(1) The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
Church not allowed to use ‘Allah’ till court’s July 7 decision , 28 May 2009
By Debra Chong and Edward Cheah
KUALA LUMPUR — The Catholic Church failed in its bid to get permission to use the word “Allah” while its suit to overturn the government ban is still being heard in the High Court. Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew
The High Court here said the Catholic Church must wait until it decides conclusively on whether it is allowed to use “Allah” to refer to the Christian God.
“This means don’t use ‘Allah’ until the court decides,” said church lawyer S. Selvarajah.
Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew who edits the Catholic newspaper, The Herald, visibly drooped when he heard the news.
The editor-priest had seemed in high spirits earlier and was confident the High Court would allow the church to use the word “Allah” for the time being. He had smiled frequently while speaking with reporters earlier.
Judge Lau Bee Lan set July 7 for the next hearing after dismissing the church’s request to stay the government ban, lawyers for both the church and the state told reporters this afternoon.
The arguments were carried out in the judge’s chambers instead of in open court.
If the High Court allowed the church to use “Allah” in a non-Muslim context, it would be helping the church commit an offence under state laws, a lawyer for the government explained to The Malaysian Insider.
According to a lawyer representing several state Islamic religious councils, it is an offence for non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” to refer to any God other than the Muslim God.
Abdul Rahim Sinwan referred to the Control and Restriction of the Propagation of non-Islamic Religious Enactment that was passed into law by 10 states in 1988.
The states are: Selangor, Malacca, Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Pahang, Negri Sembilan, Johor and Perlis.
The Catholic Church is suing the Home minister to overturn the Home minister’s ban.
The lawsuit stems from the government’s assertion that “Allah” should strictly refer to the Muslim God in Malaysia. This is a view that the Catholic Church has been challenging.
The word “Allah”, the church argues, does not belong only to the Muslims.
The Herald is published in four languages, including the national language Bahasa Malaysia (BM), which caters to the indigenous Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak, who are mostly Christians.
Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam filed the suit on February 16 to get a declaration from the courts that the church has the right to use the word in print and in church services.
The Home ministry, which issues the annual printing permit for all publications, had warned the church to stop using the word.
Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, who headed the ministry then, claimed the church’s use of the word “Allah” in any literature published in BM would confuse Muslims, who make up the biggest religious group in the country.
This is the second consecutive year in which Archbishop Murphy Pakiam is suing the Home minister to settle the dispute over the use of the word “Allah”.
(2)The Straits Times (http://www.straitstimes.com)
Catholic church rebuffed, 28 May 2009
KUALA LUMPUR - THE Catholic Church on Thursday lost the latest round of a legal battle with Malaysian authorities over the use of the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its newspaper published here.
The Herald newspaper, circulated among the country's 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence last year for using the disputed word in its Malay-language edition.
The government argued that the word should be used only by Muslims, who dominate the population of multicultural Malaysia.
A legal tussle ensued and in February the government gazetted a law allowing the Herald to use 'Allah', only to rescind permission shortly afterwards.
On Thursday the church lost its bid for a temporary order to allow it to print the disputed word - which it says has been used by Catholics in Malaysia for centuries - until the issue is thrashed out in court once and for all.
'We had asked them to lift the ban so that we can use the word until the court decides. We are innocent until proven guilty, so why shouldn't we use it,' said the newspaper's editor Father Lawrence Andrew.
'But they have decided against the case, and to bring forward the hearing,' he said.
'The court is going to hear our case on July 7 so that's an opening in the dark tunnel,' he told AFP.
Around 60 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Muslim Malays.
The rest of the population includes indigenous tribes as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, variously practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others. -- AFP
(3) AL Jazeera (http://english.aljazeera.net)
Malaysia ban on 'Allah' upheld , 28 May 2009
The Catholic church in Malaysia has failed in a bid to suspend a government ban on the use of the word "Allah" in its weekly newsletter after the court rejected its application.
The high court ruling on Thursday effectively upheld the federal government's 2007 ban, which has become a symbol of religious tensions in the country.
The government directive bars non-Muslims from translating God as "Allah" in their literature, saying it would confuse Muslims in this plural, Muslim-majority country.
The Herald, which reports on Catholic community news in English, Malay, Tamil and Mandarin, tried to get the order suspended while waiting for a court decision on the ban's legality.
The court will hear the newspaper's original bid to review the administrative order on July 7.
