Malaysia Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
(1) Hishammuddin says regrets ‘Allah’ ban, 1 August 2010
by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today that his predecessor should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church.
The decision, he added, will continue to haunt his ministry “for a very long time.”
“In this ministry, it is a zero-sum game. We are [now] in an uncharted landscape which will haunt us for a very long time.
“We should have let the sleeping dogs lie. It was triggered by those that believed that the word ‘Allah’ should not be used in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said during the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit here.
Former home minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar had imposed the word ban on the Church’s newspaper, The Herald, two years ago.
Syed Hamid had temporary allowed the conditional use of the word “Allah”, only to rescind the government gazette later.
He had then cited fears that the use of word outside an Islamic context would cause confusion to Muslims.
Today, Hishammudin stressed that the Church appreciated the circumstances surrounding the ban.
“Church leaders understood fully that there are different levels of maturity and understanding in our constituents. The issue required wisdom and a decision but it is not as easy as you think.
“When you become a minister then you would find that it is difficult in finding a balance between the majority and minority,” he said.
The Catholic Church has since won a court ruling upholding its constitutional right to print the word “Allah” in its newspaper on December 31, 2009 but a government application to stay the ruling has dragged the case out longer.
The Court of Appeal has yet to indicate when it will move the case along. Several retired jurists said it cannot take very long, while one lawyer said it could take up to two years before the first hearing.
“We are looking at it and there is a court case and we are waiting for the outcome. There is [a] difference between acceptance and customs that have been used in the past in Sabah and Sarawak. The reaction from Muslims in the peninsular and Sabah and Sarawak will not be the same,” Hishammuddin said.
Supporters of the Church have argued that Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have used the word “Allah” for generations and it has become part of their cultural norms.
(2) MCA urges home ministry to quash ‘Allah’ ban, 2 August 2010
by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — MCA wants Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to use his authority to rescind the ban on the non-Muslims use of the word “Allah”, after the home minister admitted that the decision was regrettable.
The party’s public bureau deputy chairman, Loh Seng Kok, said that Barisan Nasional (BN) must stop the “Allah” ruling from further polarising the public.
“The remarks by [the] home minister... do suggest that the home minister is fully aware that forbidding ‘Allah’ [from being used by non-Muslims] has turned into a divisive national issue which can become an Achilles ’ heel against Barisan Nasional.
“MCA therefore urges Datuk Seri Hishamuddin to use all the authority vested in him as home minister to rescind the ban.
By doing so, the home minister will be respected as a Barisan Nasional leader who looks after rights and interests of all Malaysians, including protecting the Constitutional rights of minorities.
Moreover, by withdrawing the [prohibition], the home minister will be able to abate the issue which has already been politicised unnecessarily,” he said in a press statement.
Yesterday, Hishammuddin said his predecessor should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church and added that the decision will continue to haunt his ministry “for a very long time.”
“In this ministry, it is a zero-sum game. We are [now] in an uncharted landscape which will haunt us for a very long time.
“We should have let the sleeping dogs lie. It was triggered by those that believed that the word ‘Allah’ should not be used in Sabah and Sarawak,” Hishammuddin said during the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit.
Following Hishammuddin’s comments, Loh stressed that restriction does not only affect the Christians but also other religious communities.
“Making illegal, restricting or modifying the usage of the terminology does not affect only Christians, but it should be viewed from a Malaysian perspective as Sikhs and Hindus, too, will be denied their Constitutional right as there are references of ‘Allah’ in the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikh and Veda, the Scriptures of the of the Sikh and Hindu communities respectively.
“To only allow ‘Allah’ in East Malaysia reeks of one country, two systems which negates the fact that about 100,000 native Sarawak and Sabah Christians are now based on the Peninsular. Moreover, Christian Orang Aslis on the Peninsular also refer to God as Allah,” he said.
Former home minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar had imposed the word ban on the Church’s newspaper, The Herald, two years ago.
Syed Hamid had temporary allowed the conditional use of the word “Allah”, only to rescind the government gazette later.
He had then cited fears that the use of word outside an Islamic context would cause confusion to Muslims.
However, Loh said that the word “Allah” predates Islam and is used by Christians in Muslim majority countries.
“Malaysia would also make it to the world news for all the wrong reasons if Indonesian Christians and Middle Eastern tourists like Palestinian, Arab or Lebanese Christians who also refer to God as ‘Allah’ and are citizens of countries with a huge Muslim majority were to have any of their religious publications confiscated upon arrival at our airports or seaports,” he said.
Loh reiterated that MCA believes that that nobody can claim monopoly over the word “Allah” and added that “no confusion arises when one’s spiritual conviction is strong.”
He also urged the home ministry to allow Bahasa Malaysia-translated copies of the Bible to enter the country.
“Meanwhile, MCA urges the home minister to allow the importations of the Al-Kitab and other religious materials as issued in a letter by the then Ministry of Internal Security in 2005, so long as the printed materials contain the words ‘Christian publication’ and carry an image of the Cross,” he said.
The Catholic Church has won a court ruling upholding its constitutional right to print the word “Allah” in its newspaper on December 31, 2009 but a government application to stay the ruling has dragged the case out longer.
The Court of Appeal has yet to indicate when it will move the case along. Several retired jurists said it cannot take very long, while one lawyer said it could take up to two years before the first hearing.
(End)
