KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — Non-Muslims in Selangor are still barred from using the word Allah to refer to their Gods despite the latest federal government decision.
Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari today said the Attorney-General’s decision to drop its appeal in the case against Sarawakian Bumiputera Christian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill does not affect its existing state enactment restricting the use of Allah to a Muslim context.
“This administration will uphold the order announced by the Sultan as the Head of Islamic Religion in Selangor that the use of the word “Allah” in Selangor by non-Muslims is prohibited,” he said in a statement.
He said the state decision is in line with Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s decree on March 23, 2021.
He added that the state decision is also in accordance with the 2014 landmark Federal Court decision in the Catholic Church’s Herald case against the Home Ministry.
He said Selangor had gazetted a fatwa on February 18, 2010 on the matter.
“The Selangor government takes note of the Ministry of Home Affairs' explanation and the certificate regarding the state enactments related to this matter.
“The state government also expresses its commitment that the state’s rights and enactments, especially related to the use word ‘Allah’, which is under the Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment 1988 will continue to be defended.
“This means that the latest development on this matter will not affect or threaten the state government’s stand on the use of the word ‘Allah’,” Amirudin said.
He said the state respects and will uphold the religious interests and sensitivities to protect harmony and unity of all groups.
Last Monday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that his ministry had withdrawn the appeal against the High Court’s ruling that quashed a government ban on the use of the word Allah in all Christian publications in Malaysia.
The appeal was reportedly withdrawn through a notice of discontinuance filed on April 18 on the Home Ministry’s seizure of Jill Ireland’s eight educational compact discs that contained the word Allah at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in August 2007.
The word “Allah” is Arabic for God and had been adopted into the Malay language, and had been used for generations and hundreds of years by Malay-speaking Christians in the country — especially those living in Sabah and Sarawak — in the practice of their religion and professing of their faith.
