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PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Council of Churches has rejected a proposal for dialogue between Muslim and Christian scholars to resolve the controversy surrounding the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims.
In a statement, the president of the council, Archbishop Meltar Jiki Tais, said that the proposal, which was discussed today by Interior Minister Hamzah Zainudin, was “inappropriate” as the government was already appealing the recent court decision. Higher.
On March 10, Superior Court Judge Nor Bee Ariffin ruled that a directive from the Ministry of the Interior of December 5, 1986 to prohibit the use of the words “Allah”, “Baitullah”, “Solat” and “Kaabah” by part of non-Muslims was illegal and unconstitutional. .
The judge said the directive was wrongly issued because it went beyond the objectives of the Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984.
On Monday, the government filed an appeal against the High Court decision that Christians were now not subject to the 1986 directive and therefore were not prohibited from using the word “Allah” in their religious education and books. .
“With great caution, given that the matter is now before the Court of Appeal, we believe that it is highly inappropriate for the matter to be resolved through a dialogue initiated by the Ministry of the Interior, which is now one of the appellants. “
He went on to say that the Christian community in Malaysia, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak, are and have always been willing to live in “peace, harmony and mutual respect with the communities of other faiths.”
In his opinion, Nor Bee said that the then government of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 1986 had allowed Christians to use four words, including Allah, in their publications on the condition that “Only for Christians” was indicated on the cover of such. materials.
The cabinet made the political decision in May 1986, but in December 1986, an official from the Ministry of the Interior, on behalf of the secretary general, issued a directive for all Christian publications to the effect that the four words were totally prohibited.
