The Herald will appeal the appellate court's decision to set aside the High Court's ruling permitting it to use the term "Allah" in its publication. Saying this, the weekly's editor Father Lawrence Andrew, said the Court of Appeal's decision contradicts government policy.
Referring to the Catholic Church's argument that the Malay-speaking congregation commonly used the term in reference to God, Lawrence said: "We cannot reconcile how on the one hand the Christian community is allowed to freely use, import and distribute the Al-Kitab which uses the word 'Allah' extensively, by virtue of the govt's 10-point solution for their worship and instruction of their prayer."
"It is also a retrograde step in the development of the law into the fundamental liberties of religious minorities in this country," he told reporters outside the Palace of Justice here today. "In our view, the Court of Appeal ought to have interpreted the Federal Constitution in order to uphold rather to diminish the rights of the minorities," he added.
Disappointed that the decision to set aside the earlier High Court judgment which ruled that it was against the Church's constitutional right to discontinue using the term, the priest insisted that evidence submit during the course of the trial had showed that the word "Allah" is not exclusive to Islam.
"It goes against evidence itself and by the use of the word by the Christians is a danger to public order is not proved yet till today," he said after a three-man bench read out the gist of the judgment this morning.
Justices Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali, Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim had unanimously ruled that the home minister, in banning The Herald from using Allah in its Malay edition, had made a decision in the interest of safeguarding public order. The judges also state that no constitutional right was infringed in the process and that the word "Allah" is not an integral part of the Christian faith.
The Church, in its submissions, had stated that the Malay edition of the publication citing excerpts of the Al-Kitab, a translation of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia. "We have not caused disharmony, for the 18 years of The Herald's publication, we have not caused any inconveniences," asserted Lawrence. "So we feel that this is unrealistic, given that the use of the word 'Allah' by Bahasa Malaysia- speaking congregation and other indigenous groups especially in Sabah and Sarawak for generations," he said.
"We are not discouraged by this decision. We trust in God, justice will be served. We will appeal," said Lawrence.
http://www.fz.com/content/herald-appeal-decision-contradicts-government-policy#ixzz2hgPhR9UK
To what extent will Prime Minister Najib Razak now push the issue remains to be seen. However, there is already deep concern he might seize on the ruling and use the precedent to force Christian groups into surrendering more of their rights whenever it was politically beneficial to him, or whenever he wanted to curry favour with the Muslims.
Some even fear that the Muslim extremists or ultras in Malaysia, flushed by today's victory, might get more demanding. This would set the stage for a collision course with the Christians, especially those from Sabah and Sarawak. The already high racial and religious disunity is bound to rise at least by another notch and this could destabilize Malaysia even more.
Nasharuddin was among those who attended the hearing at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya this morning. Ibrahim Ali, the head of ultra Malay rights group Perkasa too was present. However, the Muslim NGOs while noisy and emotional failed to gather more than 200 or so protesters. Shouts of Allahu Akbar or God is Great cut through the cool morning breeze outside the grand court complex, while group prayers were also held. When the government's lawyers came to announce the decision, they were greeted like heroes.
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http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=174491:catholic-magazine-herald-denied-the-right-to-use-allah-by-malaysias-appeals-court&Itemid=2#axzz2hh7V2U3M
But Khalid said that rather than banning the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims for fear of retaliation by “stupid people”, the government should focus on educating the Muslims on what the Quran said over the issue. “The government should educate Muslims regarding all the verses of the Quran which mentions non-Muslims discussing about Allah with the Prophet Muhammad, and using the word freely without any hindrance whatsoever,” the Shah Alam MP said. “Instead, our government seems to be very proud that we are the only Muslim nation that practices this ban – that we are going beyond even what the Prophet Muhammad had done...”
He rejected Department of Islamic Development’s (Jakim) line of argument that allowing non-Muslims to use ‘Allah’ would threaten the faith of Muslims, saying: “It’s just like how everybody uses the word ‘God’ and ‘Tuhan’. There’s no confusion there.” On the contrary, Khalid insisted that opening up the word ‘Allah’ to other religions would build a common platform among the country’s different believers, and hence encourage interfaith discussions.“The question of pluralism also doesn’t come into play because the Quran says the only religion accepted by Allah is Islam,” he added.
