Thirty-seven years ago, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a directive in December 1986 on the prohibition of the use of four specific words, including the word Allah, by non-Muslims.
Unfortunately, the issue is still a political hot potato that is being bounced around without an acceptable and reasonable resolution.
After going to and fro, through the High Court and Court of Appeal, for over a decade, Justice Nor Bee Ariffin declared in her 2021 judgment that the December 1986 directive that banned the use of these words was “illegal and unconstitutional”.
The judge ruled that the directive was invalid as the home minister had acted illegally and beyond the limits of his powers under the relevant law. She also pointed out the inconsistency between the directive and the cabinet’s policy decision back then on the matter.
This judgment had reiterated some important constitutional principles that were conveniently overlooked for whatever reason. One of the important principles put forward in this judgment was that religious freedom in Malaysia is absolutely protected under the Federal Constitution and cannot be curtailed by laws, even during an emergency or under the pretext of a threat to public order.
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This right to religious freedom includes the right to profess, practise and manage one’s own religious affairs, which includes having access to religious materials for religious education in Malay or any other Bornean language.
The judge also pointed out that the government did not put forward any evidence that the Christians’ use of the word Allah had caused confusion or misunderstanding that disrupted public order.
The Malaysian government in 2021 applied to appeal against this judgment. But in April 2023 it decided to withdraw its appeal. Hence, the present cacophony over the Allah issue!
The decision has reduced anxiety and uplifted the spirits of many, especially East Malaysian Christians, but it has raised the temperature among others.
While the High Court ruling focused on just constitutional and legal issues, many other factors come into play in the court of public opinion, often not limited to purely theological considerations. In fact, it has yet again been hijacked by some irresponsible quarters to push whatever agendas they may have, ranging from spouting religious superiority to the toppling of political rivals.
While discussing this issue with some friends in a Subang Jaya interfaith council, I wondered if this was simply a language issue or a theological issue regarding one’s concept of God. It seems like, while most people who believe in God or religion would agree that there is only one Almighty Creator, how that one Creator is perceived and understood differs, even among people of the same religion sometimes.
So, the argument seems to be that the Muslim perception or concept of the Almighty Creator is very different from the Christian concept of the Creator. Therefore, it follows that Allah can only be used for the Muslim concept of the Almighty Creator. Am I making sense?
But then, it also made me wonder if the Muslim concept of the Almighty Creator is different from that of the Middle Eastern and other Muslim-majority countries as they have no issue with Christians using the word Allah there.
The Johor and Selangor state anthems have the word Allah in it. I used to sing the Johor state anthem almost every week for 13 years! So, what now? Non-Muslims from Johor and Selangor cannot sing the state anthem?! Or it is permissible since “Allah” there refers to the Muslim God?
However, there seems to be no consensus even among Muslim professors and religious scholars in Malaysia about this. While one says the word Allah can be used by non-Muslims as long as it is used with reverence, another says it belongs only to Muslims and even questions the need for Christians to pray in the Malay language!
Some Muslims insist that the correct Malay translation for the ‘Christian God’ should be Tuhan. It may surprise many that over 60% of Malaysian Christians have worshiped in Malay or Bornean languages that refer to God as Allah Taala or Tuhan Allah since centuries ago!
I don’t use “Allah” normally in my worship, but I can understand the pain of other Christians who have used it for years, since they were children, if they are now told they cannot use the word.
It is truly bewildering that while Islam and Christianity are said to be monotheistic religions that emanate from the same Creator, here in Malaysia, some fight over what to call that same Creator.
There seems to be so much fear of converting and confusing Muslims here, which I find totally absurd and insulting to Muslims themselves, especially when the Federal Constitution itself has taken away the rights of non-Muslims to propagate their faith among Muslims.
Do you know of any Muslim who got confused and converted to Christianity because of the terminology common to both religions?
However, what really irritates me about this whole issue is how politicians have muddied the waters even more lately. I was absolutely disappointed to read reports that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said, “There is no need to kick up a fuss over the issue involving the use of the word Allah, as the policy will not change…. The policy was decided by the Conference of Rulers and muftis many years ago…. That is the policy, whereby the word Allah cannot be used by non-Muslims, including in their holy books.”
He also said the court judgment only applies to Sabah and Sarawak and that “only non-Muslims in the peninsula were prohibited from using ‘Allah’…”.
I truly hope he was misquoted! Is the prime minister aware there is a large, vibrant and visible East Malaysian Christian community living and praying in the peninsula?
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail insists the legal dispute was not about who gets the exclusive right to use the word Allah but was centred on the administrative directive which contradicted the cabinet policy decision back then.
So, was this the work of some little Napoleon or deep state actors in the Ministry of Home Affairs – or was it sheer administrative incompetence? Whatever the case, the consequence of this was the discrimination against and the curtailment of the rights of at least one person, Jill Ireland, to profess and practise her Christian faith [until the court judgment] – not to mention the lingering murkiness and lack of clarity about whether Muslims have the monopoly over the word Allah in Malaysia.
Anyway, how long does it take to review and streamline conflicting administrative directives? Why didn’t the previous Mahiaddin Yasin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob administrations sort it out immediately after it was pointed out by Justice Nor Bee Ariffin?
It is so disingenuous of politicians from the previous administration to now feign indignation! And when they equate withdrawal of the appeal with judicial interference, it becomes incomprehensible and devious! Maybe they are sure another judge would give a totally opposite verdict?
So it is heartening to hear Azalina Othman Said, the de facto law minister, say that Umno will continue to defend Islam as the official religion of the federation while respecting the rights of non-Muslims to practise other religions, as outlined in the Federal Constitution.
They say the true measure of a democracy is how well it protects and respects the equal rights of its minorities. This is not a zero-sum game, surely?!
The PM said the cabinet will give deference to the relevant state enactments and the Agong’s decree calling for the existing policy on the use of the word Allah to be maintained, the religion of Islam being a state matter according to the Federal Constitution.
But the cabinet will also submit its recommendations on the matter. While they are at it, I hope the relevant authorities will also diligently examine the related state enactments to ensure that these do not contravene the important rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land.
These include state enactments which have a long list of words that non-Muslims are prohibited from using, including some commonly used words like nabi (prophet), dakwah (preaching) and haj (pilgrimage). Malaysians look up to our constitutional monarch and Malay rulers for wisdom and direction on this issue as well.
And so, we wait in hopeful anticipation for a reasonable, acceptable resolution to the “Allah” issue, no matter if it is a case of being lost in translation, theological conundrum, administrative incompetence or constitutional contravention.
I truly hope Malay-speaking Christians will not be relegated to being mere spectators watching from the sidelines in this whole saga that affects them to the core of their being.
So instead of quarrelling over whose is the ‘real God’ and what we can call the ‘real God’ and even questioning the intentions of non-Muslims who use the word Allah, let us show mutual respect and try to walk in the shoes of the other.
I pray that, as proposed by Wilfred Madius Tangau, this whole episode will provide an opportunity for national reconciliation that will strengthen unity in our multi-religious society in Malaysia. Amen/Amin?
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
What troubles me is the presumptuousness of people such as we see around us who would usurp not only the property of others but claim proprietary rights over the lexicon. Here you have one of the great religions of the world; its light has shone over the centuries without laying claim to any words or attempting to regulate anyone but its adherents. Comes now, those distanced by time and space from that great religion, who through sheer ignorance of everything including their belief, claim they are protecting that great religion by denying others the use of certain words. A law must be passed. Not to curb the use of words but to educate those who would bear the mantle of religion to the true tenets of that religion.
Hear! Hear! Touché!