How not to widen the 'Allah' dispute

Editorial Desk
The Straits Times
Publication Date: 07-01-2010

The furore in Malaysia over the use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims should be kept within its judicial confines, if reason has sway. The government had, in an administrative act, proscribed its use in a newsletter of the Catholic Church. The Church brought a challenge before the High Court, which ruled the ban was illegal. The government has appealed. If the appeal is allowed, whether at Court of Appeal level or in the Federal Court, the final arbiter, Christians and other non-Muslims should acknowledge that the final bar to what they contend are historical antecedents in the use of the word, is immovable. They should concede graciously.

If the judgment stands, which Malaysian opinion thinks is not likely, it would be a reasonable supposition of non-Muslims that the bumiputera-Muslim majority should accept the verdict just as graciously. In either case, respect for the primacy of the law should override partisanship. Malaysia needs this understanding like little else. If the holding line is breached thoughtlessly, there will be a price to pay.

Prime Minister Najib Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, and Pakatan Rakyat opposition figures as well, have acted to calm feelings and asked interested parties to await the outcome of the appeal. This is being rational, a well-timed caution. It takes little for a very public dispute of a visceral nature to take a nasty turn. Mosque elders should urge restraint in their Friday sermons, and Christian services need not dwell on the issue. Each side has a duty to keep the matter off the streets. All things considered, it is sensible to acknowledge that bumiputera Malaysians have never felt more exposed despite the considerable privileges they have enjoyed after 1970, when race-based allotments were formalised as a matter of policy.

Political control and the unchallenged position of Islam form a duality that defines, for good or ill, what it is to be bumiputera. The Malays felt their political mastery was dangerously eroded in the 2008 federal and state elections, in which the Barisan Nasional took a drubbing. Now, they see in the Allah challenge an assault on their faith, as it has been framed.

There are thankfully Muslim quarters which dispute the rendering as unprogressive and insular. But they remain a voice in the wilderness. A case can be made too that Malaysia would progress even faster if the bumiputeras would let the politics-religion duality be gradually worked out of their psyche. But the Allah controversy shows the day is some way off. However, the squabbling, though heated at times, has in the main been conducted in a civilised tone. This is one hopeful sign.

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PKR Sarawak Stands On Usage Of Word Allah By Catholic Herald

KUCHING
Malaysian Mirror (Joseph Tawi)
3rd January 2010

Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian has cautioned Sarawakians not to take religious freedom for granted as it must be nurtured and protected for it to flourish.

Speaking at a Christmas and a New Year gathering at the Blind Centre here today, he said: “This is because certain people in authority and power still impose hindrances on others by banning the use of certain terminologies and even to the extent of classifying the ‘Alkitab’ as a document prejudicial to national security under Section 22 of the Internal Security Act, which clearly amounts to an infringement of this constitutional right.

“But thank God, we do still have some right thinking people in Malaysia especially in the judiciary who are courageous and bold enough to uphold the provisions of the Federal Constitution”, Baru said.

“The recent judgment granted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to the Catholic Church by ruling that the Home Ministry’s blanket ban on the use of word ‘Allah’ is illegal is a landmark case for Malaysia.”

High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan, in her recent judgment, stated that the home minister’s order was “illegal, null and void”, adding that the ministry also failed to substantiate any of its claims of threats to national security, which could be caused by the use of the word “Allah” by the Herald.

“We welcome this judgment as a belated Christmas present not only to the Roman Catholic Church but to all peace loving Malaysians who believe in the principles of Rule of the Law and the sanctity and the supremacy of the Federal Constitution...Baru Bian, PKR Sarawak.

Consistent with Pakatan Rakyat's stand

“This judgment is also consistent with Pakatan Rakyat’s stand on this issue. Our leader Anwar Ibrahim at our convention in Kuching on Dec 13 publicly stated in no uncertain term that non-Muslims can use the word ‘Allah’. So did Tok Guru Nik Aziz, the respected PAS spiritual adviser. months earlier,” he said.

Baru declared that there “is no place for religious extremists and religious bigots in this country, as we are a nation of varied religious beliefs and practices.”

He said religious celebrations of all faiths had always been celebrated and respected by all Malaysians before and after independence and the formation of Malaysia.

“This is because religious freedom has been guaranteed as enshrined under Article 11 of our Federal Constitution. For Sabah and Sarawak, the historical Cobbold Commission Report clearly recorded that ‘freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion’ should be guaranteed.

“Further it was recorded that ‘Sarawak should be a secular state’. This is the reason I believe that today Sarawak remains as such without any official state religion.

“But religious freedom today cannot be taken for granted,” Baru stressed.

Attending the function organised by PKR were residents of the centre, their parents, relatives and officials from the Society for the Blind, Cheshire Home, Salvation Army and the Society for the Deaf and Dumb.

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