Malaysia Insider（http://www.themalaysianinsider.com）
Christian wants Syed Hamid in court over ‘Allah’ row, 9 August 2010
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Sarawakian Christian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill has applied to put the former home minister, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar Syed Jaafar, in the witness box for his role in the “Allah” ban — but will have to wait till after Aidilfitri to know the answer.
Her bid has been fixed to be mentioned in front of High Court assistant registrar Halilah Suboh on October 11, Jill’s lawyer, Annou Xavier told reporters here today.
Xavier added that the case had earlier been set for hearing today before judge Datuk Zawawi Salleh, but was suddenly called off.
“Today was actually fixed for hearing but became a mention. I don’t know why,” Xavier replied when quizzed on the last-minute change.
The lawyer had last week applied to summon the former minister whose controversial decision two years ago barring Christians from using the word “Allah” for God outside the Islamic context has earned him brickbats and put Malaysia in a tight spot globally over its religious attitude.
“The reason why we want to cross-examine Syed Hamid is because in 1986, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir issued a letter, a government circular stating we cannot use a few words including ‘Allah’,” Xavier explained.
He was referring to the Syed Hamid’s recent sworn statement, which highlighted an old government order dated December 5, 1986 listing 12 previously disputed words which Christians could not use and another four completely barred words, which includes “Allah” a word of Middle-Eastern origin meaning God.
“Jill Ireland wants to know how a word can cause confusion and how it is a threat to national security all of a sudden when it has been used for 400 years [without stirring trouble],” Xavier added.
Syed Hamid also said, in his affidavit, the reasons for the prohibition were to “prevent any misunderstanding between followers of Islam and Christians that could threaten security and public order as well as raise religious sensitivities among Malaysians”.
The Umno MP for Kota Tinggi noted that the order was still in effect because it had never been rescinded.
However, he made no mention of a government gazette he had signed last year allowing the conditional use of “Allah”, which he had retracted shortly after following an outcry among several Muslim rights groups, including Perkasa.
Jill, a member of the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church, is suing the home ministry for confiscating her personal collection of CDs at the airport two years ago, simply because they bore the word “Allah”.
The 29-year-old clerk wants the CDs — titled: “Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah”, “Cara Menggunakan Kunci Kerajaan Allah”, “Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah” and “Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah” — returned.
Jill, who had bought the Christian CDs while on a trip to Indonesia — where 90 per cent of the population is Muslims — in May 2008, disputes the home ministry’s claim.
Her lawyer also filed an application to summon Royal Malaysian Customs Department officer Suzanah Muin, who had seized the CDs, to testify in court.
In a letter dated July 7, 2008, the home ministry told Jill the CDs were a threat to national security, adding she had breached a guideline on banned words for non-Muslims drawn up by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) under Section 9(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act.
The ethnic Melanau also wants the High Court to declare she has a constitutional right to use the word “Allah” and to be allowed to own and bring in more such religious materials in future.
While a court precedent had been set following the High Court ruling last year in favour of the Catholic Catholic publishing the word “Allah” in its newspaper, the judgment does not extend to individual use or private ownership of materials containing the word.
And despite the High Court ruling, The Herald weekly remains unable to publish the word pending the home ministry’s appeal.
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