SERDANG: Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that the government had withdrawn its appeal against a High Court decision which allowed the word “Allah”, among others, to be used by non-Muslims in publications for educational purposes.
“It is the position taken by the ministry and I needed to inform the Cabinet, which I did a few months ago,” he said.
Saifuddin, who was asked by reporters yesterday about the appeal, declined to comment further, saying more details would be revealed at a later date.
Responding to the decision, Federal Territories Syariah Lawyers Council president Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said the government needed to provide a full explanation on the matter.
“A clarification is needed on whether the Islamic Religious Councils of Selangor, Federal Territories and Kedah who appear as a amicus curiae (friend of the court) were consulted before this decision,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Earlier yesterday, it was reported that the government withdrew its appeal against the High Court decision.
The notice to withdraw the appeal was filed by the Attorney General’s Chambers on April 18.
According to Sinar Harian, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said the withdrawal notice had been recorded at the Court of Appeal.
The notice was filed in March 2021 after Justice Nor Bee Ariffin, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, ruled that a 1986 Home Ministry’s directive that prohibited the use of the words “Allah”,”Baitullah”,”Kaabah” and “solat” by non-Muslims was “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.
This follows the court’s decision to allow a judicial review by a Christian woman of Melanau descent, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, to exercise her constitutional rights of practising her religion.
The legal action by Jill Ireland took root in 2008 when eight CDs she had brought in from Indonesia were confiscated by Customs officers at the airport as they contained the word “Allah”.
Jill Ireland then filed for a judicial review to challenge the seizure of the CDs as well as seeking declarations from the court that her constitutional rights were violated, among others.
In 2014, the High Court ordered the Home Ministry to return the CDs to her but did not address the constitutional points because it was bound by a Federal Court ruling.
The order to return the CDs to Jill Ireland was upheld by the Court of Appeal the following year but she proceeded with her challenge on the Home Ministry’s directive that resulted in the forfeiture.
