I have just picked up and collected a series of news reports on the Arabic-originated theological term issue and reactions over the “Herald”and SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo) or Evangelical Church of Borneo in Malaysia. Now the problem is widely reported in the world. I will show you here some of them. (Lily)
１．The Sun （http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20340）
SIB's application for judicial review on use of word 'Allah' to be heard on Jan 16, 27 December 2007
by S.Tamarai Chelvi & Pauline Puah
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today postponed the hearing of an application for leave by the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) and its president for a judicial review against the Internal Security Minister’s decision to stop them from importing Christian books which contain the word “Allah”.
They are also seeking a declaration that they have the constitutional right to use the word “Allah” in all their religious publications and practices, and not just within the church.Appellate and Special Powers Court Judge Lau Bee Lan decided in chambers to postpone the hearing to Jan 16, after Senior Federal Counsel Azizah Nawawi informed the judge that there were discussions between the two parties to resolve the issue.
Datuk D.P Naban, Lim Heng Seng and Bobby Chew appeared for the applicants, SIB and its president Pastor Jerry W. A Dusing @ Jerry W. Patel, who filed the application on Dec 10.
It is learnt that the government has tasked a minister and a deputy minister to discuss with SIB on how best to resolve the issue.
SIB, also known as the Evangelical Chuch of Borneo, is seeking a court order to quash the minister's decision to refuse the import of four titles and withhold delivery of another two titles impounded under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA).
The publications are:
> Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun I (Januari-Jun)
> Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun II (Julai -Disember)
> Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun III (Januari -Jun)
> Anak Besar Umur 9-11 Tahun, Tahun III (Julai -Disember)
> Anak Tengah Umur 6-8 Tahun, Tahun III (Januari - Jun)
> Anak Tengah Umur 6-8 Tahun, Tahun III (Julai-Disember)
According to court documents, they are also seeking the following declarations:
> Based on Articles 11 (freedom of religion) and 12 (rights in respect of education) of the Federal Constitution, it is their constitutional right to use the term "Allah" in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia translations of the Bible, and in all religious materials used to instruct their children and in their practice of the religion;
> The right to import such publications;
> They are guaranteed equality under the law and protected from discrimination on the grounds of religion, in particular the PPPA and Internal Security Act 1960;
> Article 3(1) stating that Islam is the official religion of the Federation does not authorise the government to prohibit SIB from using the term “Allah” or own materials in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia using the word “Allah” ;
> Article 3(1) guarantees the right of all religions to be practised in peace and harmony, and they have the right to use the term “Allah” and the relevant religious materials “not only in churches but in any place, dwelling or building in the practice of their religion”;
> The order published in the Gazette - PU (A)15/82 - banning the Alkitab, under Section 22 of the Internal Security Act on the grounds that the document is prejudicial to national interest and security, is beyond the Act’s legal authority and unconstitutional;
> Under Article 11(4), Islam and the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among Muslims is a state matter and not a federal matter, except for the federal territories; and
> the government’s categorisation of the use of the words “Allah, “Baitullah”, “Solat” and “Kaabah” as words and phrases exclusive to Islam, and that this is a “sensitive” and a “security issue, through the order published in the Gazette and the circular KKDN. S.59/3/6/A dated Dec 5, 1986, is unconstitutional.
Dusing claimed the minister failed to take into account various relevant considerations, such as the fact that Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christian natives had used the word "Allah" for generations, and "Allah" was also used in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia translations of the Bible.He said the congregationists were mainly native bumiputra from various tribal groups in Sabah, and used a common language, Bahasa Malaysia, in their worship and religious instruction.
"From the earliest days of the church, the Bahasa Malaysia congregations for the church have been freely using the Alkitab, the Bahasa Indonesia translation of the Holy Bible, wherein the word 'Allah' appears," he said.
"The Christian usage of the word 'Allah' predates Islam. 'Allah' is the name of God in the old Arabic Bible as well as in the modern Arabic Bible used by Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and other places in Asia [and] Africa, where the languages that are in contact with Arabic have been using the word 'Allah' to refer to God," he said.
