KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 – Sarawakian Christian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill will get her chance next month to grill two local scholars who are dead-set against the use of the word “Allah” to also refer to God outside Islam.
Senior High Court assistant registrar Akhiruddin @ Boy Acho agreed to her application today and set hearing for Aug 9.
“My client wants to cross-examine the so-called Islamic experts who have filed affidavits to show ‘Allah’ is exclusive to Islam,” Jill’s lawyer Annou Xavier told The Malaysian Insider today.
Annou said the experts from the national Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) and Universiti Malaysia’s Department of Aqidah and Islamic Thinking (Apium) were supporting the home ministry’s insistence to limit the use of the word “Allah” to within a Muslim context.
Jill, a member of the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church, is suing the home ministry for confiscating her personal collection of CDs at the airport two years ago, simply because they bore the word “Allah”.
The 29-year-old clerk wants the CDs — titled: “Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah”, “Cara Menggunakan Kunci Kerajaan Allah”, “Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah” and “Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah” — returned.
Jill, who had bought the Christian CDs while on a trip to Indonesia — where 90 per cent of the population is Muslims — in May 2008, disputes the home ministry’s claim.
In a letter dated July 7, 2008, the home ministry told Jill the CDs were a threat to national security, adding she had breached a guideline on banned words for non-Muslims drawn up by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) under Section 9(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act.
The ethnic Melanau also wants the High Court to declare she has a constitutional right to use the word “Allah” and to be allowed to own and bring in more such religious materials in future.
While a court precedent had been set following the High Court ruling last year in favour of the Catholic Catholic publishing the word “Allah” in its newspaper, the judgment does not extend to individual use or private ownership of materials containing the word.
And despite the High Court ruling, the Herald weekly remains unable to publish the word pending the home ministry’s appeal.
