[ad_1]
JOHOR BAHRU: The Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Iskandar, backed the federal government’s decision to appeal against a court’s decision to overturn a decades-old official ban and allow Christians in the country to use “Allah” to refer to God.
Last week, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Christians can use “Allah” in religious publications for educational purposes, repealing a ban dating back to 1986.
A judge ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, as Malaysia’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
But the government filed a challenge in the appeals court saying it was “not satisfied” with the ruling.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Thursday (March 18), the Sultan said: “I call on the federal government to continue the appeal in these proceedings. In fact, I will order the Johor Islamic Religious Council to take the necessary measures and provide support for the appeal effort. ”
“The name ‘Allah’ is given by Him, and it is not derived from any root, but from a special term that refers to Allah … the God worshiped by Muslims,” he wrote.
The Sultan, who is the head of Islam in Johor, said that Muslim sensibilities as well as the agreement of multi-racial and multi-religious life must be considered in any decision.
The ruler said he was saddened by the way the term “Allah” was used to refer to a god not worshiped by Muslims, as he feared it could provoke controversy and create a bad impression on the harmony among the people of Johor.
The sultan also cited a fatwa issued by the Johor state government in 2009, stating that the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims “is not allowed, not allowed or prohibited.”
“In Johor, we also have the Control and Restriction of the Development of Non-Muslim Religions Enactment of 1991 which prohibits the use of words that are reserved exclusively for Muslims and cannot be used by non-Muslims except in circumstances where it is allowed by law, “he said.
Malaysian authorities have long argued that allowing non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” could be confusing and entice Muslims to convert.
The case in question began 13 years ago when officials seized religious materials in the local Malay language from a Christian woman at the Kuala Lumpur airport that contained the word “Allah.”
The woman, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, subsequently requested a judicial review against the Minister of the Interior and the Malaysian government. He also sought official recognition of his constitutional rights to practice his religion and non-discrimination under the relevant articles of the country’s constitution.
The High Court ruled in 2014 that the Home Office erred in seizing the religious materials and ordered that they be returned to Ms Jill Ireland.
In 2015, the Court of Appeal returned the two constitutional issues to the High Court for hearing. The case was heard by the Superior Court in 2017, but the announcement of the decision was postponed several times until March 10.
