Archbishop prays for ‘enlightened’ decision in ‘Allah’ appeal
(MM) – After meeting thousands of Catholics at a mammoth rally here, Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam offered today a prayer of “enlightenment” for the decision-makers in tomorrow’s highly-anticipated “Allah” case, a long drawn out dispute that has sullied religious ties between Christians and Muslims in Malaysia.
The Catholic Church head, when met on the sidelines of the country’s maiden Marian Rally at the Kelana Jaya stadium, would not expound further on his prayer but only said he hoped for a “wise” decision from the court.
“Pray for words and the courage for the ones concerned to make an enlightened judgement.
“We pray god will enlighten the people and give them the courage to make a wise decision,” he told The Malay Mail Online.
The Court of Appeal is expected to decide tomorrow on the protracted legal tussle between Catholic weekly The Herald and the Home Ministry over the use of “Allah”, the Arabic word that many Muslim groups here have insisted should be exclusive to those who practice Islam.
Should the church lose the appeal, it can still challenge the decision at the Federal Court – its final avenue before all attempts to fight the case are exhausted.
The tussle over “Allah” first erupted in 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit for its reference to God as “Allah”, prompting the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.
The Church has argued in court that the word predates Islam and that Christians’ right to use “Allah” in a non-Muslim context was affirmed by the government’s own 10-point solution issued in 2011.
The 2009 High Court decision upholding the Catholic Church’s constitutional right to use the word “Allah” had shocked many Muslims that consider the word to 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.
Today, more than 20,000 Catholics from all walks of life, locals and foreigners, filled the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya, the first of its kind in Malaysia, the Marian Rally of the Archdiocese of KL
There were no masses in churches today as this event brought all Churches of Archdiocese together.
The rally included a procession of the statue, the Rosary which was recited in 20 different languages, including Bahasa Malaysia and concluded with a Mass.
