bibles that use the word Allah to refer to God “no matter what the court says”.
For his part, Reverend Sinken was sanguine on today’s highly anticipated Court of Appeals decision on the dispute between Christians and certain Malaysian Muslim authorities over the use of the word.
“I'm not worried,” Reverend Sinken said. He did not offer prayers for divine intervention or speak on the subject in his sermon.
Echoing the exact sentiments of Landong, Reverend Sinken said of the Christians, “We in Sarawak have been using the word Allah for years without problem. It’s also our language. I'm sure the court will take all those into consideration.”
Like the majority of the churchgoers here yesterday, Dorothy Gregory is optimistic that the court will decide in the favour of “what is fair and just”.
There are many similar words in the Iban and Malay languages. For example, “hutan” (jungle) in Malay is “utan” in Iban. “Jalan” (walk) in Malay is “jalai” in Iban and “makan” (eat) in Malay is “makai” in Iban.
When asked what could happen if the court ruled that Christians cannot use the word “Allah”, both Landong and Reverend Sinken said it would be up to the Archbishop to determine what they should do next.
Datuk Bolly Lapok is the Anglican Archbishop for Sarawak and Brunei.
Earlier, Bishop Lapok, as chairman of the Association of Churches in Sarawak, said the association “finds it unacceptable that practice of the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak who for generations had used Allah in worship, long before the very idea of Malaysia was conceived, is now held as unlawful by the government”.
He said that to stop saying Allah in the practice of their faith would be tantamount to a block on religious freedom.
He added, “This is abhorrent, wholly unacceptable and a flagrant betrayal of the Malaysia Agreement, which guaranteed the inalienable rights of non-Muslims in Sarawak and Sabah to religious freedom.”
Lapok said the churches expect the federal government to abide by the Federal Constitution, which guaranteed religious freedom.
He said the native churches will continue to use Bibles with the word Allah as it was “their fundamental right”.
He reminded the government that people in Sabah and Sarawak were promised the right to practise their religion when Sabah and Sarawak were courted to join the Malay states of Malaya to form Malaysia.
He said the government must respect and abide by that promise.
Today, the Court of Appeals will make its ruling on the Home Ministry’s appeal against the High Court’s ruling that allowed the Catholic weekly publication, the Herald, to use the word, “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia section.
The High Court had on Dec 31, 2009, held that the Home Ministry’s order to stop the Herald from using the word Allah was illegal and, therefore, null and void.
The Home Ministry remained defiant, which led to the publication filing for a judicial review of the ministry’s continued ban, naming the ministry and the government as respondents on Feb 16, 2010.
The publication sought, among others, a declaration that the ministry’s continued ban on the use of the word, “Allah” in the Herald is illegal.
At least in one church in one kampung in Sarawak, this is much ado about nothing. Whatever the outcome, they will be back at morning mass saying, Allah, with reverence.
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