'Keep calm,' urges Religious Affairs Minister over 'Allah' use

Datuk Dr.Mohd Na'im Mokhtar. -filepic

PETALING JAYA: Remain calm in reacting to the withdrawal of the appeal against the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court regarding the use of the word "Allah", says Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar.

"The public is advised to remain calm and to take a careful approach in reacting to this issue as it involved legal technicalities, and to avoid being influenced by sentiments that have no basis in order to preserve religious harmony," the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) said in a statement on Tuesday (May 16).

ALSO READ: Only Sarawak Christians allowed to use the word ‘Allah’, says PM

He added that the Home Ministry would take strong action and increase surveillance on any spread of non-Islamic beliefs within the Muslim community, as stipulated in the Federal Constitution.

"The Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) also takes note of the stance taken by the Home Ministry in respecting, acknowledging and accepting the states’ enactments and the decree by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Feb 7, which stated that the existing policies in regard to the use of the word ‘Allah’ be maintained.

"The ministry will always heed the decrees by the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar and the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah in protecting and preserving the sanctity of Islam, including the use of the word ‘Allah’," he said.

The appeal was initially scheduled for case management on May 19, but would no longer be brought up in court as the government had dropped the appeal on April 18.

ALSO READ: Decision to drop appeal over 'Allah' use due to administrative contradiction from 1986, says Saifuddin

The move would put an end to the 15-year-long legal saga, which began when the government seized a Sarawak bumiputra individual’s eight educational compact discs (CDs), which contained the word.

On March 10, 2021, the High Court ruled in favour of the Sarawakian Christian from the Melanau tribe, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, by granting three of the court orders which she had sought.

This included the High Court’s declaration that a government directive issued by the Home Ministry’s publication control’s division via a circular dated Dec 5, 1986 was "unlawful and unconstitutional”.

On March 12, 2021, the Malaysian government and the Home Minister filed an appeal against the High Court’s decision.