"In Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, the word 'Allah' has been used continuously in the printed edition of Matthew's Gospel in Malay in 1629, in the first complete Malay Bible in 1733 and in the second complete Malay Bible in 1879 until today in Perjanjian Baru and Alkitab," he added.
Dusing said that on Aug 15, the church's supervisor of children education, Kinambo Gaduan and a staff were travelling with three boxes of educational materials from Surabaya, Indonesia to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, with a transit stop at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang, Selangor.
He said the materials were detained by a customs officer at the LCCT, and received no reply to his letter to the director-general of Customs requesting the return of the books.
He added that after further enquiries, he was informed that the publications had been handed over to the Internal Security Ministry.
After pursuing the matter with the ministry, Dusing received a letter from the ministry dated Sept 10 stating that the import of the publications had been denied, that Christian publications containing the four words "Allah", "Baitullah", "Solat" and "Kaabah" cannot be distributed in Malaysia. The letter also stated that “the publications can raise confusion and controversy in Malaysian society".
The church sent an appeal letter dated Sept 24 to the minister, stating that the previous prime minister had allowed the use of the word "Allah" in their publications.
Dusing said the church received another letter dated Oct 24 from the ministry, signed by Yaacob Samat from the Quranic Text and Publication Control Division, stating that all their publications, whether imported or published in Malaysia, which contained words or phrases exclusive to Islam, such as "Allah", "Baitullah", "Solat" and "Kaabah" were prohibited from distribution in Malaysia.
Among the grounds for the prohibition are:
> Article 3(1) states that Islam is the official religion of the Federation and Article 11(4) permits laws to be made to control the propagation of religious doctrine or belief among Muslims;
> Due to differences in the words and phrases prohibited, confusion has arisen as to what words and phrases are prohibited in Christian publications in the Indonesian language;
> In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was uneasiness (kegelisahan) among the community and problems of enforcement among religious officers due to differences about the words and phrases prohibited;
> The issue has become sensitive and has been classified as a security issue, and the Internal Security Ministry is to deal with the issue;
> Through PU (A) 15/82, the government gazetted the prohibition of the Alkitab in Malaysia under Section 22 of the Internal Security Act;
> Special exemption was made to the prohibition, permitting the Alkitab to be owned by Christians in churches;
> There was continuing confusion and uneasiness in the community when enforcement on the use of the words and phrases in religious publications was not effective;
> On May 19, 1986, the government decided that the words “Allah”, “Kaabah”, “Baitullah” and “Solat” are words and phrases exclusive to Islam and cannot be used in materials of other religions except to explain Islamic concepts;
> The government informed Christian publishers to comply with this through circular KKDN. S.59/3/6/A dated Dec 5, 1986;
> The government permits the use of the Alkitab in churches only and not in any other places but this does not apply to other Christian publications;
>The government practices religious freedom as enshrined in the constitution but bears the responsibility of avoiding any confusion in the community of various religions, which if allowed to occur, will threaten security and public order; and
> Religious sensitivity must be respected and preserved by all, including the applicants as a religious institution with many followers.
２．The Sun （http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20340）
Dompok: BM belongs to all Malaysians, 27 December 2007
PETALING JAYA: The authorities should allow the use of Bahasa Malaysia, including the word “Allah”, in all publications and not restrict it to Islamic materials, a federal minister said.
“My view is Bahasa Malaysia is the national language for all, irrespective of the racial groups or religious beliefs. It should be a matter of pride for all Malaysians, followers of all religions, to use the national language for their worship,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.The bumiputra Christians have been using “Allah” in reference to the Almighty for a long time, he told the Sun. For instance, he said, the younger generation of the Kadazan, who could not converse in their mother tongue, used “Allah” instead of “Kinoingan” in Kadazan in their prayers. “They pray to ‘Allah’, just like the Indonesian and Arab Christians.”
