Leave Allah alone for Christ’s sake (through Malaysiakini)

I am taking the liberty to copy the whole article from Malaysiakini which someone shared on Facebook as well.

Leave Allah alone for Christ’s sake
by Joe Fernandez, malaysiakini, Jan 24.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Bernard Dompok, who isn’t known for mincing his words, opines that the Herald has the right to use the word Allah in its Malay pages until the court rules otherwise.

The Herald is a Roman Catholic weekly with a circulation of 14,000 and publishes in Malay, English, Tamil and Chinese. About half the country’s estimated two million Christians, largely in Sabah and Sarawak, are Roman Catholics.

“It is not for the Home Ministry to pre-empt the decision of the court,” said Dompok, also the president of the United Pasok Momogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko), in Kota Kinabalu on a return visit for Chinese New Year. “I understand from the lawyers that the Herald should be allowed to publish as they published before, until the outcome in the court.”

Dompok was commenting on Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s warning in recent days that the Herald’s “(continued) show of defiance (against the Home Minister) could cause conflict and anger among other races in the country”. “If anything happens, then don’t put the blame on us,” continued Syed Hamid who has since “referred the matter to the ministry’s legal unit”.

“If we decide to ban the publication, they will get angry and accuse us of stifling freedom. If a religion decides to show its strength and numerous other actions, I think it’s verging on dangerous territory.”

Wisdom prevailed then

Muslim groups and PAS, the Islamic party, have so far remained silent on the matter. In Islam, according to some scholars, no one should be forbidden from using the word Allah, the chief of all the deities in pre-Islamic times until Prophet Muhammad re-affirmed that there was only Allah and, in the oneness of God, no other deity should be worshipped.

“This matter (Allah) could have come up during the time of Dr Mahathir (former prime minister) but it didn’t because wisdom prevailed,” added Dompok and suggested that Home Ministry officials were out of control despite their political masters having established “clear and correct guidelines in line with known precedents in Malaysia and elsewhere”.

If the question of “confusion among Muslims” is a problem, pointed out Dompok, the Herald is sold only at Roman Catholic churches and has also complied with the Home Ministry’s requirement that every copy of the newspaper be stamped with the Malay word Terhad” (limited edition or restricted).
by Joe Fernandez, malaysiakini, Jan 24.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Bernard Dompok, who isn’t known for mincing his words, opines that the Herald has the right to use the word Allah in its Malay pages until the court rules otherwise.

The Herald is a Roman Catholic weekly with a circulation of 14,000 and publishes in Malay, English, Tamil and Chinese. About half the country’s estimated two million Christians, largely in Sabah and Sarawak, are Roman Catholics.

“It is not for the Home Ministry to pre-empt the decision of the court,” said Dompok, also the president of the United Pasok Momogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko), in Kota Kinabalu on a return visit for Chinese New Year. “I understand from the lawyers that the Herald should be allowed to publish as they published before, until the outcome in the court.”

Dompok was commenting on Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s warning in recent days that the Herald’s “(continued) show of defiance (against the Home Minister) could cause conflict and anger among other races in the country”. “If anything happens, then don’t put the blame on us,” continued Syed Hamid who has since “referred the matter to the ministry’s legal unit”.

“If we decide to ban the publication, they will get angry and accuse us of stifling freedom. If a religion decides to show its strength and numerous other actions, I think it’s verging on dangerous territory.”

Wisdom prevailed then

Muslim groups and PAS, the Islamic party, have so far remained silent on the matter. In Islam, according to some scholars, no one should be forbidden from using the word Allah, the chief of all the deities in pre-Islamic times until Prophet Muhammad re-affirmed that there was only Allah and, in the oneness of God, no other deity should be worshipped.

“This matter (Allah) could have come up during the time of Dr Mahathir (former prime minister) but it didn’t because wisdom prevailed,” added Dompok and suggested that Home Ministry officials were out of control despite their political masters having established “clear and correct guidelines in line with known precedents in Malaysia and elsewhere”.

If the question of “confusion among Muslims” is a problem, pointed out Dompok, the Herald is sold only at Roman Catholic churches and has also complied with the Home Ministry’s requirement that every copy of the newspaper be stamped with the Malay word Terhad” (limited edition or restricted).

Malays, as defined by the Federal Constitution, are not allowed by law to profess any other religion, besides Islam. Malays must also not be seen as “going against Islam”, and this factor alone has often sorely tested the faith of practicing Muslim members of the Judiciary in the past on matters involving faith and sowed widespread public dissatisfaction over court rulings especially on matters that brought the syariah (path of God or Islamic law) into conflict with civil law, secularism and the Federal Constitution.