Churches turn to courts over use of ‘Allah’
TWO Malaysian church organisations have taken issue with the government over the use of the word 'Allah' – which means God in the Malay language – in Christian material.
The Sabah Evangelical Church of Borneo has sued the government for banning the import of Christian books containing the word 'Allah', while the publisher of Herald – The Catholic Weekly has filed a writ of summons and a statement of claim in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to seek appropriate declarations of the use of the word.
The Sabah Evangelical Church is alleging that the government's ban was unconstitutional and against freedom of religion, and is challenging the government for declaring that the word 'Allah' can only be used exclusively by Muslims, said the church's lawyer, Mr Lim Heng Seng.
In an affidavit, pastor Jerry Dusing said Customs officials in August confiscated three boxes of education material for children from a church member travelling through the Kuala Lumpur airport.
He was told later that the publications were banned because they contained the word 'Allah', which could raise confusion and controversy among Muslims. The Internal Security Ministry also told him the issue was sensitive and has been classified as a security issue, he said in the affidavit.
But the pastor said Christians in Sabah have used the word 'Allah' for generations when they worship in the Malay language, and the word appears in their Malay Bible.
'The Christian usage of 'Allah' predates Islam. 'Allah' is the name of God in the old Arabic Bible as well as in the modern Arabic Bible,' he said, adding that 'Allah' was widely used by Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Indonesia and other parts of the world without problem.
The publisher of Herald – The Catholic Weekly had filed its writ of summons after the organ of Malaysia's Roman Catholic Church was told to drop the word 'Allah' in its Malay-language section if it wanted to renew its publishing permit. In a statement released yesterday, it said the Internal Security Ministry had issued it with a series of directives to cease the use of the word in the weekly.
Government officials had said that 'Allah' referred only to the Muslim God and could be used only by Muslims.
'We have decided to have our legal position to use the word determined by the courts,' the publisher said in the statement.
The weekly's editor, Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew, said the writ was filed on Dec 5.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