Dompok, who is in charge of keeping the Prime Minister’s Department abreast of issues faced by Christians, was asked to comment on recent cases involving the right to use the word “Allah”. He said “Allah” was also part of the Bahasa Malaysia vocabulary, and the Internal Security Ministry's directive that the Catholic weekly, Herald, stop publishing its Bahasa Malaysia section, could jeopardise the government’s effort to promote the national language as the language of unity.In a letter on Dec 10, the ministry informed Herald to stop its Bahasa Malaysia segment. Its annual permit expires on Dec 31, and it has yet to receive a renewed permit.
３．The Sun （http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20339）
Herald sues govt for prohibiting use of word 'Allah', 27 December 2007
by Pauline Puah
PETALING JAYA: Catholic weekly "Herald" has filed a suit against the government for prohibiting it from using the word “Allah” in the local publication.
Herald’s publisher, in a statement today, said the Internal Security Ministry had issued a series of directives for the publication to cease the use of the word "Allah", failing which the publication’s permit could either be suspended or revoked. Under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), the Internal Security Minister has absolute powers to grant, suspend or revoke a publishing permit.
“We have the right to use the word ‘Allah’ which right now is being curtailed,” the statement said. The statement added that the publisher wanted the courts to decide on the publisher’s legal position to use the word.
“Pursuant to this, we have filed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court a writ of summons and a statement of claim to seek appropriate directives in support of our rights,” the statement said.
Contacted later, Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of Herald, said the suit was filed on Dec 5. However, he declined to divulge more information.
Herald has a circulation of 12,000 and a readership of 50,000. Other than the English segment, it also has sections in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil to cater to the multi-racial and multi-lingual make-up of the more than 850,000 Malaysian Catholics.
In a Dec 10 letter, Herald was also informed by the ministry to stop its Bahasa Malaysia segment but no reason was given for the directive. However, Andrew said, the suit was not related to this directive.
Herald’s annual permit expires on Monday (Dec 31) and the publication has yet to receive a fresh permit, as required under the PPPA.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharum was quoted recently as saying that to prevent confusion, the word “Allah” could only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religions. “Only Muslims can use ‘Allah’. It’s a Muslim word, you see. It’s from (the Arabic (language),” he said in a Malaysiakini interview last week (Dec 21). “The word ‘Allah’ is published by the Catholics. It’s not right,” he was quoted as saying.
However, scholars say the word predates Islam and was used by Christians long before the birth of Islam.
４. The Star Online（http://thestar.com.my）
Catholic paper files writ of summons, 27 December 2007
PETALING JAYA: The publisher of Herald - The Catholic Weekly has filed a writ of summons and a statement of claim in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to seek appropriate declarations of the use of the word "Allah".
The publisher said in a statement released Thursday that the Internal Security Ministry had issued a series of directives to the publisher to cease the use of the word "Allah" in the weekly. The publisher also said that if they failed to do so, the publication’s permit would either be suspended or revoked. “We have decided to have our legal position to use the word determined by the courts,” the statement said.
The weekly’s editor Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew said that the writ was filed on Dec 5.
The 13-year-old paper, which carries reports about the Catholic community in English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese, has a circulation of 12,000 for its members.
５．NECF Malaysia （http://www.necf.org.my）
“Allah”−Who is confused? , 28 December 2007
by Executive Secretary
Religious freedom provided in Article 11 of the Federal Constitution includes the right to have access to, and the use of, scriptures and printed material in Bahasa Malaysia, our national language. To have scriptures and publications in a language of one’s choice is fundamental. Nonetheless, there have been incidents where Christian materials are being confiscated on grounds that the use of certain words, e.g. “Allah,” etc., would cause confusion and controversies.
On 15 Aug 2007, three boxes of educational materials for Christian children were detained by the custom officers at the LCCT in Sepang. The materials belong to the SIB Sabah. Recently, the publisher of Catholic weekly bulletin Herald was asked to remove its Bahasa Malaysia section or risk losing its publication permit.