Khalid also maintained that the issue was political rather than religious – he claimed that right wing Malay groups were championing the cause to make Islam exclusive to Malays and erect barriers between themselves and the non-Muslims in the country. “They want to maintain special position, hegemony in the country… they want to distance the Malays from the non-Malays in the country, so that issues such as good-governance, which is supported by non-Malays, does not become a matter of interest for the Malays,” said Khalid.
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http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/10/14/we-respect-allah-ruling-but%E2%80%A6/
Sarawak will continue to allow the use of the word Allah in Bahasa Malaysia and native language Bibles and church publications, said State Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing, following the Court of Appeal's ruling today not to allow Catholic weekly The Herald to use the term.
Masing described the ruling as “not genuine”, saying the use of the word Allah predated Islam. “We (Christians in Sabah and Sarawak) have been using the word Allah for over 100 years. Why suddenly we are now told we cannot use it?" he asked, adding that the court's decision would have a negative impact on non-Muslims beyond Sabah and Sarawak. “Did they have a dream that Allah said they (the Christians) can't use the word Allah?” he asked, referring to the opposition by some Muslim groups in West Malaysia on the usage of the word in Christian texts.
Referring to Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak as "brothers", Masing said they had no qualms about Christians using the word. Masing reminded Christians in the state that Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud had in the past weighed in on the issue by giving assurance that he would not stop them from using the word Allah.
PKR Sarawak chief Baru Bian, saying he was stunned by the decision, said churches and Christians in Sabah and Sarawak would continue using the word Allah. “I am stunned by the decision.
“We have produced very clear facts that we were promised a guarantee by our forefathers when Sabah and Sarawak helped form Malaysia. The ruling appears to go against the fundamental rights that were promised," said Baru, adding that the decision goes against the Malaysia agreement.
Baru, a church elder of the Kuching Evangelical Church for over a decade until he joined politics, said the ruling went against Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which allows people to profess and propagate their religious beliefs.
Read more here:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/its-worship-as-usual-sarawak-christians-will-continue-use-allah-state-minis
Reverend Dr Herman Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM), who was also present in court, expressed disappointment with the ruling, saying that he did not agree with the argument that the word "Allah" was not integral to Christianity.
"The learned judges obviously did not take into consideration that the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak and Malay-speaking Christians in Peninsular Malaysia have been using the word even before Independence," he argued.
He explained that Christians in the Middle East and Indonesia have been using the word "Allah", adding that the word predates Islam. "Even in the Quran it is mentioned that the Christians and Jews believe in Allah, which explains why PAS had also said that Christians can use the word. "But here, the judges made a ruling without calling expert evidence. This is very disappointing," added Shastri.
He said the CCM could not understand the "public order" argument accepted by the court. "The people in East Malaysia have been using the word and they have been living in peace, so what public order are they talking about? Just because a few extremists are making a big issue of this does not make it a national security issue," he said. Shastri noted that Putrajaya's 10-point solution to Christians in Sabah and Sarawak had not affected public order.
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Whatever the High Court rules on the “Allah” issue today, churches in Sarawak like this one that conduct their services in the native languages have no plans to change the way they worship, with many saying that “Allah” will continue to be used in their prayers.
At this church in Kampung Tabuan yesterday, which caters to the largely Iban villagers in the surrounding areas, the service was conducted in Iban. The liturgy alone – the booklet that sets out the fixed set of Eucharistic rites and words to be used in worship – contained no fewer than 80 of the words “Allah Taala”, which means God Almighty in Iban. The word was also used in the hymns and in the sermon of Reverend Nelson Sinken.
The secretary of the Parochial Council of Churches, Maxwell Landong, told The Malaysian Insider after the service, “Since I started going to church, the words Allah Taala have been used by the church to refer to God. It’s our language and there are no other words I know that were used to refer to God.”
