The Malaysian Crusade: We will keep on using Allah in Selangor churches, says priest

**We pray that His Royal Highness The Sultan of Selangor would hear us the Christian in Selangor! We pray that the Sultan will understand our need to use the word Allah. And we pray to the Lord Jesus Christ that His word will be instill in the Sultan's heart to ensure that the Christian in Selangor would be permitted to use the word Allah. To pray in HIS name, and to be saved by the sins of the Muslims in this country. 

Catholic churches in Selangor will continue to use the word Allah during its weekend services in Bahasa Malaysia despite the state’s Islamic Religious Department (Jais) intention to send them reminders on a 1988 state enactment prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word.

Catholic weekly Herald editor Rev Father Lawrence Andrew said Article 11(3) (A) of the Federal Constitution prescribes that every religious group has its right to manage its own religious affairs.

“Our religion cannot be managed by any Muslim group. It is against the Federal Constitution.

"We will continue to use the word Allah in our masses,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.

He said that Jais as an Islamic body has no jurisdiction over other religious bodies.

“At the moment, the case is still in court and no decision has been made yet. They can’t pre-empt this,” he added.

Aside from the Catholic church, other Christian churches, such as the Sidang Injil Borneo, also conduct services in Bahasa Malaysia and other native languages from East Malaysia, with the use of the word Allah.

In an interview with news portal The Malay Mail Online, newly-appointed Jais director Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad had said the Islamic authority would draw up a list of Selangor churches before writing letters asking them to comply with the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988.

“We will write letters to all the churches in Selangor to respect the law that is in force in relation to this,” he was quoted as saying.

The enactment, which was passed by the Barisan Nasional state government, prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faith, including “Allah”, “Nabi” (prophet), “Injil” (gospel) and “Insya'Allah” (God willing).

The Catholic church has been on a collision course with Putrajaya over the use of the word Allah. 

Many Islamist groups in Malaysia had insisted that the word Allah belongs exclusively to Muslims, although Christians and other faiths have argued otherwise.

In December 2009, the High Court made a landmark ruling in favour of the Catholic Church, when it said Allah, which means God in Arabic, was not the exclusive right of Muslims and the Catholic weekly Herald could publish it in its Bahasa Malaysia section, which caters to its East Malaysian Bumiputera congregation.

This led to the Home Ministry appealing against the ruling in January 2010.

On October 14 this year, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision, and said the ban was justified as "the word Allah was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith".

The church’s leave application to appeal the appellate court’s decision will be heard on February 24.

The decision spooked Christians in Sabah and Sarawak as many felt the ban was not exclusive to Herald but was binding to all Christians.

This led to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak assuring Christians in East Malaysia that they could continue using the word and that the Federal Government will honour the 10-point solution.

Under the 10-point solution announced in 2011 by Datuk Idris Jala, it was agreed that bibles in all languages can be imported into the country, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia.

The 10-point solution also states that bibles can be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

The Court of Appeal decision also received worldwide attention, with respected American Muslim theologian Reza Aslan, among others, criticising the decision.

The debate on the matter continues, with the Sun newspaper reported on October 30 that the Bar Council was considering following in the footsteps of the Sabah Lawyers Association (SLA) and throwing its weight behind the Catholic weekly in the appeal process.

This raised the ire of Muslim Lawyers Association, who strongly opposed the move. – December 27, 2013.

Archbishop Pakiam prays that PM will remember where he came from

Archbishop emeritus @Murphy Pakiam (pic) has urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to cement his own call for an end to Muslim-Christian hostility by withdrawing Putrajaya’s legal challenge against the Catholic Church’s use of 'Allah.'

The Archbishop, retired recently and now administrator of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, made the call in response to Najib’s speech at the National Christmas Open House in George Town, Penang when he called on followers of the two faiths to set aside their differences and seek common ground.

"What did he say? Even if the world talks and laughs about this 'Allah' issue, Malaysia will not allow (its use by non-Muslims), we (government) will defend the exclusivity of its use.

"This is not a man who was educated in our Catholic school. By talking like that, you are just a bickering politician. I am praying that Allah will enlighten him to become a statesman," the Malaysiakini news portal reported him as saying today.

Najib was educated at St John's Institution, adjacent to the Archbishop's house where the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) annual Christmas high tea was held today.

Pakiam said Najib was the one who should not stop preventing Christians from using the word 'Allah'.

Pakiam used Najib's experience in school as an example of how the Christian community had helped Najib as a boy in a Catholic school and respected his Muslim faith.

"From a small boy, from primary school until form 3, he (Najib) was there (St John's Institute).

"When it came to catechism (classes), his mother was disturbed because he was a small boy going to a (Christian) religious class.

"But his mother had confidence in our brothers and phoned Brother Matthew who said: 'Please don't worry, we will see that he doesn't go in'," the portal reported.

As such, Pakiam said he hoped Najib would do his duty and serve all Malaysians.

"You think I am not angry? But he is the prime minister, so I have to pray to God to please help him do his duty for the whole country and not just Umno," he said.

The Court of Appeal had in October overturned a High Court decision which ruled that the Home Ministry's ban against Christian publication The Herald from using the word 'Allah' was unconstitutional.

The Church is now appealing the decision at the Federal Court in the hope of reinstating the High Court's ruling.

Pakiam added that Najib's insistence of exclusivity for the word 'Allah' was inciting right-wing groups against the Christian community.

"He knows the law. He knows the judgment the judges gave and he (Najib) is saying: 'Oh, it's allowed there (Sabah and Sarawak), but be careful in peninsula. Don't stir this up. You are playing with fire.'

Legal experts have questioned the government's move to permit the use of the word 'Allah' in East Malaysia, yet continuing defending the Court of Appeal's decision.

The Court of Appeal had ruled that the word 'Allah' was "not an integral part of the Christian faith", a decision that affects Christians in both East and West Malaysia. - December 25, 2013.