Sarawak DCM tells Umno, PAS not to interfere with 'Allah' ruling

 

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Masing chastised Umno and PAS over their call for the government to appeal a court ruling on the use of the word "Allah".

This is after the High Court ruled that a Sarawakian Christian had the right to use the word “Allah” for religious and educational purposes.

Commenting on the call by PAS and Umno for the matter to be appealed, Masing (above) said they should not interfere in such matters.

"It is my hope that we should allow men of religion and the courts to decide on religious issues and not politicians," he told the Malay Mail.

He also described the demand by Umno and PAS as ridiculous.

Masing is a member of Sarawak's GPS coalition. GPS is allied to Umno and PAS under the Perikatan Nasional government.

Yesterday, judge Nor Bee Ariffin ruled that the government erred in issuing the 1986 ban on the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims.

She said the directive has no statutory backing and is therefore illegal and irrational.

The ruling was made in a bid by Jill Ireland, a Melanau Christian who was seeking a declaration that her constitutional right to practice her religion was violated by the imposition of a restriction or ban on the import of educational materials.

The judge said there was no evidence the use of the word “Allah” by the indigenous Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christian communities of Sabah and Sarawak for over 400 years has ever threatened public order.

This decision, though is distinguishable, does not contradict a previous precedent set by the Federal Court in 2015, when it dismissed the "Allah" appeal by the Roman Catholic Church.

Ireland's lawyer said this was because the earlier case involved a challenge to a state enactment, while the present one does not involve such a challenge. - Mkini