PETALING JAYA: The Opposition bloc questions the government's decision to withdraw the appeal against the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court regarding the use of the word "Allah".
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said he felt "shocked and disappointed" at the government's decision to withdraw the appeal.
"Any trial decision can be appealed up to the Federal Court under the Constitution, and all parties must allow this legal process to proceed without interference.
"Let the highest court decide, and once all legal processes have been finished, we must respect the court's judgement," he said in a statement Wednesday (May 17).
Hamzah, who was the home minister in the Perikatan Nasional government that filed an appeal against the High Court's decision in 2021, said the Perikatan government respected the legal process and was consistent in maintaining the rule of law in Malaysia.
"The question is why suddenly this unity government does not want to allow the legislative and judicial process according to the Constitution to take place.
"Why was the process stopped and why did the Home Minister act without waiting for the Court of Appeal's decision first, when the issue of the use of the word 'Allah' is very sensitive," he said, adding that the decision was also made "quietly".
Hamzah pointed out that the Fatwa Committee of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI) had decided in 2018 that Allah is a special and sacred word and it cannot be used or equated with other religions.
Also, he said the decision of the Fatwa Committee was further strengthened by the order of the Sultan of Selangor, the Sultan of Johor and the Sultan of Kedah that the word Allah is the exclusive right of Muslims and completely prohibited its use in the Bible or the printing of any books and writings involving Christianity in any manner.
"It was even more confusing when the Prime Minister said that the High Court’s ruling regarding the use of the word 'Allah' by Christians is only applicable to Christians in Sarawak."
Hamzah also questioned if the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS), Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) and Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIK), as amicus curiae (friends of the court) in this case, were consulted.
"Were the Malay Rulers, who are heads of Islamic affairs in their states, consulted first before the decision was made?" he asked.
Saying that the unity government's decision to withdraw the appeal was "completely wrong and misguided", Hamzah added that it showed that the government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was not sensitive to the issue of the word 'Allah', even though the matter can threaten the harmony of the multi-ethnic and religious society in Malaysia.
On May 17, Anwar said the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling regarding the use of the word “Allah” by Christians is only applicable to Christians in Sarawak.
He said the word will not be allowed to be used in other states and this has been explained by the Home Ministry.
In Putrajaya, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the ministry’s move to withdraw the appeal against the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court regarding the use of the word "Allah", among others, was due to a contradiction found between a Home Ministry administrative order and a Cabinet decision made in 1986.
He said it was related to the confiscation of published materials at that time and not a theological issue involving the use of the words.
“The decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court was made using a civil and administrative legal approach, which is the issue related to the confiscation of publication materials at that time and not from a theological point of view or anything involving the use of the words.
“This is because the function of the court itself is not appropriate to decide matters related to religion specifically,” he said.
Saifuddin Nasution said the government’s decision not to proceed with the appeal was made on a case-by-case basis, without affecting the facts of each case that is currently in court.
He also said the ministry has refined and carefully examined the 2021 High Court decision and found that there was a contradiction in the administrative instructions which caused the decision to favour Jill Ireland.
Therefore, his ministry is studying and updating a more comprehensive administrative directive to deal with the issue of using the word in publications.
The appeal against the High Court's ruling was initially scheduled for case management on May 19, but would no longer be brought up in court as the government had dropped the appeal on April 18.
The move put an end to the 15-year-long legal saga, which began when the government seized a Sarawak bumiputra individual’s eight educational compact discs (CDs), which contained the word.
On March 10, 2021, the High Court ruled in favour of the Sarawakian Christian from the Melanau tribe, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, by granting three of the court orders which she had sought.
This included the High Court’s declaration that a government directive issued by the Home Ministry’s publication control division via a circular dated Dec 5, 1986 was "unlawful and unconstitutional”.
On March 12, 2021, the Malaysian government and the Home Minister filed an appeal against the High Court’s decision.
