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KUALA LUMPUR – The government should have seen through its appeal against the high court’s decision to allow a Sarawakian Christian use of the word “Allah” in religious education materials, former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
Muhyiddin, who was also former home minister in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, said he did not agree with requests from PH component DAP to have the case settled out of court.
“I did not agree with this request because it would mean that settling out of court would involve the Home Ministry having to withdraw the confiscation order of (educational) CDs containing the word ‘Allah’.
“The ministry’s position at the time was that this case must be decided by the court according to the legal process,” Muhyiddin said in a statement on Facebook.
The opposition politician, who now heads the Perikatan Nasional coalition, was reacting to the government’s decision to withdraw its appeal against the 2021 decision by the high court allowing Sarawakian Jill Ireland to use the word ‘Allah’ in Christian education materials.
The aforementioned CDs belonged to Ireland and were confiscated by customs officials at the airport here in May 2008, prompting her suit.
Muhyiddin said the previous government’s decision to challenge the high court’s ruling in the Court of Appeal was “common practice” by a dissatisfied party in a legal case.
It was also in keeping with decrees expressed at the time by the sultans of Johor and Selangor.
“I regret the PH-BN government’s decision to withdraw the appeal in this case involving the sensitivity of Muslims and the public interest. Ideally, this case should be decided according to the legal process in the court until it is finished before the government makes any policy decision about it.”
Yesterday, current home minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail explained that the Attorney-General’s Chambers withdrew its appeal because a government circular banning the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims was flawed.
The circular, issued by the Home Ministry in December 1986, was not in line with the cabinet’s policy decision earlier in the same year that attached conditions to the use of the word, such as stipulating that publications or materials concerned be stamped with the words “For Christians” on the cover.
The circular’s inconsistency with the cabinet’s policy decision was also a basis in the high court’s 2021 decision to allow Ireland the use of the word “Allah” in Christian education materials.
Saifuddin yesterday said the home ministry will review the circular and directives on “Allah” and three other words – “Kaabah”, “Baitullah” and “solat” – to make it (the directive) more “comprehensive”.
The government’s appeal withdrawal in this case has sparked criticism from various Muslim groups such as Malay rights coalition Pembela and an association of shariah lawyers in the Federal Territories.
Umno ministers are also expected to raise the matter during today’s cabinet meeting. – The Vibes, May 17, 2023