He added, “We have been using Allah in our liturgy, our Iban-language Bibles, publications, prayers and sermons for as long as I can remember. The Muslims in Sarawak have accepted that. So what is the fuss? Why now?” He pointed out that if the court ruled against the Catholic Church’s use of the word, it would be difficult to enforce the ruling here. He said that on a personal basis he would still pray to Allah Taala and read Bibles that use the word Allah to refer to God “no matter what the court says”.
For his part, Reverend Sinken was sanguine on today’s highly anticipated Court of Appeals decision on the dispute between Christians and certain Malaysian Muslim authorities over the use of the word. “I'm not worried,” Reverend Sinken said. He did not offer prayers for divine intervention or speak on the subject in his sermon. Echoing the exact sentiments of Landong, Reverend Sinken said of the Christians, “We in Sarawak have been using the word Allah for years without problem. It’s also our language. I'm sure the court will take all those into consideration.”
Like the majority of the churchgoers here yesterday, Dorothy Gregory is optimistic that the court will decide in the favour of “what is fair and just”. There are many similar words in the Iban and Malay languages. For example, “hutan” (jungle) in Malay is “utan” in Iban. “Jalan” (walk) in Malay is “jalai” in Iban and “makan” (eat) in Malay is “makai” in Iban.
When asked what could happen if the court ruled that Christians cannot use the word “Allah”, both Landong and Reverend Sinken said it would be up to the Archbishop to determine what they should do next.
Datuk Bolly Lapok is the Anglican Archbishop for Sarawak and Brunei.
Earlier, Bishop Lapok, as chairman of the Association of Churches in Sarawak, said the association “finds it unacceptable that practice of the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak who for generations had used Allah in worship, long before the very idea of Malaysia was conceived, is now held as unlawful by the government”.
He said that to stop saying Allah in the practice of their faith would be tantamount to a block on religious freedom. He added, “This is abhorrent, wholly unacceptable and a flagrant betrayal of the Malaysia Agreement, which guaranteed the inalienable rights of non-Muslims in Sarawak and Sabah to religious freedom.” Lapok said the churches expect the federal government to abide by the Federal Constitution, which guaranteed religious freedom. He said the native churches will continue to use Bibles with the word Allah as it was “their fundamental right”.
He reminded the government that people in Sabah and Sarawak were promised the right to practise their religion when Sabah and Sarawak were courted to join the Malay states of Malaya to form Malaysia. He said the government must respect and abide by that promise.
Read more here:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/inside-a-church-a-hundred-times-the-sound-of-allah
The Court of Appeal’s ruling on the “Allah” issue exposes the rights of Malaysia’s religious minorities to oppression under the guise of appeasing the majority, lawyers said today.
In expressing its disappointment at the appellate court’s ruling, the Catholic Lawyers’ Society said the voices of moderation appeared to be “drowned out” by the religiously intolerant, stressing that the minorities’ rights in Malaysia must be protected.
“To find that the minority must yield to the majority also sends a frightening message that the minorities’ rights are subject to the whims and fancies of the majority.
“The minorities rights to freedom of religion are enshrined in the Federal Constitution and must be upheld at all times and not oppressed by the majority,” the Catholic Lawyers’ Society wrote in a press statement signed off by its president, Viola De Cruz Silva.
Read more here:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/lawyers-allah-appeal-opens-door-to-oppression-of-religious-minorities
The Court of Appeal’s ruling on the “Allah” issue exposes the rights of Malaysia’s religious minorities to oppression under the guise of appeasing the majority, lawyers said today.
In expressing its disappointment at the appellate court’s ruling, the Catholic Lawyers’ Society said the voices of moderation appeared to be “drowned out” by the religiously intolerant, stressing that the minorities’ rights in Malaysia must be protected.
“To find that the minority must yield to the majority also sends a frightening message that the minorities’ rights are subject to the whims and fancies of the majority.
“The minorities rights to freedom of religion are enshrined in the Federal Constitution and must be upheld at all times and not oppressed by the majority,” the Catholic Lawyers’ Society wrote in a press statement signed off by its president, Viola De Cruz Silva.
Read more here:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/lawyers-allah-appeal-opens-door-to-oppression-of-religious-minorities
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