As Allah case resumes, Catholic Church hunkers down for long battle

A man flies a flag calling for Muslims to save ‘Allah’, outside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, August 22, 2013. 

(MMO) – The Catholic Church could decide to drop the case if it loses at the appellate court level, but Selvarajah voiced concern that such a move could pave the way for the government to extend enforcement beyond the confines of the court ruling.

The Catholic Church is ready for another long legal battle as the tussle over the use of the word “Allah” returns to the courts today.

This morning, the Court of Appeal will hear an application by Putrajaya to overturn a landmark High Court decision made in 2009 allowing Catholic newspaper, the Herald, to use the word in its Malay section.

Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew said the case will not be so quickly disposed of, going by past experience.

“We took almost a year to get the verdict in the High Court… this is not going to be the end of it tomorrow (today),” he told the Malay Mail Online when contacted.

“This is not a one-off thing. Both sides are going to put all their arguments forward, and this is a major issue,” he added.

The appellate court in August ruled in favour of allowing the government’s appeal against the 2009 High Court decision, which has been at the centre of frosty interfaith ties in the country over the last three years.

The ruling came about a month after the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur filed an application to strike out the appeal after the church’s patience finally ran out over the lack of progress on the government’s appeal, which was filed in January 2010.

The Catholic Church’s legal counsel, S. Selvarajah, said it would be left with two options should it lose the case at the Court of Appeal level; raise it at the Federal Court level, or drop it entirely and stop using the word “Allah” in the Herald.

“I can’t speak for the Church at this point of time, but these are the two options. If the court decides in the Church’s favour, they will certainly go for it,” he said referring to the government’s move to appeal against the High Court decision.

“The fact that they went this far at the Court of Appeal, means that they will go all the way to Federal Court if need be. They are determined that this will be settled once and for all.”

Conversely, the Catholic Church could decide to drop the case if it loses at the appellate court level, but Selvarajah voiced concern that such a move could pave the way for the government to extend enforcement beyond the confines of the court ruling.

Father Lawrence arrives for a court hearing at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, August 22, 2013.“This is a Herald issue, so therefore it simply means the Herald ceases to use the word and it doesn’t affect the Al-Kitab issue.

“Of course the government will interpret the decision broadly that the Herald cannot use the word for reasons of national security, so they may clamp down on others,” he said.

Aside from the Herald, there is still the issue of the use of the word Allah in Malay language bibles, otherwise known as the Al-Kitab — imported mostly from Indonesia — that Islamic authorities argue could be used to convert Muslims.

The Allah row erupted in 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit, prompting the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its Constitutional rights.

The 2009 High Court decision upholding the Catholic Church’s Constitutional right to use the word Allah shocked Muslims who considered the word can only refer to the Muslim God. It also led to Malaysia’s worst religious strife, with houses of worship throughout the country coming under attack.

Christians are Malaysia’s third-largest religious population at 2.6 million people, according to statistics from the 2010 census, behind Muslims and Buddhists.