PETALING JAYA, Dec 15 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng accurately stated the position of the law regarding non-Muslim use of the word Allah, according to constitutional lawyer New Sin Yew.
“He is not making any new claims, he is stating the position as it is.
“Fatwa do not apply to non-Muslims, that is trite law.
“He did not overstep his jurisdiction.
“All that Lim did was state the position of the law, which he did accurately,” he said
New cited the Federal Court’s decision in Sulaiman bin Takrib v Kerajaan Negeri Terengganu [2009] 6 MLJ 354, which solidified the claim that fatwa do not apply to non-Muslims.
He added that, “The reality is the fatwa council can make any decision or gazette any fatwa that they want but it will not have any effect on non-Muslims.”
Lawyer and adjunct professor Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu said the statement made by Lim was not an issue.
“The chief minister’s statement is reasonable and fair comment.
“It is within the law because there is nothing prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word,” he said.
“He was just explaining what is already stated in the law.
“Islamic fatwa only apply to Muslims. The fatwa is not a law.
“The Yang diPertua Negeri can make rulings for Muslim followers in the state but it doesn’t bind non-Muslims,” he said.
Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee chairperson Firdaus Husni also agreed.
“Unlike some other states like Selangor, for example, Penang does not have the provision equivalent to Selangor’s Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment No 1 of 1988 prohibiting use of certain words by non-Muslims in the state, including Allah,” she said.
She said prohibition of the word must first be passed by the Penang legislature before it can be made a law, of which Lim had administrative powers as the state executive.
“The chief minister alone cannot stop a proposed prohibition of the word Allah but there is nothing wrong with his statement that Penang had not passed any law prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word,” she said.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed on Saturday that Lim was overstepping his boundaries because the chief minister had no powers to make any decisions on the use of Allah.
The minister said the matter was for the Yang diPertua Negeri, who is the state representative of the Yang diPertuan Agong, to decide.
However, Lim reaffirmed the stand of the Penang state government yesterday.
He said: “This position that a fatwa does not apply to non-Muslims is not only human and morally right but also sanctioned by the Federal Constitution and even embodied by the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Penang) Enactment 2004.
“Section 49 (1) of the enactment states that a fatwa shall be binding on every Muslim in the state…, without mentioning non-Muslims, clearly restricting its application on Muslims,” he said.
