Federal Court throws out ‘Allah’ appeal

 Odin: I am certain not all Malays in Peninsular Malaysia object to Christians using of the word ‘Allah’, but, as has often been said by parties that include our valiant Malaysiakini columnist Mariam Mokhtar, most of those who have no objection are afraid to speak out for fear that they will be condemned by the brainless goons.

I’ve said Peninsular Malaysia, because the Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak, being far more knowledgeable, reasonable than those in the peninsula, have no objection whatsoever.

The Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak mix freely with those of other faiths until this very day – unlike in Peninsular Malaysia. They even eat and drink in the same coffee shop with their non-Muslim friends.

Kim Quek: The Federal Court decision effectively means that Article 11 of the constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion has been amended with the proviso that such freedom is subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be imposed by the government as it deems fit.

And this proviso applies, of course, to all states including Sabah and Sarawak, as the Court of Appeal judgment on Oct 14, 2013, did not specify any state to be excluded from its ruling that non-Muslims are prohibited from using the word ‘Allah’.

And this means that the BN federal government, through the courts, has violated a fundamental term of the Malaysia Agreement under which the people in Sabah and Sarawak are guaranteed full freedom to practise their religion.

The state governments as well as the people of Sabah and Sarawak must now consider what action they must take to protect their interests, now that the legal foundation upon which they had merged with Malaya at the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 has been undermined unilaterally without their concurrence.

All Malaysians must realise that such de facto amendment to Article 11 also means that religious freedom as a fundamental right for every person, as agreed upon through consensus by all racial and religious groups at the founding of the nation, has been taken away.

This applies to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, as Article 11 does not stipulate such freedom to be confined to a specific religion.

So, all Malaysians, including Muslims, must now reflect on the ramification of the current court decision in respect of the loss of their religious rights, and ponder as to what they can do to recover it, if so desired.

Anonymous_1386743292: I am 61 years old and all this while I have never heard the Christians using the word ‘Allah’ in Australia when I was studying there or in Malaysia when growing up.

Although I have no qualms about Christians using the word ‘Allah’, I do believe the Catholic Church has an ulterior motive in this issue.

Nobody is stopping the use of the word ‘Allah’ in Sabah and Sarawak and therefore the indigenous people of both states who are Christians should not have any problem doing so.

However, people from both states who live in the peninsula should respect the laws here.

Jiminy Qrikert: Anonymous_1386743292, your logic is the typically twisted logic of confused Malays.

In Australia, the language of communication is English. Why would you expect to hear ‘Allah’ being used by Christians there?

In Peninsular Malaysia, in your more youthful days, there were very few East Malaysians and Indonesian Christians for whom their main language of communication is Malay.

Also, in those early days, there was no real necessity to have worship, mass, Bibles or religious publications in Malay in Peninsular Malaysia since the bumiputera and Malay Christian congregations here were very tiny.

By the way, in case you don’t realise it, there are many Malay Christians here. They are from Indonesia.

So, it seems in the last 30 years or so of your 61 years, you were pretty oblivious to the influx into Peninsular Malaysia of Christians for whom the word ‘Allah’ is their only reference to the Almighty.

In your twilight years now, you should ponder what right do Malays have to deprive anyone the use of a word of their choice, especially in the worship of their God.

Sali Tambap: Anonymous_1386743292, it must be put into your head that ‘Allah’ is used by Malay-speaking Christians and some natives in Sarawak and Sabah whose language is quite similar to Malay.

The reason why you do not hear the word ‘Allah’ uttered in English, Chinese or Indian, or any other languages other than Arabic, is because they have their own word for God.

This issue may not be a big deal except for the fact that the authorities have stopped a section of the population from exercising their right to use a certain word, ‘Allah’, for whatever reasons. That’s why right thinking Malaysians feel revolted over this court ruling.

Now, can you really believe that anybody or anyone can effectively stop a person from using any word that he/she wants to? Is not that kind of court ruling ridiculous?

It is easy for us who are not involved in this to merely dismiss this, but put your feet in their shoes, and see what your reaction will be?

CQ Muar: Calling all Sarawakians and Sabahans, the time has come for you to weigh and consider if you will still stand by the BN government.

We hope this will jolt you out of your senses. Rise up, and put an end to such dictatorship by voting them out come GE14. Stop indulging in dreams.

Righteous: “Let the matter die,” said senior lawyer Sulaiman Abdullah, who was appearing for the Terengganu Islamic Council at the Federal Court ‘Allah’ appeal.

He must be referring to justice here, or perhaps he did not know that it is long dead.

With all-Muslim panel, ‘Allah’ verdict expected

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakinisubscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakinisubscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.