1. Utusan Malaysia Online (http://www.utusan.com.my)
Herald cabar undang-undang, 22 Januari 2009
Oleh NORLIZA ABD. RAHMAN（pengarang@utusan.com.my）
PUTRAJAYA 21 Jan. - Walaupun Kabinet memutuskan perkataan Allah tidak boleh digunakan dalam Herald Catholic, namun perkataan tersebut masih disiarkan akhbar mingguan itu dalam edisi terbaru minggu ini.
Ditanya perkembangan tersebut, Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar berkata: ''Tindakan Herald Catholic seolah-olah mencabar kedaulatan undang-undang negara.
''Perbuatan ini juga boleh menimbulkan konflik serta mencetuskan kemarahan umat Islam''.
Katanya, Herald Catholic selalu agresif dan bertindak seolah-olah apa yang mereka buat adalah betul.
''Kita ada banyak persatuan di negara ini dan jangan ingat kita sahaja ada hak dan orang lain tidak ada hak," katanya kepada pemberita selepas menghadiri majlis perhimpunan bulanan Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) di sini hari ini.
Hadir sama, Timbalan Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Chor Chee Heung, pemangku Ketua Setiausaha KDN, Datuk Raja Azhar Raja Abdul Manap dan Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Musa Hassan.
Sehubungan itu, Syed Hamid berkata, KDN akan menyiasat perbuatan tidak bertanggungjawab tersebut.
Katanya, akhbar tersebut perlu menghormati kesucian agama lain tanpa mencetuskan ketegangan dan konflik dalam masyarakat.
Menurut beliau, pihaknya cukup berlembut dalam hal itu dan menghormati agama lain.
Tambahnya, pihak berkenaan perlu menunggu keputusan mahkamah terlebih dahulu berhubung dengan penggunaan perkataan tersebut.
Pada Mei lalu, Mahkamah Tinggi memberi kebenaran kepada Ketua Paderi Kuala Lumpur untuk memohon semakan penghakiman terhadap keputusan KDN yang melarang penggunaan perkataan Allah dalam penerbitan akhbar itu.
Mahkamah Tinggi akan membuat keputusan terhadap permohonan Ketua Paderi itu Februari ini.
Syed Hamid berkata, adalah lebih baik perkara seperti itu tidak dilayan dan mereka yang terlibat juga perlu bertanggungjawab dengan perbuatan mereka.
''Kalau kita haramkan, dia kata kita tidak bagi kebebasan jadi kita benarkan mereka, kita harap dia ikut arahan dan undang-undang," katanya.
Sementara itu katanya, polis sudah menyerahkan kertas siasatan kes blog menghina Nabi Muhammad SAW kepada pejabat Peguam Negara.
Katanya, sekarang terpulang kepada Peguam Negara untuk menyemak dan membuat pendakwaan.
Tambahnya, dalam kepesatan alam siber hari ini amat sukar bagi pihak berkuasa membendung penyebaran maklumat daripada Internet kerana ia disalurkan oleh pembekal perkhidmatan dari luar.
2．Berita Harian Online (http://www.bharian.com.my)
(1)‘The Herald boleh didakwa’
Oleh Saufi Hamzah（sofeeham@bharian.com.my）
PUTRAJAYA: Akhbar The Herald - The Catholic Weekly boleh dikenakan tindakan undang-undang kerana masih berdegil menggunakan perkataan Allah dalam penerbitannya pada edisi minggu ini, kata Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
Katanya, tindakan itu boleh mencetuskan konflik dan kemarahan di kalangan kaum lain di negara ini.
Katanya, Kabinet sudah memutuskan untuk tidak membenarkan akhbar itu menggunakan perkataan Allah, malah sebelum ini wujud persefahaman supaya perkataan digunakan agama Islam tidak digunakan pihak lain.
“Kita tertakluk kepada undang-undang. Jika dia tidak mahu ikut, seharusnya dia tunggu keputusan mahkamah, dia nak bangkitkan pertembungan dan konflik. Seharusnya kita kena mengelak konflik dan jangan ingat kita saja yang berhak, orang lain tidak ada hak.
Saya akan rujuk kepada bahagian undang-undang kementerian. The Herald sepanjang masa ini terlalu agresif dalam cara mereka memberi reaksi kepada kita dan bertindak balas terhadap arahan, seolah-olah mereka bertindak mengikut cara mereka sendiri.
