KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 ― Islam should not be used as a tool to persecute followers of different faiths or sexual minorities, panellists at a forum on religious freedom said today.

The forum, titled “The politics of religious liberty. Persecution in the name of religion” discussed how Christians and followers of the Shiah and Ahmadiyyah Muslim sects were constantly targeted by religious authorities and labelled as threats to Islam.

UK-based activist Dr Anas Al-Tikriti said that the Al-Quran never called for the oppression of those who did not adhere to Islamic teachings.

While homosexuality is forbidden. Muslims have no right to persecute gays even though if they profess to be Muslim.

“Islam differentiates between the person and the act...the call for persecution (of a homosexual) is wrong,” said Anas, who is director of the London-based think-thank Cordoba Foundation.

In Malaysia's case, Article 11 of the Federal Constitution allows followers of other religions to practice their faith freely as long as it is done peacefully, said law expert Prof Dr Azmi Sharom.

“Ahmadiyyahs, Shiahs, they should have the freedom to worship how they want to worship.

“(Similarly), the word 'Allah' can also be used by non-Muslims,” Azmi added.

The Universiti Malaya (UM) law lecturer said that in Malaysia, some judges made rulings which appear to be against the constitution.

Earlier this month, the High Court struck out Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo’s (SIB) 2007 lawsuit against the Home Ministry for confiscating three boxes of Christian publications that contained the word “Allah”.

Right-wing groups Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) lauded the court’s decision, saying it was a “victory” for Muslims who have argued that the Arabic word “Allah” cannot be used by any other faith in Malaysia.

The High Court said that it was bound by a Court of Appeal ruling last year saying the Catholic weekly, the Herald, could not use the word “Allah” to refer to God as the word was not an integral part of the Christian faith.

“Who are you to say what is or what is not integral to their faith?” Azmi said in reference to the Court of Appeals' ruling.

The Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church filed its lawsuit on December 10, 2007, seeking to quash the Home Ministry’s decision to seize three boxes of Malay-language Christian educational books that contained the word “Allah”.

On March 5, a seven-man panel in the Federal Court heard the Catholic Church’s application for leave to appeal a ruling preventing the Herald from publishing the word “Allah”, but has postponed its decision indefinitely.