Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
(1) Herald's 'Allah' issue likely to drag on till after GE, 24 February 2013
by Hafiz Yatim
If people are expecting finality over the ‘Allah' issue before the coming general election in the civil courts, they will be extremely disappointed.
This follows the government and Home Ministry's appeal over the Catholic weekly magazine Herald's case which is only coming up for case management at the Court of Appeal on Thursday after three years.
In Dec 31, 2009, Justice Lau Bee Lan in her landmark decision, ruled that the home ministry's blanket ban on the word Allah is illegal.
But the decision was stayed after a successful application by the Home Ministry.
With wide implications and repercussions attached to the appeal, few will be surprised if the matter is heard after the general election.
Further, besides the matter being heard at the Court of Appeal, the final decision on the matter will be decided by the Federal Court, the highest court in the land.
Sources indicate while the case is due to come up on Thursday, there is genuine concern that the case maybe prolonged further with the Home Ministry and government, which had lost the case at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2009, asking for a postponement.
Sources from the legal fraternity indicated the judicial review appeal is likely to be heard after the general election.
The feeling is should the superior courts make any rulings against the Herald and the Catholic Church prior to the general election, it may result in a severe negative reaction particularly from the voters of Sabah and Sarawak.
But then again, to rule in favour of the Herald, could upset Muslims.
Besides the Herald case, there are a handful of other cases which are similar and depended on this landmark case, like the Jill Ireland matter where the decision at the High Court is pending following Herald's decision.
Review slow to be heard
This delay has raised eyebrows as normally in such applications for review, a quick decision is made and the appeal process would normally be hurried up to the Federal Court within months or a year as was with the Perak constitutional crisis cases.
The Herald case was filed by the Catholic Church led by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam and Father Lawrence Andrew, filed a judicial review application on Feb 16, 2009, where they named the Home Ministry and the government as respondents.
They were seeking, among others, a declaration that the decision by the respondents on Jan 7, 2009, prohibiting him from using the word ‘Allah' in the Herald-The Catholic Weekly publication is illegal and that the word ‘Allah' is not exclusive to the religion of Islam.
On Dec 31, 2009, Justice Lau ruled that the home ministry's blanket ban on the word Allah is illegal.
In declaring the Home Minister's decision as "illegal, null and void", Lau said the Herald can use the word 'Allah' and that the term is not exclusive to Islam.
"Even though Islam is the federal religion, it does not empower the respondents to prohibit the use of the word," ruled Justice Lau.
The Herald has a publication of 14,000 copies and there are 850,000 Christian Catholics practitioners in 2009.
The Catholic weekly, which is printed in four languages, has been using the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its Malay-language section, but the government argued 'Allah' should be used only by Muslims.
The term 'Allah' is widely used among indigenous Christian tribes in Sabah and Sarawak, most of whom speak Bahasa Malaysia.
(2) 83pct of Malays believe 'Allah' term only for Muslims, 26 February 2013
A whopping 83 percent of Malays believe that the word ‘Allah' belongs absolutely to Muslims.
Only 10 percent of Malays believe that the word was not exclusively for Muslims.
The remaining respondents were unsure, or refused to give an answer.
This was based on a Merdeka Centre survey of 1,021 respondents between Jan 23 and Feb 6.
The same figure is reflected in a breakdown of the poll according to the category of Muslims.
However, 57 percent of Chinese and 34 percent of Indians disagreed that the word is exclusively for Muslims, while 20 percent of Chinese and 12 percent of Indians agreed that it is.
As a whole, 52 percent of non-Muslims say the word Allah should not be only for Muslims.
Lukewarm response to Bible burning
On Malay rights group Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali's call to seize and burn Bibles using the word Allah, 52 percent of Muslim respondents disagreed while 34 percent agreed (chart below).
Among non-Muslims, 63 percent disagreed with Ibrahim's call while 5 percent agreed. The survey has a margin of error of 3.07 percent.
On whether the federal government was doing enough to curb racial sentiments, 52 percent said it was insufficient while only 39 percent thought otherwise, with the remainder being unsure or refused to answer.
Along racial lines, 42 percent of Malays, 68 percent of Chinese and 58 percent of Indians thought the government wasn't doing enough to cool racial sentiments.
In contrast, 51 percent of Malay, 16 percent of Chinese and 40 percent of Indian are satisfied with the present efforts.
