Leave Selangor if unhappy with sultan’s ‘Allah’ decree, critics told
The Malay Mail Online Mon, Nov 18, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Selangorians who dispute their state Ruler’s decree reserving the use of “Allah” for Muslims only, are free to move out, an Islamic academic has said as the religious row continues to gather speed.
Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi Abd Majid, who specialises in Islamic law at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), said that residents in the country’s most developed state are duty-bound to obey Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s recent reminder on “Allah”, pointing out that the Ruler is also the head of Islam in Selangor.
“What has been decreed by the sultan, we need to obey, there is no compromise if you are Muslim or [from other faiths].
“If there is any seed of rejection towards the decree, they need to go to other (states),” Mahmood Zuhdi was quoted as saying in Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, today.
The Selangor sultan renewed his decree last Thursday barring non-Muslims in the west-coast state from using the Arabic word for god, including in the Malay-language Christian bible, the Al-Kitab, and in the national Catholic weekly, Herald.
The reminder was issued after a discussion with the Selangor Royal Council earlier last week, where it was decided that Selangor citizens should abide by the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, which is enforceable regardless of one’s religion.
The 1988 state law, which was passed by the then Barisan Nasional government, prohibits non-Muslims from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faiths, including “Allah”, “Nabi” (prophet), “Injil” (gospel) and “Insya’Allah” (God willing).
The biggest bone of contention, however, has been over the word “Allah”, which Malaysian Christians and Sikhs say, also exist in their holy books to refer to the almighty, in citing their constitutional right to use the word.
But local Islamic authorities have argue that use of “Allah” in a non-Islamic context will confuse Malaysian Muslims, which has caused a court challenge by the Catholic Church against a Home Ministry prohibition to drag on over the last five years.
Muslim activist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia said on Saturday that failure to obey the sultan’s decree was tantamount to an act of treason, former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim disagreed as he pointed out the specific definition for “treason” is the leading of armed rebellion against the king or sultan.
Zaid added that Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s blanket ban on the use of “Allah” in the state may not apply to non-Muslims as Islamic laws or religious edicts are only legally binding on Muslims.
Zaid also questioned if a royal decree is considered a law and argued that even if this was the case, the order contravenes the Federal Constitution, which states that non-Muslims cannot be bound by any Islamic laws.
Today, The Malay Mail Online reported several lawyers as saying that Selangor residents are not legally bound by the sultan’s latest decree banning non-Muslims from using “Allah” in the state as the ruler’s powers in Islamic matters were ceremonial.
In his decree, the Selangor sultan had referred to the Court of Appeal’s October ruling, where the appellate court ruled that the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the Herald from referring to God as “Allah” was justified, finding that the use of the word was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith.
The ruling — which overturned an earlier High Court decision that the ban was unconstitutional — has since sparked confusion over the use of the word by Christians in their worship, especially with conflicting opinions within the government itself on how far the ruling would affect practising Christians.