To the Bahasa speaking Christians, the native bumiputeras in particular, the rationale of the Internal Security Ministry (KDN) for its action appears nonsensical. The term ‘Allah’ has been used to mean God for generations, even before Malaysia as a country was formed. "In Bahasa Malaysia, the word 'Allah' has been used continuously in the printed edition of Matthew's Gospel in Malay in 1629, in the first complete Malay Bible in 1733 until today in the Alkitab," said Pastor Jerry Dusing, the president of SIB Sabah.
Historically, the word predates the Islamic era and was used by Christians in the Arabic-speaking world before there were any Muslims.
The SIB Sabah has filed for a judicial review against KDN’s decision to disallow the import of Christian literatures containing the word “Allah.” The hearing has been postponed to 16 Jan 2008. Meanwhile Herald files a suit against the government for stopping it from using “Allah” in its publication. The date of hearing has yet to be fixed.
As Malaysian citizens, in what manner shall we, Christians, embrace our national language? Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, the Minister in the Prime Minster’s Department, says it well: “Bahasa Malaysia is the national language for all, irrespective of the racial groups or religious beliefs. It should be a matter of pride for all Malaysians, followers of all religions, to use the national language for their worship” （theSun, p4, 28 Dec).
６．“Lim Kit Siang Blog” （http://blog.limkitsiang.com）
PM should overrule Johari and rescind Internal Security Ministry order to HERALD ，24 December 2007
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should overrule Internal Security Deputy Minister, Datuk Johari Baharum and rescind the Internal Security Ministry order to Herald, the Catholic weekly to discontinue the Bahasa Malaysia section, so that Christmas Day this year will not be celebrated under a cloud of burgeoning religious intolerance and constitutional encroachments.Johari has admitted that he had made the decision that the word ‘Allah’ can only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religion, and to impose the new condition on this restriction on the Herald when the annual publishing permit of the Catholic weekly is next renewed.
Although Johari said that his decision was based on a report submitted by the publications department of his ministry, it is an indictment of the arbitrary nature of the decision-making process and even misgovernance that there had been no consultation whatsoever with the religious organizations which will be affected by the decision.Even more arbitrary and deplorable was the ministry’s decision to abolish the Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia section, which is not only unconstitutional but shows that the government itself does not give pride of place to Bahasa Malaysia. As the word “Allah” has been used to refer to God among Christians for generations in many countries and is never meant to offend or confuse the Muslims, Abdullah should intervene to rescind such retrogressive measure by the Internal Security Ministry or it will be another signal that Malaysia is down the slippery slope of more religious restrictions for non-Muslim faiths, whose constitutionally-entrenched guarantees of freedom of religion are not being honoured by the government.
The year 2007 is already the worst year for religious polarisation in the 50 year history of the nation and the country cannot afford another lurch towards religious intolerance and constitutional encroachment of the fundamental rights of Malaysians in the last fortnight of the year.
７. Malaysiakini.com（http://www.malaysiakini.com）
PM, state your stand on Herald's 'Allah'，24 December 2007
There is growing clamour for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to quickly douse the controversy over the use of ‘Allah’ by a Catholic weekly in its Bahasa Malaysia section as Christians prepare to celebrate Christmas tomorrow.
The Herald, a weekly bulletin of the Catholic Church has been warned it could lose its publication permit, which will effectively shut down the weekly, for using the word ‘Allah’ in referring to ‘God’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section. The powerful Internal Security Ministry - in which Abdullah is the minister in charge - has also allegedly told the publisher to remove the entire Bahasa Malaysia section or the permit will not be renewed when it expires next week. The Herald, which is published in four languages - English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil - has a circulation of 12,000.
Social movement Aliran said it was flabbergasted that “the usage of a single, widely used term to refer to the Almighty could be used to deny a basic right – the freedom to publish”. “The term ‘Allah’ has been used for centuries without any problem or confusion. It has been the common term used by Muslims and Christians alike in the Arab world to refer to God.”
Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum has earlier explained that the new condition imposed on Catholic bulletin was to prevent confusion. “Only Muslims can use ‘Allah’,” he told Malaysiakini. "We cannot allow this use of ‘Allah’ in non-Muslim publications - nobody except Muslims. The word ‘Allah’ is published by the Catholics. It’s not right.”
However, Aliran said that Johari’s “sudden claim to exclusivity” for the usage of the word “does not make sense”. “Our own Bahasa Malaysia is littered with numerous words absorbed from many foreign languages. We have even stopped using existing words in preference to newly coined terms to reflect modernity and the scientific world. If foreign countries were to claim exclusivity for all these terms, what would become of Bahasa Malaysia?
“Aliran also understands that the line, ‘Ya Allah Yang Maha Kuasa...’ forms part of the Pahang state anthem. Does that mean that non-Muslims should not sing the Pahang state anthem?” Other state anthems which contain the word 'Allah' include Johor, Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang urged Abdullah to overrule Johari and rescind his ministry’s order to Herald to discontinue its Bahasa Malaysia section “so that Christmas Day this year will not be celebrated under a cloud of burgeoning religious intolerance.”
“As the word ‘Allah’ has been used to refer to God among Christians for generations in many countries and is never meant to offend or confuse the Muslims, Abdullah should intervene to rescind such retrogressive measure by the Internal Security Ministry,” said Lim.
He said that the ministry's decision to abolish the Herald's Bahasa Malaysia section shows that the government itself does not give pride of place to the national language.
The use of ‘Allah’ outside of Islam has stirred controversy in Malaysia previously. Four years ago, the Bible in the Iban language was banned because it translated the word ‘God’ as Allah Taala, which resembles Islam’s name for God. The ban was, however, lifted after protests from the Christian community.
８．Malaysiakini.com （http://www.malaysiakini.com）
Permit without BM section likely for Herald, 28 December 2007
by Soon Li Tsin
The Catholic Church’s weekly organ, Herald, will most likely get its annual publishing permit but its Bahasa Malaysia section will have to go.The newspaper’s editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, revealed today that the Internal Security Ministry had sent a directive to the Herald to remove its Bahasa Malaysia section and this will be effective when the new permit is issued.
The 28-page Herald, which is published in four languages - English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil - has an internal circulation of 12,000.
Lawrence also clarified that the suit - filed by the Herald on Dec 5 in the Kuala Lumpur High Court - is to seek a declaration on the use of ‘Allah’ in Bahasa Malaysia, and this is not directly related to the weekly’s problems with its publishing permit.
The Herald has been told by the Internal Security Ministry - which is in charge of issuing publishing permits - that it cannot use the word ‘Allah’ when referring to ‘God’ in Bahasa Malaysia. In a statement yesterday, the Herald said it would leave to the court to determine the suitability of using the word ‘Allah’ in Bahasa Malaysia.
It was reported earlier that the weekly had been told to remove its entire Bahasa Malaysia section or the permit will not be renewed when it expires next week. However, Lawrence said the permit is likely to be given but it will include a clause stating that the BM section be removed completely from the tabloid-size weekly. The Catholic Church is currently negotiating with the ministry over the directive.
Asked what the Herald will do if negotiations fail and the permit will come without the BM section, Lawrence hinted that they would abide to the directive.However he said the church would find other ways to provide news in Bahasa Malaysia to its congregation. “We can still use BM in our in-house magazines and set up a BM bulletin (which does not require a publishing permit). It’s not a problem,” he explained. Lawrence said the weekly carries four pages of Catholic news in Bahasa Malaysia to cater to East Malaysians who don’t speak Tamil, Mandarin and English.“How do you communicate with a Kadazandusun? BM is their language. We have to make such news available to them in their language. It’s unreasonable to deny them this. “We worship in BM. The (BM) Bible has ‘Allah’. We have been doing this for centuries. If you look at the Kamus Dewan (official Bahasa Malaysia dictionary), it uses ‘Allah’ for God and ‘Tuhan’ for Lord,” he said.Lawrence argued that ‘Tuhan’ is not a suitable Bahasa Malaysia word when referring to God.
