KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — The Selangor Sultan today urged everyone to stop politicising or debating the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims in Malaysia and said the Conference of Rulers will have the final say on the matter.
Following a discussion today with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the “Allah” issue, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said the prime minister had agreed with his proposal for the “Allah” matter to be discussed by an advisory council in August, before being raised to the Conference of Rulers in October.
The Selangor Sultan urged for all to respect the Federal Constitution’s provisions which guarantees the Malay Rulers’ right and power to determine matters relating to Islam, and said the “Allah” issue needs careful resolution in light of Islam’s position in the Federal Constitution and to ensure non-Muslims’ rights to practise their religion would not be prejudiced.
“The resolution to this issue must be done carefully with the core being the Federal Constitution which states Islam as the religion of the federation without prejudicing the rights of others to peacefully profess and practise religions other than Islam.
“I also call for all to not politicise, raise or debate this issue of the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims until the Conference of Rulers makes a final decision about this matter,” the Selangor Ruler said in a statement today, adding that this would ensure societal harmony in Malaysia remains intact to guarantee the country’s social and economic stability.
Earlier in the statement, the Sultan said he had held a discussion with Anwar, where the latter provided a briefing regarding the Malaysian government’s April 18 decision to withdraw its appeal at the Court of Appeal in a court case involving Sarawakian Bumiputera Christian, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill.
The Sultan said he was also notified of the commitment of the Malaysian government under Anwar’s leadership to refer the issue to the Conference of Rulers, for the purpose of deciding on policies relating to non-Muslims’ use of the word “Allah” in Malaysia.
The sultan who chaired the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI) — a council that provides advice to the Conference of Rulers — said he had in today’s discussion voiced his views that the “Allah” issue should be presented to the MKI for discussion first.
The Sultan said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had already agreed with this view, and added that this view is in line with the MKI’s responsibility to advise the Malay Rulers on improvements to the administration of Islam at the federal level.
“I am also of the view, since this matter involves religious sensitivities in Malaysia, this issue of the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims has to be finalised immediately by the Malaysian government wisely and responsibly,” he said in the statement.
The Sultan said Anwar agreed with his proposal to bring this issue to the MKI this August before it is brought to the Conference of Rulers in October.
“I believe MKI’s views are important to be forwarded to the Conference of Rulers in setting a final policy relating to the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims in Malaysia,” the state ruler said.
In a separate statement, Anwar similarly mentioned the plan to bring the “Allah” issue to the MKI and then to the Conference of Rulers, and said the government already has an existing policy on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims in Malaysia and is committed to use the Conference of Rulers’ decision in the future as a final policy on the matter.
On May 17, Anwar announced that the Cabinet had obtained the Agong’s royal assent to present proposals to the Conference of Rulers to strengthen the enforcement of policy regarding the word “Allah”, with the intention of resolving the matter in a more comprehensive manner while also strengthening unity and harmony among the different religions and races in Malaysia.
The word “Allah” is Arabic for God and had been adopted into the Malay language, and had been used for generations and hundreds of years by Malay-speaking Christians in the country — especially the natives or Bumiputera community of Sabah and Sarawak and Orang Asli in the peninsula — in the practice of their religion and professing of their faith.
The “Allah” issue returned to the limelight last month, after news emerged of the government’s dropping of its appeal in Jill Ireland’s case and of a Sabah church’s reciprocal act of dropping its lawsuit for the sake of national harmony and unity. With the dropping of both cases, there are now no longer any outstanding court cases in Malaysia involving the “Allah” issue.
