Govt reviewing more comprehensive directive on 'Allah' issue

The Home Ministry is reviewing and updating a more comprehensive directive in a bid to deal with issues pertaining to the use of the word “Allah” and three other words in religious publications.

The other words involved are "baitullah", "solat" and "kaabah".

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (above) said the need for a review was in line with the interest of multi-racial and multi-religious communities in the country, as well as coming up with more effective supervision and control of publication materials that violate the provisions of the law.

This comes after the government's decision to withdraw its appeal against a landmark ruling, which allowed non-Muslim Sarawakian Jill Ireland to use the word "Allah".

Saifuddin clarified that the government’s decision came after it discovered a contradiction between a 1986 cabinet decision and an administrative order issued by the Home Ministry the same year.

The contradiction was found by the ministry during the appeal application process after the March 21, 2021 decision by High Court judge Nor Bee Ariffin who said the directive to prohibit the use of the four words by non-Muslims 35 years ago as “illegal” and “irrational”, he explained.

“The Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision was made based on a civil and administrative approach which is the issue related to the seizure of publication materials at that time.

“And it was not from a theological aspect or anything involving the use of the word ‘Allah’,” Saifuddin told reporters after attending the Immigration Department’s 2022 Excellence Service Awards Ceremony And Hari Raya celebration in Putrajaya today.

Therefore, he said the function of the court itself was inappropriate to decide on religious matters specifically.

“In the judgment on March 10, 2021, it is clear that Nor Bee made a decision based on an administrative approach and did not touch on the use of the word ‘Allah’.”

In her judgment on the case, Nor Bee said the Home Ministry's directive dated Dec 5, 1986, banning the use of "Allah", "Kaabah", "Baitullah", and "Solat" by non-Muslims, has no statutory backing and is therefore illegal and irrational.

The directive, issued under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA), was relied on by the authorities when they confiscated the eight CDs in 2008.

Nor Bee, a Court of Appeal judge who was sitting as a High Court judge, pointed out that the directive went above and beyond what was aimed for by the cabinet then.

Case-by-case basis

Elaborating on the matter, Saifuddin said the government's decision not to proceed with the appeal is made on a case-by-case basis, without affecting the facts of each case that is currently in court action.

He expressed his ministry’s commitment to preventing the spread of elements that are harmful to public order through the continuous supervision and control of publication materials from time to time with provisions under the PPPA amendment as well as Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.

“The ministry once again stresses that Article 11(1) and Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution provides that although every individual has the right to profess and practice their religion, they are still subject to federal or state laws that may control or restrict the spread of other religious doctrines or beliefs among Muslims.”

Yesterday, the government had withdrawn its appeal in the case through a notice of discontinuance, which it filed at the Court of Appeal on April 18.

Besides the federal government, the other appellant was the home minister (who was not named in the cause papers).

According to a copy of the notice of discontinuance, the appellants “have no intention to proceed with the notice of appeal filed on March 12, 2021, and discontinue this entire appeal without an order as to costs”. - Mkini