Hishammuddin regrets “Allah” ban

KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said that his predecessor should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church. The decision, he added, will continue to haunt his ministry “for a very long time.” “In this ministry, it is a zero-sum game.

We are [now] in an uncharted landscape which will haunt us for a very long time. “We should have let the sleeping dogs lie. It was triggered by those that believed that the word “Allah” should not be used in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said during the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit here. Former home minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar had imposed the word ban on the Church’s newspaper, the HERALD, two years ago.

Syed Hamid had temporary allowed the conditional use of the word “Allah”, only to rescind the government gazette later. He had then cited fears that the use of word outside an Islamic context would cause confusion to Muslims. Today, Hishammudin stressed that the Church appreciated the circumstances surrounding the ban.

The Catholic Church has since won a court ruling upholding its constitutional right to print the word “Allah” in its newspaper on December 31, 2009 but a government application to stay the ruling has dragged the case out longer. The Court of Appeal has yet to indicate when it will move the case along. Several retired jurists said it cannot take very long, while one lawyer said it could take up to two years before the first hearing.

“We are looking at it and there is a court case and we are waiting for the outcome. There is [a] difference between acceptance and customs that have been used in the past in Sabah and Sarawak. The reaction from Muslims in the peninsular and Sabah and Sarawak will not be the same,” Hishammuddin said. Supporters of the Church have argued that Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have used the word “Allah” for generations and it has become part of their cultural norms.

Article source:http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/Hishammuddin-regrets-%E2%80%9CAllah%E2%80%9D-ban-6147-2-1.html

Rescind the “Allah” ban – MCA Publicity Bureau to Home Minister

Press Statement by MCA Central Committee member Sdr Loh Seng Kok (Deputy Chairman of MCA Publicity Bureau)


The remarks by Home Minister Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin bin Tun Hussein Onn as reported in The Malaysian Insider (1 August 2010) that he “regrets the ‘Allah’ ban” and that “We (Home Ministry) are in an uncharted landscape which will haunt us for a very long time… We should have let the sleeping dogs lie” do suggest that the Home Minister is fully aware that forbidding “Allah” has turned into a divisive national issue which can become an Archilles Heel against Barisan Nasional.

MCA therefore urges Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin to use all the authority vested in him as Home Minister to rescind the ban. By doing so, the Home Minister will be respected as a Barisan Nasional leader who looks after rights and interests of all Malaysians, including protecting the Constitutional rights of minorities. Moreover, by withdrawing the prohibition, the Home Minister will be able to abate the issue which has already been politicized unnecessarily.

Making illegal, restricting or modifying the usage of the terminology does not affect only Christians, but it should be viewed from a Malaysian perspective as Sikhs and Hindus too will be denied their Constitutional right as there are references of “Allah” in the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikh and Veda, the Scriptures of the of the Sikh and Hindu communities respectively.

To only allow “Allah” in East Malaysia reeks of 1 country, 2 systems which negates the fact that about 100,000 native Sarawak and Sabah Christians are now based on the Peninsular. Moreover, Christian orang aslis on the Peninsular also refer to God as “Allah”.

Malaysia would also make it to the world news for all the wrong reasons if Indonesian Christians and Middle Eastern tourists like Palestinian, Arab or Lebanese Christians who also refer to God as “Allah” and are citizsens of countries with a huge Muslim majority were to have any of their religious publications confiscated upon arrival at our airports or seaports.

Considering that this Malaysian Insider article came under the “Most Read in last 24 hours” category and the responses that it generated disagree to the ban, this shows that this Constitutional matter which is subject to a few court cases attracts many netizens and will affect voting trends. Prohibiting “Allah” by non-Muslims has turned into a polarizing issue and must cease. MCA therefore, calls on the Home Ministry to retract the ban.

MCA therefore reiterates our position on “Allah”, i.e.

1) No confusion arises when one’s spiritual conviction is strong

2) Nobody can copyright “Allah” nor claim monopoly

3) Historical fact that “Allah” predates Islam

Meanwhile, MCA urges the Home Minister to allow the importations of the Al-Kitab and other religious materials as issued in a letter by the then Ministry of Internal Security in 2005, so long as the printed materials contain the words “Christian publication” and carry an image of the “cross (t).”

LOH SENG KOK
Member of MCA Central Committee,
Member of MCA Presidential Council,
Deputy Chairman of MCA Publicity Bureau

'Allah' issue: Repeal the ban, urges MCA

KUALA LUMPUR: The MCA is urging the Home Ministry to repeal the ban on the use of "Allah" by Christians to undo the damage done by the controversy, which some non-Malay Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders claim was the reason for the declining Chinese and Indian support.

Loh Seng Kok, the deputy chairman of MCA publicity bureau, said today Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein should repeal the ban since he is aware that it has turned into a divisive national issue, which can become an Archilles heel against the BN.

"MCA therefore urges the minister to use all the authority vested in him to rescind the ban," Loh said in a statement today.

"By doing so, he will be respected as a BN leader who looks after rights and interests of all Malaysians, including protecting the constitutional rights of minorities.

"Moreover, by withdrawing the prohibition, he will be able to defuse the controversy which has already been politicised unnecessarily," Loh said.

Hishammuddin said yesterday the ban on the use of "Allah", which he blamed on his predecessor Syed Hamid Albar, will haunt his ministry "for a very long time", adding that it should not have been prohibited.

Syed Hamid had imposed the ban on The Herald, the newspaper for the Catholic church, forbidding it to use "Allah" in its publication two years ago.

The ban was backed by hardline Islamic scholars who claimed the use of the word outside an Islamic context would cause confusion to Muslims. It subsequently spiralled out of control and became fodder for both sides of the political divide, leaving the nation split over the matter.

'Different levels of maturity'

However, Hishammuddin insisted that the Catholic Church now fully understands the rationale behind the ban, saying that it "understood fully that there are different levels of maturity and understanding in our constituents".

MCA, however, felt that the time has come for the ministry to rescind the ban, given the backdrop of a BN struggling to regain non-Malay support.

It also echoed the point raised by the opposition that the word "Allah" has been traditionally used by other religions.

"MCA therefore reiterates its position on the 'Allah' issue: no confusion will arise when one’s spiritual conviction is strong, and that nobody can copyright 'Allah' or claim monopoly or (dispute) the historical fact that 'Allah' predates Islam," said Loh.

“We also urge the home ministry to allow the importation of the Al-Kitab and other religious materials... so long as the printed materials contain the words 'Christian publication' and carry an image of the 'cross'," Loh said.

On Dec 31, 2009, the Catholic Church won a landmark court ruling upholding its constitutional right to print the word “Allah” in its newspaper but a government application to stay the ruling has prolonged the case.

The Court of Appeal has yet to indicate when it will get the case going.

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Article source:http://freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/barisan-nasional/8680-allah-issue-repeal-the-ban-urges-mca