“Kita cukup menghormati agama lain. Tunggu saja keputusan mahkamah, itu keputusan kerajaan. Jika ada apa-apa terjadi, jangan salahkan kita jika kita haramkan, dia kata kita tak bagi dia kebebasan. Saya harap mereka akan mematuhi undang-undang dan peraturan,” katanya sidang media selepas menghadiri perhimpunan bulanan kementerian di sini, semalam. Hadir sama, Timbalannya, Datuk Chor Chee Heung; dan Ketua Setiausaha kementerian, Datuk Raja Azhar Raja Abdul Manap.
Beliau diminta mengulas laporan agensi berita asing mengenai kenyataan editor The Herald, Lawrence Andrew yang berkata, edisi akhbar berkenaan minggu ini menggunakan perkataan dilarang dan akan terus berbuat demikian sehingga mahkamah membuat keputusan berkaitan isu itu bulan depan.
Awal bulan ini, KDN menyambung permit The Herald selama setahun berkuat kuasa 1 Januari lalu.
Bagaimanapun, surat kelulusan yang ditandatangani Syed Hamid menetapkan tiga syarat perlu dipenuhi atau permit ditarik balik.
(2) 'Jangan cuba cetuskan kemarahan umat Islam'
KUALA LUMPUR: Akhbar The Herald - The Catholic Weekly digesa menghormati Perkara 11(4) Perlembagaan Persekutuan untuk tidak menggunakan perkataan Allah dalam edisi bahasa Malaysia terbitannya.
Sambil mengingatkan semua pihak jangan cuba mencetuskan kemarahan umat Islam di negara ini, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, berkata sebelum ini sudah wujud persefahaman supaya perkataan digunakan agama Islam tidak digunakan pihak lain.
"Perlembagaan itu jelas menyatakan agama lain tidak boleh disebarkan di kalangan Islam. Kita cukup menghormati agama yang dianuti kaum lain dan mereka juga harus menghormati agama Islam
"Kita tertakluk kepada undang-undang dan khuatir ada tujuan tersirat di sebalik tujuan akhbar Katolik itu.
"Kita juga khuatir penyebaran dakyah Kristian di kalangan orang Islam di negara ini," katanya selepas menghadiri majlis sambutan Maal Hijrah 1430 peringkat Wilayah Persekutuan di sini, semalam.
Pada majlis itu, bekas Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan, Tan Sri Abdul Kader Talip dan pensyarah Jabatan Fiqh dan Usul, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM), Prof Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi Abdul Majid dianugerahkan Tokoh Maal Hijrah 1430.
Masing-masing menerima hadiah wang tunai RM25,000, pingat dan sijil.
Ahmad Zahid berkata demikian mengulas kenyataan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok kelmarin yang merayu Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) membenarkan akhbar The Herald menggunakan tulisan Allah dalam edisi terbitan bahasa Malaysia sehingga mahkamah membuat keputusan.
Awal bulan ini, KDN menyambung permit The Herald setahun berkuat kuasa 1 Januari lalu. Surat kelulusan ditandatangani Syed Hamid menetapkan tiga syarat perlu dipenuhi atau permit ditarik balik.
Bagaimanapun, akhbar itu mencetuskan kontroversi apabila berdegil menggunakan perkataan Allah dalam edisi minggu lalu.
Dalam perkembangan lain, Ahmad Zahid berkata, elaun guru Kelas Fardu Ain (Kafa) di Wilayah Persekutuan dinaikkan daripada RM500 kepada RM1,000 sebulan mulai 1 Januari ini.
Tiga syarat itu ialah larangan menerbitkan edisi bahasa Melayu sehingga mahkamah membuat keputusan berhubung tuntutannya bagi mendapatkan deklarasi sesuai untuk penggunaan kalimah Allah.
Surat kelulusan itu turut menyatakan penjualan terhad dalam gereja dan mereka diwajibkan mencetak perkataan `terhad untuk penganut Kristian' pada muka depan akhbar berkenaan.
Beliau yang juga Pengerusi Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP) berkata, oleh kerana kutipan zakat MAIWP mencecah RM200 juta pada tahun ini, adalah wajar guru berkenaan mendapat kenaikan elaun.
