On Monday, the Home Ministry filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the ruling by High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan allowing the Roman Catholic’s magzine, The Herald, to use the word “Allah” in its publication. This was followed by a separate application filed with the Kuala Lumpur High Court for a stay of execution of the court order made on December 31, 2009.
Exactly what did High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan say concerning the ruling? First, she ruled that under Articles 11 and 12 of the Federal Constitution, it is within the constitutional right of The Herald to use the word “Allah” when instructing and educating the congregation in the Christian religion.
Secondly, she ruled that although Article 11(4) of the Federation Constitution makes it an offense for non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” to Muslims to propagate the Christian religion, it is not an offense for non-Muslims to use that word to other non-Muslims for the purpose of religion.
This High Court ruling has provoked more reactions in Malaysia. Now a prominent Islamic scholar, former Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has this to say about the “Allah” ruling: “Man should refer to the one true God as Allah. This proves the teachings of Islam in referring to God as Allah. Therefore all of mankind regardless of their religion should say that Allah has created the world, that Allah tells us to do good and so on. These words are the truth. It is not appropriate for a Muslim to protest when he hears a non-Muslim says such things.”
Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin proposed that guidelines be issued for the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims. He said: Non-Muslims should also not manipulate the teachings of Islam by using the word Allah as bait. Action must be taken against such provocative acts.”
Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak said: “Be careful about this issue. Acting on emotions cannot resolve it, but understanding based on facts can, God willing.” Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin too advised people to stay calm. He said: “I think we should have faith in the government leadership to tackle the problem. We don’t want a situation where the court decision can cause anger and tension between the various races in the country.”
Why do Malaysian Muslims react so strongly to this High Court ruling? According to Anas Zubedy, a popular Muslim blogger, this ruling is perceived by some Muslims “as a plot to convert Malay Muslims to Christianity.” But Father Lawrence Andrew, Editor of The Herald said: “There are allegations we’re trying to convert Muslims. We’re not doing that.”
Marina Mahathir, daughter of former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad said: “Some idiots are mourning over the ‘loss’ of the word ‘Allah’ and therefore basically telling the world that they are people easily confused by nomenclature, and others are predicting riots over what is basically a ‘copyright’ issue.”
Marina Mahathir went on to say: “God speaks to all of humankind in the Quran and never said that only Muslims could call him by the name Allah. A Muslim believes in only One God. Therefore it makes sense that other people should call God by the same name because there is no other God.”
On the issue of confusing the Muslims, Marina Mahathir said: “A confident Muslim will not walk into a church, hear a liturgy in Malay or Arabic where they use the word ‘Allah’ and then think that he or she is in a mosque. A confident Muslim knows the difference.”
And Marina Mahathir asked this interesting question: ”So I would ask those people demonstrating against the Court decision, have you no pride? Are you saying you’re easily confused?”
And here are the last words by Marina Mahathir: ”In 2007, the Majlis Agama Negeri Perlis, which is a large majlis filled with people very learned in Islamic religious knowledge, discussed the question of the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims. Their unanimous decision? They issued a fatwa to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with non-Muslims using the word at all. Are we now going to excommunicate the whole of Perlis?”
Think about it. This ruling by High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan has touched a raw nerve somewhere. It has caused disquiet and unease among Malaysian Muslims. Is this the case of people being confused by nomenclature over a copyright issue as stated by Marina Mahathir? Or is there a fear that there is a plot to convert Malay Muslims to Christianity? Whatever it is, now that the Government has filed an appeal against the “Allah” ruling, let’s observe what happens next.
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Malaysia – Reactions To Allah Ruling
Malaysia – Judge Rules Allah Name Not Exclusive To Islam
Malaysia – “No” To Christian Allah
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