Muslim lawyers: Dire action if Bar Council favours Church in ‘Allah’ appeal

(MM) – Leaders in the Malaysian Bar risk certain “action” if they decide to side with the Church and back its court appeal for Christians to call their god “Allah”, a Muslim law group warned today.

Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, president of the Muslim Lawyers’ Association, cautioned the Bar Council against taking a partisan stand in the spat that is deepening a gulf in multireligious Malaysia.

He reminded the Bar Council that the majority of its members were Muslims, and stressed that the views of a “few scattered Muslim members” in support of the Church did not represent the sentiments of its mainstream that number in the “thousands”.

“The Muslim Lawyers Association, whose considerable members are also members of the Malaysian Bar, wholeheartedly supports the decision of the Court of Appeal.

“Our Association strongly oppose [sic] any partisan action by the Bar Council over the issue,” he said in a statement.

Several members in the Bar Council, which is the executive body of the Malaysian Bar, were this week reported to have voiced their support for the Church to appeal against a recent appellate court ruling overturning a 2009 landmark High Court’s decision that the Arabic word for god was not exclusive to Islam.

“The Muslim Lawyers Association awares [sic] that the Bar Council has repeatedly taking steps or stands contradictory with the Muslim beliefs and would not hesitate to take further action if the Bar Council continues with the same attitude,” Zainul said, without elaborating on what the repercussions.

Constitutional law expert Shahredzan Johan was reported by The Sun newspaper to have lauded the Sabah Lawyers Association’s purported support of the Church on October 30, and highlighted that its counterpart in Sarawak were considering announcing the same.

The bulk of Christians in Malaysia are Malay-speaking and hail from the two Borneo states.

Syahredzan’s colleague in the Bar Council, Andrew Khoo, was also reported saying the Council were considering applying to intervene in the Church’s appeal if it went to the Federal Court, but added that no decision had been made.

The Malaysian Bar last month criticised the Court of Appeal’s “Allah” ruling, pointing out that it is unreasonable to deny a fundamental liberty on the basis that some persons would be confused, and reinforces the notion that the use or threat of violence would win the day in court.

In a strongly worded statement on October 16, the Bar added that there was no basis for the court finding that the word “Allah” was not an integral part of the Christian faith, especially since the conclusion was made as a result of “a quick research” on the Internet.

“It is for a party asserting exclusive rights to the use of the word ‘Allah’ to establish that they have such exclusive rights, rather than for others to have to establish that the use of the word is integral to their faith.

On October 14, the Court of Appeal ruled against a High Court decision allowing the Catholic Church to refer to the Christian god using the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its newspaper, the Herald.

The court adjudged the usage of the word “Allah” as not integral to the Christian faith and said that allowing such an application would cause confusion in the Muslim community.

The Catholic Church has said it would appeal the decision.