‘Allah’ issue as state election fodder? Saifuddin Nasution asks critics to back up claims with facts

PUTRAJAYA, May 18 — Politicians seeking to take advantage of the government’s withdrawal of the appeal against the High Court ruling quashing a ban on Christian publications using “Allah” should corroborate their claims with facts, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said today.

With six state elections slated for July and under fire from the Islamic fundamentalist led-Opposition, detractors have begun painting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration as “anti-Islam”.

“I wish not to comment. My job is to provide the facts (of the case).

“I urge politicians to take responsibility for this issue. This is an emotive issue. They all know that, but while they dwell on it for politics’ sake, it must be backed up by proven facts,” he told reporters here.

Today, Saifuddin Nasution again reiterated that the issue stemmed from two contradictory government directives, where a Cabinet’s May 1986 policy decision did not impose a “total ban” on the four words including “Allah”, while a December 1986 administrative order by the Home Ministry had imposed a complete ban on the four words.

Saifuddin Nasution further noted about the High Court decision is that the judge did not go into issues of theology or any religious debate in Jill Ireland’s case.

“The fact remains that the court never decided on the theological aspect, it is truly on the conflicting directive.

“The Cabinet’s 1986 decision was never disputed as there were no documents to prove otherwise that the words cannot be used,” he said.

Moving forward, Saifuddin Nasution said the matter needed to be resolve comprehensively, with the federal government seeking an audience with the Conference of Rulers soon to “present its proposals to strengthen enforcement on the use of the word ‘Allah’”.

When asked when that would take place, Saifuddin Nasution said it had yet to be determined.

On Monday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government confirmed it had withdrawn its appeal against the 2021 High Court ruling in favour of the Sarawakian Christian from the native Melanau tribe, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill.

The move put an end to the 15-year-long legal saga that began when the government seized the Sarawak Bumiputera’s eight educational CDs containing the word “Allah”, the Arabic word for God, which were for her own use.

The appeal had initially been scheduled for case management on May 19 but will no longer be brought up in court as the government has dropped the entire appeal, with a notice of discontinuance filed on April 18.

On March 10, 2021, the High Court ruled in favour Jill Ireland, by granting three of the court orders she had sought.

These included the High Court’s declaration that a government directive issued by the Home Ministry’s publication control’s division via a circular dated December 5, 1986 is “unlawful and unconstitutional”.

The 1986 directive by the Home Ministry said the word “Allah” cannot be used in all Christian publications in Malaysia, and this was the government ban which the High Court had found to be illegal.

On March 12, 2021, the Malaysian government and the home minister filed an appeal against the High Court.