The government's decision yesterday to withdraw its appeal against a landmark ruling which allowed Jill Ireland - a non-Muslim Sarawakian - to use the word "Allah", has raised questions on its legal implications.
One of those questions is whether the High Court decision that favoured the Melanau Christian, clashes with a previous Court of Appeal ruling which prevented Catholic weekly publication, The Herald from using the word "Allah".
Weighing in on this, former Malaysian Bar president Salim Bashir told Malaysiakini that while these two rulings appear to overlap, there are slight differences.
Namely, Salim (above) said the Court of Appeal ruling was more specific on The Herald's use of the word Allah, whereas the ruling in Ireland's case was on the word's use for religious learning and teaching publications.
Hence, he opined that the government's decision to withdraw its appeal against the Ireland case decision, reinforces the right of Christian communities to use the word “Allah” in religious education publications.
He said this is because the 2021 High Court ruling had pointed out that the community had used the Arabic word referring to God for teaching purposes for over 400 years.
“In pursuant of the government's decision to withdraw the appeal, it will now be reiterated that the directive issued by the Home Ministry circular via publication control division banning the word 'Allah' in all Christian publications in Malaysia is unlawful and unconstitutional.
“It is yet to be seen whether the law as it stands now based on the High Court ruling earlier, will have any impact on state Shariah laws on this issue,” Salim added.
Veteran lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar shared similar views and supported the government's decision to withdraw its appeal in the Ireland case.
He said that Malaysians ought to respect each other’s faiths and not claim exclusivity and ownership over the word “Allah” as certain Christian practitioners still use the word in their religious practice.
“Sabah and Sarawak have led by example on this issue as it is a non-issue there, with everyone using it freely for their religion there, as well as globally,” Syed Iskandar said.
Another example of peaceful co-existence he cited was how Muslims and Christians in the UK used Birmingham University's church.
“Every Friday, about 2,000 Muslims perform their Friday prayers at the Birmingham University church,” Syed Iskandar said.
On May 15, the government withdrew its appeal against the ruling by the High Court that allowed Ireland to use the word “Allah” for religious and educational purposes.
The move courted brickbats from multiple quarters, with Badan Peguam Syarie Wilayah-Wilayah Persekutuan demanding the government to reveal whether it had consulted the state religious councils of Federal Territories, Selangor and Kedah before deciding to withdraw the appeal.
The body claimed it was very disappointed and aggrieved with the government’s decision, demanding the government give a full explanation for the move which was allegedly not informed beforehand to the Muslim community.
On Jan 19, The Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP), the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais), and Kedah Islamic Religious Council (Maik) withdrew as interveners in the Ireland case in January to become “friends of the court" instead.
Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim today urged the government to explain the move to alleviate the people’s anxiety over the issue. - Mkini
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