Use of ‘Allah’ Sparks Legal Fight in Malaysia

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Nov 6, 2013

(Wall Street Journal) – “We do not want to run to the ministers every time they seize our books,” the Rev. Dusing said, adding he hopes for a court ruling that says, “This is our fundamental constitutional right” to have church materials contain “Allah.”

A church is seeking a court declaration that it can use religious materials that refer to the Christian God as “Allah”.

A protestant church in Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah is seeking a declaration from a court that it can buy and use Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia translations of the Bible and other religious materials that refer to the Christian God as “Allah,” saying it needs clarity after a court decision and conflicting comments by cabinet ministers.

“The declaration which we are seeking… [is] to once and for all put the matter out of question,” said the Rev. Jerry Dusing, the president of the 80-year-old Borneo Evangelical in Sabah.

The Rev. Dusing’s request isn’t academic.

On Oct. 25, customs officials temporarily stopped some 2,000 copies of a Catholic newspaper from being distributed in Sabah. The newspaper, the Herald, is at the center of a court battle being appealed to Federal Court, the nation’s top court. The court of appeals ruled on Oct. 14 that the Herald can’t use “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia editions to refer to the Christian God, saying the word is reserved to Muslims in the predominately Muslim country. The stopped Heralds in Sabah were released after the home ministry concluded they didn’t contain the word “Allah.”

The Herald ruling prompted government officials to weigh in on its expansiveness, including on whether it applies in Sabah, which is located on the island of Borneo and agreed to become part of present-day Malaysia in 1963.

“We do not want to run to the ministers every time they seize our books,” the Rev. Dusing said, adding he hopes for a court ruling that says, “This is our fundamental constitutional right” to have church materials contain “Allah.”