PAS MP said it is ok to use ‘allah’

alamak! the hearing (as i blog here) was postponed to coming tuesday. ayoh! why like this one – our malaysian court, always postphoning hearing/cases (eg. altantuya’s trial). this is the news from malaysiakini (with pictures).

Herald vs Gov’t:  Judicial review postponed
Soon Li Tsin |
Apr 25, 08 2:35pm

The judicial review application hearing for Herald – The Catholic Weekly versus the government was postponed to Tuesday after the Attorney General’s Chambers asked for time to submit on the case.

This was decided by Kuala Lumpur High Court of Appellate and Special Powers Division Judge Lau Bee Lan in a packed courtroom filled with Herald supporters.

On March 19, applicant Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of KL filed for a judicial review against the Internal Security Minister and government over an order that disallowed Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in the Bahasa Malaysia section of the publication.

The ministry at that time led by Johari Baharum initially held back the weekly’s publishing licence last year over this matter but later granted a permit with no conditions attached after a stern outcry from the Catholic community.

Declare it ‘null and void’

Archbishop Murphy Pakiam on behalf of Herald is seeking relief from the courts namely:

– leave to apply for the ministry to declare that its decision to prohibit Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in its publication is null and void; Herald is entitled to use the word ‘Allah’ in the publication and that the word ‘Allah’ is not exclusive to the religion of Islam.

– leave to quash the ministry’s decision in prohibiting Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in its publication

– an order for Herald to continue using ‘Allah’ in its publication until the court decides on the matter.

Senior federal counsel Suzana Atan told the court that she did not object to the second relief but needed more time to submit on the other two.

The hearing which began at 10.15am lasted for about 20 minutes before being adjourned by Lau.

Father Lawrence Andrew said he will be praying for a decision that is in their favour on Tuesday.

"We want a decision in our favour. We want to uphold our rights to worship as we were doing it for centuries," he told reporters.

Lawyers who appeared for Pakiam were Porres Royan, S Selvarajah, Derek Fernandez, Leonard Teoh and Annou Xavier.

Also present in court were Pakiam and Christian Federation of Malaysia executive secretary Reverend Dr Hermen Shastri.

Continue with civil suit

Meanwhile, the Herald will continue to press on with a civil lawsuit filed against the government last December concerning the same matters.

Father Lawrence  (picture, right. left is archbishop pakiam) also confirmed that the 28-page newspaper that is published in four languages – English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil – still uses the word ‘Allah’ in its publication.

The Herald, which publishes news and information for Catholics in Malaysia has a circulation of around 12,000.

Former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdullah Mohamad Zain previously said the cabinet at its meetings on Oct 18 and Nov 1 last year decided that the word ‘Allah’ could only be used by Muslims to avoid confusion.

Abdullah said non-Muslims should use the word God (‘Tuhan’ in Malay) instead, although the word Allah has been used in the Malay-language Bible for centuries.

"The use of the word ‘Allah’ by other religions may arouse sensitivity and create confusion among Muslims," he said.

The use of ‘Allah’ outside of Islam has stirred controversy in Malaysia previously. Four years ago, the Bible in the Iban language was banned because it translated the word ‘God’ as Allah Taala, which resembles Islam’s name for God. The ban was, however, lifted after protests from the Christian community.

A Sabah church has filed a lawsuit against the prime minister and the government for banning the importation of Christian children books from Indonesia which contain the word ‘Allah’.

ayoh! even PAS said that we can use the word ‘allah’ . remember on 6 april when PAS MP’s visited the shah alam catholic church, apart from many other things, this was what he said about the word ‘allah’:

As a PAS delegate, YB Khalid was the best to share his take on this issue. According to YB Khalid “in Arabic, ‘Allah’ means God. ‘Allah’ comes from the word ‘Al Illah’. ‘Illah’ means something that you worship. ‘Al’ means ‘the’. Therefore ‘Al Illah’ (or ‘Allah’ for short) simply means ‘the item of worship.’ Even before the coming of Prophet Mohammad, the word ‘Allah’ was used, simply because it means God. So if you ask me whether you can use the word ‘Allah’, I would say Yes. It is even not a problem for non-Muslims to use the word ‘Assalamualaikum’ because it simply means ‘Peace’. When I was in Jordan, I heard a Christian priest speaking Arabic on TV, and he used the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God. The problem here again is the ignorance within the Muslim community itself, thanks to BN. You have to give us some time to educate the Muslims. We have 50 years of ignorance to repair,” he said. 

when the controversy of the use of allah in the herald came out sometime last year, i had blog extensively on it so i’m not going to say more but point you to my earlier posts.

‘allah’ copyrighted to malaysian muslim?
aliran: PM must make his stand in national interest
‘allah’ ban more political than religious
church leaders explain the use of ‘allah’
cabinet decides ‘allah’ belongs to them