Last week, Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum said the word ‘Allah’ can only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religion. “Only Muslims can use ‘Allah’. It’s a Muslim word. It’s from (the Arabic language). We cannot let other religions use it because it will confuse people,” he said when contacted. “We cannot allow this use of ‘Allah’ in non-Muslim publications, nobody except Muslims. The word ‘Allah’ is published by the Catholics. It’s not right,” he told Malaysiakini.
The use of ‘Allah’ outside of Islam has stirred controversy in Malaysia previously. Four years ago, the Bible in the Iban language was banned because it translated the word ‘God’ as Allah Taala, which resembles Islam’s name for God. The ban was, however, lifted after protests from the Christian community.
A Sabah church has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the government for banning the importation of Christian children books from Indonesia which contain the word ‘Allah’.
９．CNS News. Com (Cybercast News Service) （http://www.cnsnews.com:80）
God Vs. Allah Issue Threatens Catholic Newspaper in Muslim Country, 26 December 2007
by Patrick Goodenough（CNSNews.com International Editor）
The government of Muslim-majority Malaysia will not renew a Catholic newspaper's license to publish unless it stops using the word "Allah" to denote God. The editor of the Herald has come up against an issue that has affected inter-religious relations before in the Southeast Asian country, which is often cited as an example of pluralistic democracy in the Muslim world.
Shortly before Christmas, the Internal Security Ministry sent a directive ordering the weekly to drop the use of the word "Allah," when referring to the God who Christians worship, editor Fr. Lawrence Andrew said Wednesday. Instead, the newspaper should use the word "Tuhan," which is a general term for God in the language spoken by the majority of Malaysians, Bahasa Malaysia.
A ministry official was quoted as saying that "Allah" referred only to the Muslim god, and its use was designed to confuse Muslims.
About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Muslim Malays. Large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and followers of other smaller faiths. The constitution guarantees religious freedom, but Islam is the official religion, despite the fact that 40 percent of the population is not Muslim. Furthermore, the constitution states that all Malays are Muslim -- a stipulation critics say makes it difficult for a Malay to convert to or profess another faith. Minorities also frequently complain about discrimination.
The instruction to the Herald, which publishes sections in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Tamil and Mandarin, has stirred controversy. Under restrictive media laws, the newspaper -- like others in Malaysia -- is required to have an official permit that must be renewed annually. It expires on Dec. 31. "Malaysians are truly dumbfounded that the use of a single, widely used term to refer to the Almighty could be the basis for denying a basic right -- the freedom to publish," Aliran, a Malaysian reform organization "dedicated to justice, freedom and solidarity," said in a statement.
It challenged Prime Minister Ahmed Badawi, who promotes a moderate interpretation of Islam, to speak out and clarify the issue. Lim Kit Siang, leader of the secular opposition Democratic Action Party, said the government order was "another signal that Malaysia is going down the slippery slope of more religious restrictions for non-Muslim faiths, whose constitutionally-entrenched guarantees of freedom of religion are not being honored by the government."
Aliran and others note that the Arabic word "Allah" was used as a name for a supreme being even before Mohammed established Islam in the seventh century. Many Christian Arabs use the same word for God. Nonetheless, there are considerable differences in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic conceptions of God (not least of all the concept of the Trinity and God becoming man in the form of Jesus, versus the Koranic injunction that Allah "begets not, nor is he begotten."). Many evangelical and other Christians hold the view that Muslims and Christians do not worship "the same god."
Andrew, the Herald editor, said the ministry was trying to suppress the Bahasa Malaysia section of the newspaper. He pointed out that the word for God in the Bible in the Malay language is Allah, and said it was thus natural that that word be used. "Surely we all know that no one can change the words of the Koran, likewise no editor can change the words of the [Bahasa Malaysia Bible]," he argued. Andrew said many Bahasa Malaysia-speakers read the Herald, and by forcing the paper to stop publishing that section, the government was "curtailing the rights of Christian citizens who want to practice their faith -- to know more of the faith activities or be informed of faith events that are going to take place." "This amounts to interfering in the internal activities of a religious group and ... contradicts the constitution," he said. Andrew said the newspaper had been encouraged by the considerable "intellectual support" it has received from quarters including Aliran and the Bar Council, a body of legal practitioners in Malaysia.
