'Is the Court of Appeal's judgment a nationwide ban on kalimah Allah?'

The Catholic Church has questioned the Court of Appeal judgment on the ‘Allah’ issue, asking whether there was in fact a nationwide ban on all non-Muslims on the usage of the word.

Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam alleged that the judgment by the Court of Appeal has created ‘confusion’ and ‘disquiet’, especially among Bumiputra and Bahasa Malaysia speaking Christians.

Murphy, in the written submission submitted to the Federal Court Wednesday, said that there has been various contradictory statements by "high officials" on the understanding of the ban.

These many interpretations given in public based on the Court of Appeal decision, he said, included:

• whether the judgment prohibits the use of the word ‘Allah’ only in ‘Herald – The Catholic Weekly’
• whether the prohibition on the use of the word ‘Allah’ is only applicable to non-Muslims in Peninsula Malaysia as opposed to Sabah and Sarawak
• whether the judgment had imposed a nationwide prohibition on all non-Muslims on the use of the word ‘Allah’.

“The terms of the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the reasoning applied by the Court seemed to have sanctioned a general prohibition against the use of the word ‘Allah’ by members of the Christian community in Malaysia for their religious purposes,” said Murphy.

Murphy said the Home Minister’s 2009 order over banning of the usage of the word ‘Allah’ was limited to the Bahasa Melayu edition of its weekly publication, The Herald.

However, there was no reference made to the use of the word in the Al-Kitab, the Indonesian Bible or in publications like the Bup Kudus (the Iban Bible) or the use of the word in worship services by Bumiputra Christians in East and West Malaysia or Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians in the Peninsular.

In the Oct, 2013 decision by the The Court of Appeal, it had ruled that the ‘word’ Allah was “not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice”, and would therefore not enjoy the protections under under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which talks of freedom of religion.

“This conclusion has had widespread ramification creating uncertainty and disquiet especially in the Bumiputra Christian community of East Malaysia and the Bahasa Malaysia speaking Christian congregations in West Malaysia,” said the Church, saying that it affects the rights of 1.6 million Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.

“The finding of the Court of Appeal has emboldened certain Muslim religious authorities to seize copies of the Al-Kitab and Bup Kudus,” added Murphy.

Murphy also noted that the ‘Allah’ issue had public importance domestically and internationally, including those of international Muslim scholars and bodies such as United Nations on the issue, which has highlighted the implications of the judgment on minority religious rights in Malaysia.

Citing the appearance of ‘Allah’ in the Sikh Holy Book called the ‘Granth Sahib’, Murphy said that this was an example of the impact on minority religions.

Meanwhile, the government and Home Ministry represented by Suzana Atan cited a precedent where cases relating to national security are not to be subjected to the courts or otherwise discussed in public.

“The Court of Appeal had… found that the Minister’s decision to impose the conditions are on grounds of national security and public order,” she said.

The Federal Court earlier today reserved its decision on whether or not allow to allo the Catholic Church to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision which prohibited its weekly publication, the Herald, from using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia version.