On whether racial rhetoric benefited BN, 42 percent of respondents answered "No", 36 percent answered "Yes" and 8 percent said "Maybe", while the rest did not give an opinion.
From a racial breakdown, 42 percent of Malays answered in the positive that race rhetoric was benefiting BN while another 35 percent disagreed.
In contrast, 54 percent of Chinese and 41 percent of Indians did not think racial rhetoric was benefiting the ruling coalition, while 22 percent of Chinese and 38 percent of Indians believe it to be true.
(3) The Herald's 'Allah' issue case adjourned to March 14, 1 March 2013
by Hafiz Yatim
The Court of Appeal has postponed the Catholic weekly The Herald‘s case on the Allah issue to March 14 for case management.
Lawyer Derek Fernandez told Malaysiakini it was done yesterday at the request of the Attorney-General's Chambers, which is appearing for the Home Ministry and government.
The case had been scheduled for case management yesterday, after more then three years of being confined to legal limbo.
This was the result of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Lau Bee Lan's landmark decision, declaring as illegal the Putrajaya's blanket ban on the use of the word 'Allah' in The Herald for its Bahasa Malaysia publication specially catering for the people in Sabah and Sarawak.
Justice Lau handed down her decision on the last day of 2009, and allowed the matter to remain status quo pending an appeal when attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail stepped into the fray.
In declaring the home minister's decision as "illegal, null and void", Justice Lau said The Herald can use the word 'Allah' and that the term is not exclusive to Islam.
"Even though Islam is the official religion, it does not empower the respondents to prohibit the use of the word," she ruled.
The case for adjournment
Malaysiakini had reported on Sunday that The Herald case could be heard after the general election despite the matter being fixed for case management.
The general feeling is should the superior courts rule against the magazine and the Catholic Church prior to the polls, it may spark severe negative reaction, particularly from the Sabah and Sarawak electorate.
An end to the judicial review application may eventually be decided by the Federal Court, the highest in the country.
The case was filed by the Catholic Church led by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam and Father Lawrence Andrew, on Feb 16, 2009, naming the Home Ministry and the government as respondents in the judicial review application.
They were seeking, among others, a declaration that the decision by the respondents on Jan 7, 2009, prohibiting the use of the word ‘Allah' in The Herald - the Catholic Weekly publication - is illegal and that the word ‘Allah' is not exclusive to the religion of Islam.
The weekly, published in four languages, has been using the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its Malay-language section, but the government argued 'Allah' should be used exclusively only by Muslims.
The term 'Allah' is widely used among indigenous Christian tribes in Sabah and Sarawak, most of whom speak Bahasa Malaysia.
(4) Gov't will defend use of 'Allah' word, says Najib, 5 March 2013
by Bernama
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said today the government would defend the use of the word ‘Allah’ in accordance with Syariah principles.
He said the Syariah principles encompassed five points - preserving and caring for religion, life, intellect, lineage and property - which were pursued by the government.
A study showed that Malaysia occupied a prominent place among Islamic countries in terms of compliance to and championing the objectives of Syariah principles, he said.
“In terms of religion, we defend the faith, the sanctity of Islam and the word ‘Allah’, as advocated by the Quran. We do not play politics in this matter, by agreeing with others in one instance and reversing the decision later.
“We are unwavering in the matter of the word ‘Allah’. The government of today will defend the use of the word,” he said at a gathering of Muslims, including Islamic scholars and leaders, at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur.
Also present at the event were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Mashitah Ibrahim and Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) director-general Othman Mustapha.
About 16,000 people attended the event, including the poor and needy, among them petty traders, taxi drivers and students getting ‘zakat’ aid from the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Council.
Najib also said that through the National Key Result Areas (NKRA), the government had given emphasis to reducing the crime index since 2009.
He said measures were taken to improve the quality of education, and this included the implementation of the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025.
On the aspect of moral decadence, he said the government focused on inculcating noble cultural values and countering free sex, incest and lesbianism, gay sex, bisexuality and transgenderism.
Najib also said that the government was determined to develop the national economy.
“Praise be to God, last year we achieved a growth rate of 5.6 percent, among the highest in the world, and we managed to consolidate Malaysia as the most successful Islamic financial hub in the world,” he said.
The prime minister also referred to the Arab Spring style street demonstrations and said that would only cause loss of lives and damage to property and was not suitable for Malaysia.
Countries which experienced such street demonstrations had yet to recover and some of them were in a condition worse than before, he said.
- Bernama
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