Penang not breaking any law by allowing non-Muslims use of ‘Allah’, Guan Eng insists

(Malay Mail Online) – Lim Guan Eng reaffirmed the Penang government’s stand today on the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims in the state, insisting that the state’s Islamic enactments only have legal jurisdiction over those professing Islam.

The Penang Chief Minister dismissed Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s claim that he has no power to permit non-Muslim use of the Arabic word for God, saying the Umno minister was either “misinformed” of the matter or was deliberately trying to distort the issue for political gain.

“This position that a fatwa does not apply to non-Muslims is not only human and morally right but also sanctioned by the Federal Constitution and even embodied by the Administration of the Religion of Islam(State of Penang) Enactment 2004,” Lim said in a statement here.

“Section 49(1) of the enactment states that a fatwa shall be binding on every Muslim in the state…, without mentioning non-Muslims, clearly restricting its application on Muslims,” he added.

Zahid, Lim said, should train his guns instead on Umno’s coalition partner MCA for suggesting that the Penang government repeal the state Islamic enactment to allow use of the word “Allah” by Christians.

He noted that by calling for the repeal, MCA was directly attempting to interfere in the administration of Islamic affairs.

Unlike the MCA, Lim continued, neither the DAP nor the Penang government have ever asked for such a repeal.

“Clearly Umno and MCA are playing a double-faced political game of attacking me for being anti-Islam whilst both Gerakan and MCA has even attacked me for being anti non-Muslim for doubling the annual budget’s allocation for Islamic affairs, as compared to the previous Barisan Nasional government,” he said.

He said Penang has also declared it respects the Federal Court’s decision on the use of “Allah” by Catholic weekly “The Herald” and has never questioned it, even if it may not agree with it.

“Ahmad Zahid should not try to twist the issue to one of the Penang Chief Minister’s interference of Islamic affairs when it is about stating that the there is no legal authority to apply fatwas on non-Muslims in Penang,” said Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general.

On Friday, Lim declared in Penang that non-Muslims in the state can continue to use “Allah” as the Islamic enactment banning use of the word can only be enforced on Muslims.

“Even if it mentions that non-Muslims can’t use these words, it is not enforceable because this enactment only applies on Muslims and is only enforceable on Muslims,” he said.

A list of 40 words, including Allah, Solat, Ulama, Soleh, Mufti, Iman, Surau and Nabi, were decreed as exclusive to Muslims by the Penang mufti and enforced in 2010 as provided under subsection 48(3) and (4) of the Administration of Religion of Islam (Penang) Enactment 2004.

Lim was responding to a statement by MCA’s Ti Lian Ker demanding Penang rescind the ban on the 40 words under the enactment.

Ti had reportedly asked why the Pakatan Rakyat led state did not remove the ban on non-Muslims to use the 40 words when it has 30 out of the 40 seats in the state legislative assembly.

The use of the word “Allah”, an Arabic word to refer to God, has become an issue of contention and disputes between the Muslims and Christians in the country.

The word is deemed by Malaysian Muslims as exclusive to Islam despite the the word being used by the Christian Bumiputeras communities in Sabah and Sarawak for decades.

Yesterday, Zahid said Lim had overstepped his boundaries on the matter as the Chief Minister has no power to make any decisions on the use of “Allah”.

The minister said instead that the matter falls under the purview of the Yang Dipertua Negeri who represents the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the head of Islam in the country.