A Malaysian court has overturned a government ban on non-Muslim publications using the word “Allah”.
Ruling on a lawsuit filed by a Malaysian Roman Catholic church publication, the Kuala Lumpur High Court said on Thursday that the home ministry’s ban on the use of the word “Allah” was “illegal, null and void”.
Judge Lau Bee Lan said the term was not exclusive to Islam, adding that all Malaysians had the right to use the word under the constitution which guarantees freedom of expression and religion.
The Herald had filed for a judicial review after it was temporarily ordered to stop publishing in 2007 for using the word “Allah”.
The government had argued that the word was exclusive to Islam and that its use by other religions could mislead Muslims and harm national security.
The church disputed this and argued that the word predates Islam as a term for God and is used in many places in a non-Muslim context.
It added that in Malaysia, the term is widely used among indigenous Christian tribes in Sabah and Sarawak.
No threat to security
The church also argued that the ban goes against the principle of freedom of religion and religious practice enshrined in the federal constitution.
Lau ruled on Thursday that the home ministry had failed to show how the Herald’s use of “Allah” could threaten national security.
Lawrence Andrew, the editor of the Catholic weekly, said outside the courtroom that he was “very happy” with the decision.
“We called out for justice and we got it,” he said, adding: “It is a victory for all Malaysians.”
Thursday’s ruling could open the door for other non-Muslim publications to use the word “Allah” as a translation for the word God in Malay language publications.
Hishammuddin Hussein, the home minister, said the government would appeal against the decision.
Source: AlJazeera
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Tags: Allah, Islam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Malaysia News, Malaysian, Roman Catholic, Weird
Allah, God, Lord, Tuhan, Shiva, Neptune, Mercury, Jesus, Venus..etc. What is the differences? The God who commands vs the god who interferes.
A Muslim believe:-
1. To believe in the existence of God and Allah is the true GOD.
2. To believe in God’s angels, (ie. Inclusive of the Satan, or Dark angels, Genies which is classified under makhluk halus or “creatures unseen by the naked eyes”.
3. To believe in the Holy Qur’an and the other Holy Books, (Torah, the Gospel of Jesus, the Psalms of David)
4. To believe in God’s Messengers, of whom Adam was the first and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the last
5. To believe in the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment
6. To believe in Divine Preordainment (Qadak & Qadar).
From the above it clearly states that Allah commands but God / Gods / Goddess interact. Mortal beings interact with Allah thru his messenger or Angels which is classfied under “unseen creatures”. A God that interacts are in the form of Jesus, Shiva, Neptune, Venus, Dewa- dewa etc… whereby a God that commands is only Allah. So is there a similarity between God that commands vs God that interferes? Gods true love is shown when he show himself in the form of a creature and an unknown God is Allah since he exists but not in any form and does not interact with mortals.
The question is how do we believe in someone which we are unknown off? That has no form, that has no interaction to civilisation, that has no children, that has unknown existence and of unknown place or location? Well, that is faith.
Do you think Allah will be happy if his name is been utilised by all races and religion? Will he stop the Muslim community that he wants his name to be glorified by other form of worship? Should we draw a line the differences in the word God, Tuhan & Allah?
This is indeed a mindset for all humans to understand and debate on.