KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 – The High Court here fixed Monday afternoon to continue hearing the Catholic Church’s suit to use the word “Allah” in their publications after the case against the federal government went into overtime today.
The reason – the court, like many public institutions, operates from 9am to 5pm, Mondays to Fridays, and time had run out.
Judge Lau Bee Lan spent close to three hours in her chambers hearing lawyers representing 10 religious groups on why they should be allowed to enter the battle between the church and the state over the right to use the word “Allah” in a non-Muslim context.
The church is objecting to the groups’ bid to interfere because it sees it as a Catholic issue which does not concern the other religions.
Lawyer for the Terengganu and Perak Islamic Councils, Abdul Rahim Sinwan, disagreed.
He told The Malaysian Insider that the state Islamic councils fulfilled the “test” to join into the fray because they are have a duty to advise the state rulers on religious matters and also because they could sue and be sued for their actions, unlike the sultans who have legal immunity.
Abdul Rahim said the legal outcome concerned the welfare of “Muslim subjects”.
But, he pointed out, the main issue had been distorted.
“This is not a battle of Scriptures but pertaining to the the Printing Presses and Publications Act and whether or not the church has complied or infringed the Act,” the lawyer said.
“It should not be taken as a religious issue. It’s a printing decision pertaining to religion,” he added in retelling the Islamic councils arguments put forward in the judge’s chambers earlier.
“When the Home Ministry issues prohibitions in light of societal needs, it is not to cause confusion and disharmony on society,” Abdul Rahim stressed.
The Home Minister had previously issued letters threatening to withdraw the annual publishing licence for The Herald for printing the word “Allah” referring to God in the Christian context, effectively banning the only Catholic newspaper in Malaysia.
The closed door hearing started at 3pm, just after Friday prayers for Muslims, and continued until almost 6pm.
A total of seven state Islamic councils, which advise the sultans on religious matters are applying to intervene in the case, claiming the legal outcome may have serious consequences on the Muslim community in Malaysia.
They are joined by the Chinese Muslim Association and the Malaysian Gurdwara Council, representing the Sikh community who insist they must be included as they too use the word “Allah” in their worship.
While the Muslim and Sikh bodies managed to put forward their arguments to the judge, it was a little late to hear the submissions from lawyers acting for the church and the home minister.
On Monday, it will be the church’s turn and the federal counsel on behalf of the government to make their arguments.
The Catholic Church, which publishes The Herald, a weekly newspaper available in Bahasa Melayu, English, Mandarin and Tamil, is challenging the Home Minister’s right to ban it from printing the word “Allah” in a non-Muslim context.
In its application filed in February this year, the church claims the government has abused its authority and denied Catholics their constitutional right to freely practice their religion in Malaysia.
Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of The Herald, explained the word “Allah” is used to cater to the large population of Malay-speaking ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak, many who are Christian.
But the government insists that the Malaysian Muslim fraternity will be confused if non-Muslims are allowed to also use the word to refer to their God.
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