Penang has prepared the draft to enact laws to control the propagation of non-Islamic religions or beliefs to Muslims, said Deputy Chief Minister I Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman.
Zakiyuddin (above), who is the exco member on Islamic religious affairs, said currently the state is waiting for the Parliament to debate and approve similar laws on the Federal Territories level.
"Penang has already completed the enactment draft and the matter has been raised in the assembly several times.
"For now, our decision is to postpone the presentation in the assembly until the Parliament debates and approves the law for the federal territories as announced by Jakim (Islamic Development Department)," he told Malaysiakini.
Zakiyuddin added that the draft is now at the committee level and is subject to improvement.
On Monday, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Ahmad Marzuk Shaary had announced the amendment to the bill to control the propagation of non-Islamic religions or beliefs to Muslims for federal territories.
Marzuk's announcement followed the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling that the Christians are allowed to use the word "Allah", as well as three other Arabic words namely Baitullah, Kaabah, and Solat, in their published contents for education purposes.
According to Jakim, the amendment to the acts on the federal territories level will allow other states to finetune the existing enactments respectively.
In Malaysia, all states have their own enactment to control the propagation of non-Islamic religions or beliefs to Muslims except Federal Territories, Penang, Sabah, and Sarawak.
However, Sabah mufti Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar told Malaysiakini that his side is in the midst of discussion to prepare the draft but he is not rushing to do so.
In 2008, the National Fatwa Council in its meeting (muzakarah) had concluded that only Islam and Muslims can use the word "Allah".
In 1986, the cabinet had decided that the word "Allah" were among words prohibited to be used by non-Muslim, and it was gazetted as exclusive for Muslims only.
However, on March 10, the High Court ruled that the government's prohibition on the matter breached the law and not rationale. - Mkini
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