This isn't the first time the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims has caused contention in Malaysia. In 2003, the issue prompted a government decision to ban a Bible published in the tongue of a small indigenous ethnic group. The ban was later reversed after protests.
In another recent sign of cracks along ethnic and religious lines in Malaysia, tens of thousands of ethnic Indian Hindus took to the streets in November to protest what they say are discriminatory policies that favor ethnic Malays at the expense of minorities. Among other things, the Hindus complained about the destruction of temples which officials say are illegal. Police used teargas and water cannon to disperse the demonstration, prompting the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a statutory body that advises the administration and Congress, to call on the government to protect the religious and other rights of Hindus and other non-Muslims in Malaysia.
"The rights of one religious group should not trump the most basic of all individual human rights, the right to follow one's own conscience," said commission chairman Michael Cromartie.
Abdullah, the prime minister, accused some Hindu activists of stirring up racial conflict. Malaysian Indian non-governmental organizations last week asked the government to set up a department to deal with non-Muslim affairs, including the demolition of temples, and problems arising from conversions. But the government ruled out the idea. "It is difficult to set up such a dedicated department as the other religions don't fall under the official religion category," the official Bernama news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as saying.
Malaysia does have an Islamic Affairs ministry. Malaysia is a major trading partner of the U.S., and officials from the two countries are currently negotiating a free-trade agreement. It is also a leading member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and Non-Aligned Movement, and takes an active role on behalf of developing countries at the United Nations.
１０．The International Herald Tribune （http://www.iht.com）
Malaysian church sues government for banning use of word 'Allah', 27 December 2007
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian church has sued the government for banning the import of Christian books containing the word "Allah," alleging it was unconstitutional and against freedom of religion, a lawyer said Thursday. The Sabah Evangelical Church of Borneo is also challenging the government for declaring that the word "Allah" — which means God in the Malay language — can only be used exclusively by Muslims, said the church's lawyer Lim Heng Seng.
"The decision to declare 'Allah' as only for Muslims, categorizing this as a security issue, and banning books with the word 'Allah' is unlawful," Lim told The Associated Press.
Religion issues are extremely sensitive in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 27 million people are Malay Muslims. Ethnic Chinese, who follow Christianity and Buddhism, account for 25 percent of the population, while mostly Hindu Indians are 10 percent.
Minorities often complain they don't have full freedom of religion even though the constitution guarantees everybody the right to worship.
In an affidavit made available to The AP, pastor Jerry Dusing said customs officials in August confiscated three boxes of education material for children from a church member who was transiting at the Kuala Lumpur airport. He said he was informed later the publications were banned because the contained the word "Allah," which could raise confusion and controversy among Muslims. The Internal Security Ministry also told him the issue was sensitive and has been classified as a security issue, he said in the affidavit. But Dusing said Christians in Sabah on Borneo island have used the word "Allah" for generations when they worship in the Malay language, and the word appears in their Malay Bible. "The Christian usage of Allah predates Islam. Allah is the name of God in the old Arabic Bible as well as in the modern Arabic Bible," he said, adding Allah was widely used by Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Indonesia and other parts of the world without problem. Dusing also said the confiscated material was for use only within the church.The church is asking the court to declare their constitutional right to use the word "Allah" and for the right to import publications with the word in it, he said in the affidavit.
Dusing and internal security officials couldn't be reached immediately for comment.Earlier this month, a Catholic weekly newspaper was told to drop "Allah" in its Malay-language section if it wants to renew its publishing permit. Allah refers only to the Muslim God and can be used only by Muslims, government officials have said.
（End）
