MIRI – The use of “Allah” is for all states, not just for Sarawak, based on the high court’s 2021 decision allowing a Sarawakian Christian woman to use the word for “God” in her education materials, state assemblyman and lawyer Baru Bian said today.
“The court ruling means the name Allah can be used by all, not just specifically in Sarawak.
“The decision by the government to withdraw its appeal is an acknowledgement of that,” the Ba’Kelalan assemblyman said today.
Baru, formerly with PKR, now secretary-general of the local opposition party, Parti Sarawak Bersatu, was responding to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s comments on the government’s withdrawal of its appeal against the high court’s decision.
Jill Ireland filed her suit 15 years ago after having eight CDs from Indonesia with the word Allah confiscated by customs officials at the airport in Kuala Lumpur in 2008.
She had sought a declaration that the Home Ministry’s 1986 directive banning non-Muslims from using the name Allah is unconstitutional and invalid.
Baru, in a statement on Facebook, noted that the high court’s judgement in 2021 made no distinction between Sarawak and other states in West Malaysia.
Then high court judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin had also found the ministry’s 1986 directive to be flawed and inconsistent with cabinet policy at the time, he added.
“By withdrawing the appeal, the attorney-general and the government are effectively accepting the judge’s decision in its entirety, thereby acknowledging that the 1986 directive is invalid.
“The home minister understands this,” Baru added, referring to Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s explanation of the withdrawal yesterday.
“In this instance, the home minister’s view is the legally correct position. The judgement of the high court applies throughout the whole of Malaysia.”
Other Sarawak leaders have also welcomed the government’s withdrawal of its appeal.
Sarawak United Peoples Party information chief Adam Yii told The Vibes that Sarawak had never banned the use of Allah, and allowed people to practice faith freely and equally.
“It was the federal government at that time (in 1986) that imposed the ban on non-Muslims using the name Allah.
“Now that at the national level, this ban is overruled and lifted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, it should serve as a positive step forward to reaffirm equality for all to practice their faith without government restriction,” Yii said.
Sarawak PKR vice-chairman Dr Teo Yu Keng had also said the Home Ministry’s ban should not have been imposed in the first place.
“This controversy should not have arisen in the first place since the constitution guarantees the freedom of all to practice their faith.” – The Vibes, May 17, 2023
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