PENAMPANG: Christians in Sabah should not worry about using the word “Allah” in their religious practices as the Federal Government has agreed to allow it.
Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said the word can also be used in any religious publication for the purpose of education in the community by writing “For the Use of Christians Only”.
Ewon, who is also Penampang MP, said this was discussed at length by the Federal Cabinet a few days ago. “I participated in the discussion and voiced my views and research on this issue.
SPONSORED CONTENT Firefly’s inaugural flight to Sandakan SANDAKAN: Firefly, the low-cost carrier subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines; made its inaugural flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan on Tuesday. Read more “The Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) opened the space for all the ministers to present their views and the decision is ‘status quo’. Christians from Sabah and Sarawak can use the word ‘Allah’ in their prayers and if it involves publication, it must be stamped with the words ‘For the Use of Christians Only’,” he said.
“That is the existing policy that we agreed to continue and the Cabinet decided that we respect Islam as the official religion of our country, but other religions are also freely practised in peace,” he said, after officiating a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of Yayasan Bank Rakyat to help schools at the SM St Micheal Penampang Hall. Yayasan Bank Rakyat provided aid to 60 schools, comprising 52 primary and eight secondary schools.
The assistance with cooperation of Ewon’s Ministry is to help underprivileged students of B40 and Asnaf group to enhance their academic performance. Also present were Yayasan Bank Rakyat Chairman Datuk Philip Benedict Lasimbang, Kapayan Assemblyman Jannie Lasimbang and other officials.
The word “Allah” was used in the Bibles of mainly protestant denominations throughout Sabah and Sarawak since the early 1900s, long before Malaysia even came about in 1963.
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