3．Malaysiakini.com（http://www.malaysiakini.com）
Leave Allah alone for Christ's sake, appeals Dompok, 24 January 2009
by Joe Fernandez
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Bernard Dompok, who isn’t known for mincing his words, opines that the Herald has the right to use the word Allah in its Malay pages until the court rules otherwise.
The Herald is a Roman Catholic weekly with a circulation of 14,000 and publishes in Malay, English, Tamil and Chinese. About half the country’s estimated two million Christians, largely in Sabah and Sarawak, are Roman Catholics.
“It is not for the Home Ministry to pre-empt the decision of the court,” said Dompok, also the president of the United Pasok Momogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko), in Kota Kinabalu on a return visit for Chinese New Year. “I understand from the lawyers that the Herald should be allowed to publish as they published before, until the outcome in the court.”
Dompok was commenting on Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s warning in recent days that the Herald’s “(continued) show of defiance (against the Home Minister) could cause conflict and anger among other races in the country”. “If anything happens, then don’t put the blame on us,” continued Syed Hamid who has since “referred the matter to the ministry’s legal unit”.
“If we decide to ban the publication, they will get angry and accuse us of stifling freedom. If a religion decides to show its strength and numerous other actions, I think it’s verging on dangerous territory.”
Wisdom prevailed then
Muslim groups and PAS, the Islamic party, have so far remained silent on the matter. In Islam, according to some scholars, no one should be forbidden from using the word Allah, the chief of all the deities in pre-Islamic times until Prophet Muhammad re-affirmed that there was only Allah and, in the oneness of God, no other deity should be worshipped.
“This matter (Allah) could have come up during the time of Dr Mahathir (former prime minister) but it didn’t because wisdom prevailed,” added Dompok and suggested that Home Ministry officials were out of control despite their political masters having established “clear and correct guidelines in line with known precedents in Malaysia and elsewhere”.
If the question of “confusion among Muslims” is a problem, pointed out Dompok, the Herald is sold only at Roman Catholic churches and has also complied with the Home Ministry’s requirement that every copy of the newspaper be stamped with the Malay word Terhad” (limited edition or restricted).
Dompok deplored “the Home Ministry’s use of strong language against the Herald and its continued harassment of the newspaper” which he described as “needless and only creating further controversy” and asked the ministry’s officials to cease and desist on the matter.
“It was only after the recent Cabinet meeting, during which I brought up the matter, was the Herald given back the right to publish in Malay,” clarified Dompok on the Home Ministry’s initial condition, when renewing the weekly’s publishing permit for this year, that it must not publish in Malay until and unless the court rules on the use of the word Allah in Malay by Christians. “Lately, the Home Ministry has been harassing the Herald to such an extent that they had no choice but to go court on the matter and now we are awaiting the hearing.”
“The Home Ministry need not get worked up over this matter or become kelam kabut (disoriented and confused).”
Revisiting familiar territory, Dompok reiterated that the issue before the court is the historical use of the word Allah for God not only among Christians in the country but also among Christians in Indonesia and Arabic-speaking countries, among others.
Other factors in support of the continued use of the word Allah, as cited, include the question of “whose language is Malay”, the status of Malay as the national language, the historical use of language by the people in Borneo, the Rukun Negara (National Philosophy), the letter and spirit behind certain relevant provisions in the Federal Constitution, the rule of law against the arbitrary dictates of the Home Minister, human rights and the democratization of government.
“I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that some people in this country want to even disallow worship in Malay by religions other than Islam,” cried Dompok. “How can that be? Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) does not belong to the Malays – an umbrella term in Malaysia for various ethnic groups – alone. This is the language of all Malaysians. It’s your language and my language.”
“So, I feel if there is continued objection to us using the Malay language in worship, then perhaps it’s time for us to look for a new national language so that there would not be ‘confusion’ among Malaysians.”
Malay is the country’s national language, is the main medium of instruction, has a place in the Federal Constitution and is the lingua franca among the great majority of the Christian population as well.
Confused and weakened?
The Malay word Tuhan was used for God until the coming of Islam to Southeast Asia from India about 500 years ago when Allah crept into popular usage but even now is used interchangeably with Tuhan. Apparently, the Home Ministry has no problems with Christians using the word Tuhan for God when using the Malay language but this suggestion has been rejected outright by the faithful who want to defend their right to use the national language unhindered.
