Advertisement

Resolve ‘Allah’ issue quickly, former AG urges Federal Court

Karpal a maverick lawyer, but always professional, says retired A-G Abu Talib

A retired attorney general wants Malaysia's Federal Court to convene quickly proceedings on the “Allah” row to bring finality to the matter and "prevent injustice to pass by."

Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman (pic) said the issue was of great public importance and the apex court should act now instead of watching events taking shape.

"It is amazing that the Federal Court is watching from the sidelines an issue of national interest. You cannot allow injustice to pass by.

"If not handled properly, it could lead to undermining the country’s political stability and unity of the people,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Abu Talib, who was AG between 1980 and 1993, said as such, the key to the current problem was a decision from the Federal Court.

He said this in reaction to events that have unfolded since last Thursday where a coalition of Malay-Muslim groups had said that they would gather at a church in Klang to deliver a memorandum protesting against the Christians' insistence on using the word “Allah”.

Herald editor Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew, who had earlier made a statement that churches in Selangor would continue to use the word, despite a Court of Appeal ruling and a decree by the Selangor sultan.

Last Thursday’s seizure of more than 300 copies of Bahasa Malaysia and Iban Bibles by the Selangor Religious Affairs Department (Jais) further strained ties between Muslims and Christians.

Abu Talib said the apex court should expedite hearing the case since there was no stay of the judgment of the Court of Appeal which set aside the High Court order.

He added that the Catholic Church had also filed its leave application to appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling.

"So why drag your feet to adjudicate a religious issue?"

On November 12, church lawyers had submitted 26 questions on the Federal Constitution, administrative law as well as the power of the court to allow the home minister to ban the use of a theological word.

However, the Federal Court registry has only fixed February 24 to hear the leave application.

Abu Talib, who is also a former Human Rights Commission chairman, said the issue had become muddier as it was allowed to be politicised because of a lack of firm leadership.

"We have politicians who said the word is banned in the peninsula but could be used in Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

Abu Talib said he was amazed over this since there was "only one Malaysia, one Constitution, one Islam and one Quran."

He said Putrajaya could also review its 10-point solution made in 2011 in the context of the Federal ruling.

Chief among them is that Bibles in Malay, Bahasa Indonesia and the indigenous languages of Sabah and Sarawak that contained the word could be used in all churches nationwide.

The tussle over the word "Allah" began in 2008 when the Herald was barred by the Home Ministry from using the Arabic word.

The Catholic Church had contested this in court and won a High Court decision in 2009, upholding its constitutional right to use the word in the weekly.

Putrajaya appealed and successfully overturned the earlier decision when the Court of Appeal ruled last October that "Allah was not integral to the Christian faith".

The appellate court had also affirmed that the home minister was right to ban the use of the word in the Herald to preserve national security and public order. Christians make up about 9% of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million.

Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book. – January 7, 2014.