Lawrence Andrew, a Catholic priest and the editor of The Herald, told Al Jazeera they had asked to suspend the ministerial directive until the court rules on whether the ban is legal.
"Since the status quo remains we will not use the word "Allah" in our publication. In fact we have not been using it since our January edition."
"We'll wait for July when the court will hear the parties and decide on the matter once and for all"
The government had previously warned The Herald, which has a circulation of 12,000 limited to Catholics, that its permit could be revoked if it continued to use the word "Allah" for God in its Malay-language section.
The section is read mostly by indigenous tribes across the country who converted to Christianity decades ago.
In 2007, the government issued a warning over The Herald's use of the word "Allah", which officials had said could only be used to refer to the Muslim God.
Christian groups say the ban is unconstitutional, arguing that the word "Allah" predates Islam.
Print publications in Malaysia require a permit which is renewed every year, and is subject to conditions set by the government.
In multi-racial Malaysia, the government considers religion a sensitive matter and often classify related matters as a security issue.
S Selvarajah, a lawyer for The Herald, told Al Jazeera the court said about 10 Malaysian states had similar prohibitions on non-Muslims' use of the word "Allah".
He said the judge explained that suspending the ban "would tantamount to the court aiding the infringement of those provisions".
"But it [the ruling] has no real prejudice as such because The Herald, in compliance with the ban, had stopped using the word since January," he said.
"We'll wait for July when the court will hear the parties and decide on the matter once and for all."
About 60 per cent of the country's 27 million people are Muslim Malays, with one-third of them ethnic Chinese and Indians, and many who are Christians.
The minorities have often said their constitutional right to practice their religion freely has come under threat from the Malay Muslim-dominated government.
The government has repeatedly denied any discrimination against the country's ethnic minorities.
Source:Al Jazeera and agencies
(4)The Christian Post (http://www.christianpost.com)
Malaysia Christians Still Banned from Using the Word 'Allah' , 1 June 2009
by Nathanael Ng (Christian Post Correspondent)
The Catholic Church in Malaysia has lost its latest bid to be permitted to use the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its newspaper while awaiting the court resolution on the issue.
Christians have challenged the ban imposed from courting ruling on February 26 revoking the earlier ruling on February 16 that allowed the Catholic Church publication, the Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in a non-Muslim context.
High Court judge Lau Bee Lan made the decision in her chambers on Thursday after hearing submissions from two counsels for the applicant, Archbishop Datuk Murphy Nicholas Xavier Pakiam, and two counsels for the respondent, the Home Ministry, according to Bernama, Malaysian National News Agency.
If the High Court allowed the church to use ‘Allah’ in a non-Muslim context, it would be helping the church to commit an offense under state laws, Senior Federal Counsel Andi Razalijaya A Dadi for the Home Ministry explained to reporters outside the chambers.
This means that the church’s weekly news publication, The Herald, is not to use the word until the court decides.
The Rev Father Lawrence Andrew, who edits the Catholic weekly, was visibly disheartened when he heard the news, The Malaysian Insider reported.
“We had asked them to lift the ban so that we can use the word until the court decides. We are innocent until proven guilty, so why shouldn’t we use it,” said Father Andrew to AFP.
“But they have decided against the case, and to bring forward the hearing,” he said.
“The court is going to hear our case on July 7 so that’s an opening in the dark tunnel.”
Under the Control and Restriction of the Propagation of non-Islamic Religious Enactment passed into law by ten states in 1988, it is an offence for non-Muslims to use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to any God other than the Muslim God.
The Catholic Church is suing the Home Minister to overturn the Home Ministry’s ban, contending that the word does not belong to Muslims alone.
Moreover, the church has been quick to point out, Catholics in Malaysia have been using the word for centuries. Published in four languages, The Herald serves indigenous Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak, who are mostly Christians and use ‘Allah’ as a translation for God.
Pakiam, who is the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, filed a suit on February 16 to get a declaration from the courts that the church has the right to use the word in print and in church services – the second consecutive year in which he had sued the Home Minister to settle the dispute over the word.
This was after the church received a warning from the Home Ministry, which issues the annual printing permit for all publications, to stop using the word, according to The Malaysian Insider.
A legal tussle ensued and in February the government gazetted a law allowing The Herald to use ‘Allah’, only to rescind it shortly after.
The Home Minister then claimed the church’s use of the word in any literature published in BM would confuse the Muslims, who comprise the biggest religious group in the country. Around 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people are Muslim Malays. The rest of the population includes indigenous tribes as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, variously practicing Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.
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