In Brunei, the Sultan is still referred to by one of his titles as Seri Begawan (Begawan being the Hindu term for God) and this is also reflected in the name of the capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan, formerly Brunei Town.
The Home Ministry ostensibly fears that since the al-Quran is almost wholly a re-affirmation of the Old Testament and the Bible, Muslims may “become confused and weakened in their faith” if Christians use the word Allah for God when praying, preaching, writing or speaking in the Malay language even if among themselves. Christian and other non-Muslim groups charge that “not enough credit is being to the Malays for their intelligence”.
Malays, as defined by the Federal Constitution, are not allowed by law to profess any other religion, besides Islam. Malays must also not be seen as “going against Islam”, and this factor alone has often sorely tested the faith of practicing Muslim members of the Judiciary in the past on matters involving faith and sowed widespread public dissatisfaction over court rulings especially on matters that brought the syariah (path of God or Islamic law) into conflict with civil law, secularism and the Federal Constitution.
4. New Straits Times Online (http://www.nst.com.my)
Syed Hamid warns the 'Herald' , 22 January 2009
PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry may take legal action against the Catholic weekly, Herald, over its continued use of the word "Allah" in this week's issue. Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar warned that the show of defiance could cause conflict and anger among other races in the country.
"We should abide by the law and the government's decision. The decision to ban the use of the word 'Allah' in its publication does not come from the ministry but from the cabinet.
"If anything happens, then don't put the blame on us. I will refer this matter to our legal unit."
The weekly's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, was quoted by AFP as saying on Tuesday that he intended to continue doing so until the court rules on the issue next month.
"We find this restriction on the use of 'Allah' unacceptable when we have been using it as a translation for the word 'God' for centuries in Malaysia," he was quoted as saying.
The government last month ordered a ban on the Herald's Malay edition until the court makes its decision, as part of conditions for it to be allowed to continue publishing in English, Chinese and Tamil.
Andrew had also said Munshi Abdullah, the father of modern Malay literature, translated the Bible into Malay in 1852 and he also translated the word "God" as "Allah".
"So, there is strong historical proof of what has been used for centuries.
Syed Hamid said all publications must abide by the law. "Even if it (Herald) does not want to, it should wait for the court to decide.
"To me, it seems that it purposely wants to create a collision or a conflict. It should remember the rights of other races, too. We respect other religions and cultures and we expect it to do the same thing."
Syed Hamid added that if the government decided to ban the weekly later, then it should not be blamed. "I just hope it will follow the law and government's instruction."
Sensitive religious issues must be avoided at all costs, he added.
"That is why I have avoided a debate on this subject but if one religion decides to show its strength, then this is dangerous.
"To me, it is best we sort it out in an environment that is not confrontational but with full understanding.
"The Herald has all the while been aggressive in the way it responds to us and reacts to our instructions as if they could act according to their own. It should remember that we are living in a society with all sorts of people, religions and cultures."
© Copyright 2009 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.
5.The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
Dompok: Let Herald use ‘Allah’ until courts decide, 24 January 2009
KOTA KINABALU: Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok is appealing to the Home Ministry to allow the Catholic newsletter Herald to continue using the word “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia edition until the courts decide.
He said the matter was now in court and the Home Ministry should allow the due process of the justice system instead of insisting the Herald stop using the word.
“I hope the Home Affairs Ministry will let it rest and let the courts decide. I feel everyone should be open minded when it comes to worship,” he said, adding that Bahasa Malaysia was a language of all Malaysians.
Dompok said the Herald was a small organisation with about 14,000 readers among the Catholics in a country with about two million Christians.
He added there was no need for the Home Ministry to rush into stopping the use of the word.
“The ministry is acting in a hurry, I think they are using a strong language,” Dompok told reporters after giving cash gifts to top performing students at SK St Theresa in Penampang here.
He said the Herald Bahasa Malaysia publication licence was only approved after he brought it up at a Cabinet meeting recently — but on condition that they should not use the word Allah in reference to God.
Dompok said the word Allah to refer to God among Christians in the Arab world and even in Indonesia was accepted as a universal term.
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