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 • Catholic
weekly seeks court order to use ‘Allah’
©The
Sun (Used by permission)
by S.Tamarai Chelvi and Pauline Puah
• Herald sues govt for prohibiting use of word 'Allah'
• Dompok: BM belongs to all Malaysians
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 27, 2007): The High Court here today postponed the hearing
of an application for leave by the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) and its president
for a judicial review against the Internal Security Minister’s decision to stop
them from importing Christian books which contain the word “Allah”.
They are also seeking a declaration that they have the constitutional right to
use the word “Allah” in all their religious publications and practices, and not
just within the church.
Appellate and Special Powers Court Judge Lau Bee Lan decided in chambers to
postpone the hearing to Jan 16, after Senior Federal Counsel Azizah Nawawi
informed the judge that there were discussions between the two parties to
resolve the issue.
Datuk D.P Naban, Lim Heng Seng and Bobby Chew appeared for the applicants, SIB
and its president Pastor Jerry W.A Dusing @ Jerry W.Patel, who filed the
application on Dec 10.
It is learnt that the government has tasked a minister and a deputy minister to
discuss with SIB on how best to resolve the issue.
SIB, also known as the Evangelical Chuch of Borneo, is seeking a court order to
quash the minister's decision to refuse the import of four titles and withhold
delivery of another two titles impounded under the Printing Presses and
Publications Act 1984 (PPPA).
The publications are:
• Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun I (Januari-Jun)
• Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun II (Julai -Disember)
• Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun III (Januari -Jun)
• Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun III (Julai -Disember)
• Anak Tengah Umur 6-8 Tahun, Tahun III (Januari - Jun)
• Anak Tengah Umur 6-8 Tahun, Tahun III (Julai-Disember)
According to court documents, they are also seeking the following declarations:
• Based on Articles 11 (freedom of religion) and 12 (rights in respect of
education) of the Federal Constitution, it is their constitutional right to use
the term "Allah" in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia translations of the
Bible, and in all religious materials used to instruct their children and in
their practice of the religion;
• The right to import such publications;
• They are guaranteed equality under the law and protected from discrimination
on the grounds of religion, in particular the PPPA and Internal Security Act
1960;
• Article 3(1) stating that Islam is the official religion of the Federation
does not authorise the government to prohibit SIB from using the term “Allah” or
own materials in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia using the word “Allah”;
• Article 3(1) guarantees the right of all religions to be practised in peace
and harmony, and they have the right to use the term “Allah” and the relevant
religious materials “not only in churches but in any place, dwelling or building
in the practice of their religion”;
• The order published in the Gazette - PU (A)15/82 - banning the Alkitab, under
Section 22 of the Internal Security Act on the grounds that the document is
prejudicial to national interest and security, is beyond the Act’s legal
authority and unconstitutional;
• Under Article 11(4), Islam and the propagation of any religious doctrine or
belief among Muslims is a state matter and not a federal matter, except for the
federal territories; and
• the government’s categorisation of the use of the words “Allah, “Baitullah”,
“Solat” and “Kaabah” as words and phrases exclusive to Islam, and that this is a
“sensitive” and a “security issue, through the order published in the Gazette
and the circular KKDN. S.59/3/6/A dated Dec 5, 1986, is unconstitutional.
Dusing claimed the minister failed to take into account various relevant
considerations, such as the fact that Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christian natives
had used the word "Allah" for generations, and "Allah" was also used in Bahasa
Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia translations of the Bible.
He said the congregationists were mainly native bumiputra from various tribal
groups in Sabah, and used a common language, Bahasa Malaysia, in their worship
and religious instruction.
"From the earliest days of the church, the Bahasa Malaysia congregations for the
church have been freely using the Alkitab, the Bahasa Indonesia translation of
the Holy Bible, wherein the word 'Allah' appears," he said.
"The Christian usage of the word 'Allah' predates Islam. 'Allah' is the name of
God in the old Arabic Bible as well as in the modern Arabic Bible used by
Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and other places
in Asia [and] Africa, where the languages that are in contact with Arabic have
been using the word 'Allah' to refer to God," he said.
"In Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, the word 'Allah' has been used
continuously in the printed edition of Matthew's Gospel in Malay in 1629, in the
first complete Malay Bible in 1733 and in the second complete Malay Bible in
1879 until today in Perjanjian Baru and Alkitab," he added.
Dusing said that on Aug 15, the church's supervisor of children education,
Kinambo Gaduan and a staff were travelling with three boxes of educational
materials from Surabaya, Indonesia to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, with a transit stop
at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang, Selangor.
He said the materials were detained by a customs officer at the LCCT, and
received no reply to his letter to the director-general of Customs requesting
the return of the books.
He added that after further enquiries, he was informed that the publications had
been handed over to the Internal Security Ministry.
After pursuing the matter with the ministry, Dusing received a letter from the
ministry dated Sept 10 stating that the import of the publications had been
denied, that Christian publications containing the four words "Allah", "Baitullah",
"Solat" and "Kaabah" cannot be distributed in Malaysia. The letter also stated
that “the publications can raise confusion and controversy in Malaysian
society".
The church sent an appeal letter dated Sept 24 to the minister, stating that the
previous prime minister had allowed the use of the word "Allah" in their
publications.
