The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
Putrajaya to argue non-Muslims using Allah will lead to public disorder, 8 Septemeber 2013
by V. Anbalagan, Assistant News Editor
When the long-drawn battle on the right to use the word Allah returns to the courtroom on Tuesday, the Malaysian government will argue that there will be public disorder and unrest if the Court of Appeal allows non-Muslims to use the word.
Government affidavits sighted by The Malaysian Insider indicates that Putrajaya aims to rely on several arson attempts on churches and a sole incident when vandals tossed a pig’s head into a mosque to bolster their argument that there will be tension and trouble if the appeal court upholds a 2009 High Court ruling allowing the Catholic Church to use the word Allah.
This legal strategy of relying on sporadic incidents is likely to invite some cynicism because the government was criticised in 2009 for its lackadaisical approach to incendiary comments by groups that raised the temperature on the ground after the High Court decision.
On Tuesday, lawyers appearing for the government will also scrutinise High Court judge Lau Bee Lan's judgment, arguing that she erred in her ruling which allowed the Herald, the Catholic weekly, to use the word Allah in the Bahasa Malaysia section of the publication.
The Catholic Church is expected to rely on the 10-point solution offered by the government in 2011 to resolve a knot of outstanding issues involving Christians to counter Putrajaya’s case before the appeal court.
As part of the 10-point solution by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2011, the government conceded that the Bible in the Indonesian and Malay languages, which contains the word Allah, can be used, imported and printed in the country.
Lawyers representing the church will also stress that the 10-point solution was to resolve the on-going dispute about the use of the word. They will also argue that the word Allah predates Islam and Bahasa Malaysia speaking-Christians, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak, have been using the word for generations.
Lawyers for the Catholic Church are likely to provide evidence going back to the 16th century that the translated word for God is Allah.
The “Allah” row erupted in 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit for using using the word Allah when referring to God. This action prompted the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.
On December 31, 2009, in a landmark ruling, the High court allowed the church's judicial review application and lifted the home minister's ban on the use of the word in the Herald.
Among other things, the judge said that the church had a constitutional right to use the word Allah in its newspaper on grounds that religions other than Islam can be practised in peace and harmony.
The judge also found that although Islam is the religion of the Federation, it did not authorise the government to stop the church from using the word in its publication.
Lau said Article 10 of the Federal Constitution allowed the church to use the word Allah as it was exercising its freedom of speech and expression.
She added that the word Allah could be used because it was also a right under Article 11, where Christians had the right to manage their own religious affairs.
Terengganu, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Johor, Kedah and Selangor religious councils, and the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association have been included as parties in the appeal.
Their counsel will support Putrajaya's stand.
They will also put forward that the dispute over the use of the word should not be decided by the civil court as it was a religious matter.
Last month, the Catholic Church failed to strike out Putrajaya’s appeal against the High Court ruling. - September 8, 2013.
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