KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak must advise Barisan Nasional (BN) states to abolish or amend the enactments prohibiting non-Muslim usage of “Allah” and other Arabic words in order to uphold the intent of his 10-point solution, the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) said today.
The umbrella body of Protestant churches said that the 10-point solution issued by Najib, who is both the prime minister and the BN chairman, in 2011 was meant to assure Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians throughout the country that they were free to use the Al-Kitab, which describes God as “Allah”, and to engage in religious worship.
“State laws should not contravene the Cabinet,” CCM general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“It reflects poorly on the government if the original intent and commitment made in the 10-point solution is now called into question by state laws,” he added.
Najib announced yesterday that Putrajaya’s 10-point solution — which was mooted shortly before the Sarawak state election in 2011 to resolve the seizure of a consignment of the Al-Kitab — is subject to existing state and federal laws.
Ten out of Malaysia’s 13 states have similar enactments banning non-Muslim usage of “Allah” and other Arabic words. The exceptions are Penang, Sabah and Sarawak, and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.
The 13-member Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition controls eight of those 10 states, while Selangor and Kelantan are administered by the three-party Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bloc.
The Selangor Islamic religious authorities had seized over 300 Malay- and Iban-language bibles from a Christian organisation on January 2 on the basis of the state’s 1988 enactment that prohibits non-Muslims from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faiths, including “Allah”.
Lawyers have denounced the Selangor state law as unconstitutional as its blanket ban on non-Muslim usage of “Allah” and other Arabic words is too broad, and not confined to Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution that prohibits non-Muslims from proselytising to Muslims.
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, however, said earlier today that he would not interfere with the ongoing investigations by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) on Christian bibles containing the word “Allah”.
Shastri also said today that Putrajaya should show good faith by withdrawing from the Herald case.
The Catholic Church is appealing to the Federal Court to be allowed to print the word “Allah” in its weekly paper, after the Court of Appeal reversed last October a 2009 landmark High Court ruling that the Arabic word for God was not exclusive to Muslims.
Malaysia’s highest court will hear arguments on March 5 before deciding if the Church can appeal.
Bishop Datuk Dr Thomas Tsen, president of the Sabah Council of Churches, urged for calm when asked to comment on Najib’s announcement yesterday.
“We will continue to pray for our PM to have wisdom and courage to lead our country into a higher and more ensuring level of justice and peace for all people of Malaysia to continue on to have a harmonious life together as one country of Malaysia, especially in terms of enjoying freedom of religion for everyone,” Tsen told The Malay Mail Online.
Christians make up close to 10 per cent of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million.
Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