Dusing said the church received another letter dated Oct 24 from the ministry,
signed by Yaacob Samat from the Quranic Text and Publication Control Division,
stating that all their publications, whether imported or published in Malaysia,
which contained words or phrases exclusive to Islam, such as "Allah", "Baitullah",
"Solat" and "Kaabah" were prohibited from distribution in Malaysia.
Among the grounds for the prohibition are:
• Article 3(1) states that Islam is the official religion of the Federation and
Article 11(4) permits laws to be made to control the propagation of religious
doctrine or belief among Muslims;
• Due to differences in the words and phrases prohibited, confusion has arisen
as to what words and phrases are prohibited in Christian publications in the
Indonesian language;
• In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was uneasiness (kegelisahan) among
the community and problems of enforcement among religious officers due to
differences about the words and phrases prohibited;
• The issue has become sensitive and has been classified as a security issue,
and the Internal Security Ministry is to deal with the issue;
• Through PU (A) 15/82, the government gazetted the prohibition of the Alkitab
in Malaysia under Section 22 of the Internal Security Act;
• Special exemption was made to the prohibition, permitting the Alkitab to be
owned by Christians in churches;
• There was continuing confusion and uneasiness in the community when
enforcement on the use of the words and phrases in religious publications was
not effective;
• On May 19, 1986, the government decided that the words “Allah”, “Kaabah”,
“Baitullah” and “Solat” are words and phrases exclusive to Islam and cannot be
used in materials of other religions except to explain Islamic concepts;
• The government informed Christian publishers to comply with this through
circular KKDN. S.59/3/6/A dated Dec 5, 1986;
• The government permits the use of the Alkitab in churches only and not in any
other places but this does not apply to other Christian publications;
•The government practices religious freedom as enshrined in the constitution but
bears the responsibility of avoiding any confusion in the community of various
religions, which if allowed to occur, will threaten security and public order;
and
• Religious sensitivity must be respected and preserved by all, including the
applicants as a religious institution with many followers.
Dompok: BM belongs to all Malaysians
PETALING JAYA (Dec 27, 2007): The authorities should
allow the use of Bahasa Malaysia, including the word “Allah”, in all
publications and not restrict it to Islamic materials, a federal minister said.
“My view is Bahasa Malaysia is the national language for all, irrespective of
the racial groups or religious beliefs. It should be a matter of pride for all
Malaysians, followers of all religions, to use the national language for their
worship,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard
Dompok.
The bumiputra Christians have been using “Allah” in reference to the Almighty
for a long time, he told theSun.
For instance, he said, the younger generation of the Kadazan, who could not
converse in their mother tongue, used “Allah” instead of “Kinoingan” in Kadazan
in their prayers. “They pray to ‘Allah’, just like the Indonesian and Arab
Christians.”
Dompok, who is in charge of keeping the Prime Minister’s Department abreast of
issues faced by Christians, was asked to comment on recent cases involving the
right to use the word “Allah”.
He said “Allah” was also part of the Bahasa Malaysia vocabulary, and the
Internal Security Ministry's directive that the Catholic weekly, Herald, stop
publishing its Bahasa Malaysia section, could jeopardise the government’s effort
to promote the national language as the language of unity.
In a letter on Dec 10, the ministry informed Herald to stop its Bahasa Malaysia
segment. Its annual permit expires on Dec 31, and it has yet to receive a
renewed permit.
Herald sues govt for prohibiting use of word 'Allah'
by Pauline Puah
PETALING JAYA (Dec 27, 2007): Catholic weekly "Herald" has filed a suit
against the government for prohibiting it from using the word “Allah” in the
local publication.
Herald’s publisher, in a statement today, said the Internal Security Ministry
had issued a series of directives for the publication to cease the use of the
word "Allah", failing which the publication’s permit could either be suspended
or revoked.
Under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), the Internal Security
Minister has absolute powers to grant, suspend or revoke a publishing permit.
“We have the right to use the word ‘Allah’ which right now is being curtailed,”
the statement said.
The statement added that the publisher wanted the courts to decide on the
publisher’s legal position to use the word.
“Pursuant to this, we have filed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court a writ of
summons and a statement of claim to seek appropriate directives in support of
our rights,” the statement said.
Contacted later, Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of Herald, said the suit was
filed on Dec 5.
However, he declined to divulge more information.
Herald has a circulation of 12,000 and a readership of 50,000.
Other than the English segment, it also has sections in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese
and Tamil to cater to the multi-racial and multi-lingual make-up of the more
than 850,000 Malaysian Catholics.
In a Dec 10 letter, Herald was also informed by the ministry to stop its Bahasa
Malaysia segment but no reason was given for the directive.
However, Andrew said, the suit was not related to this directive.
Herald’s annual permit expires on Monday (Dec 31) and the publication has yet to
receive a fresh permit, as required under the PPPA.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharum was quoted recently as
saying that to prevent confusion, the word “Allah” could only be used in the
context of Islam and not any other religions.
“Only Muslims can use ‘Allah’. It’s a Muslim word, you see. It’s from (the
Arabic (language),” he said in a Malaysiakini interview last week (Dec
21).
“The word ‘Allah’ is published by the Catholics. It’s not right,” he was quoted
as saying.
However, scholars say the word predates Islam and was used by Christians long
before the birth of Islam.
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