The Federal Court has reserved its decision, whether to grant leave to the Catholic weekly publication, the Herald, to use the word 'Allah' to refer to God.
UPDATED
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today reserved its decision to a date to be fixed later on whether or not to grant leave to the Catholic Church to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision which prohibited its weekly publication, the Herald from using the word Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia version.
The Federal Court made the ruling after seven senior judges heard arguments for and against the Court of Appeal judgment which had barred the Catholic weekly publication from using the term ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
The panel judges were lead by Chief Justice Ariffin Zakaria.
The other six judges were Court of Appeal president Raus Sharif, Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judges Suriyadi Halim Omar, Zainun Ali and Jeffrey Tan.
The panel had earlier heard submissions from lawyers representing the church, six state Islamic religious councils and the Malaysian Chinese Muslims Association (Macma) as well as submissions from a senior federal counsel representing the Home Ministry.
The six states are Terengganu, Kedah, Johor, Malacca, the Federal Territories, and Selangor.
Earlier a group of supporters from different agencies and non-government organisations (NGOs) who are Muslims performed solat hajat in front of the Palace of Justice square.
The members, clad in red or black, arrived by the bus loads earlier this morning to protest against the Church’s bid to overturn the Appellate Court’s decision.
They began shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is great) while waiting for the verdict and ran in droves towards the building’s exit, where they were blocked by the police, who formed a human barricade.
“Let us show them that we Malays are not weak! We have been patient and tolerant for far too long,” the protesters shouted.
They tried to negotiate with the policemen on duty to allow them into the court room which turned out to be fruitless. They eventually gave in and dispersed.
A few of these protesters however said the scene would have turned ugly if the policemen were not Malays.protest fed court1
Others vented their frustration by hurling items at the Federal Court building, although they were stoped by fellow protesters who reminded them not to harm government property.
Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali who was with the protesters said if the Federal Court verdict was not in favour of the Muslims, then it would jeopardise the nation as Malays were the majority.
“Even minus the non-Muslim Bumiputeras, Malays are still the majority. We inherited this land when it was still called ‘Tanah Melayu’ (Malaya)… All the rulers, the royals are Malay Muslims,” Ibrahim told reporters.
“We respect any decision made by the court, but still I am worried what could happen to the country,” he said.
Ibrahim added that should the Federal Court allow the appeal to proceed, the Malay NGOs would come here each day to support the “Malay cause.”
In October last year, the Court of Appeal banned the Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its weekly newspaper.
A three-man bench chaired by Mohamed Apandi Ali delivered the decision then, ruling that the government’s appeal was allowed.
The church filed an appeal against this ruling and the Federal Court heard arguments on the leave application today.
On Dec 31, 2009, the High Court allowed the church’s judicial review application and lifted the Home Minister’s ban on the use of the word in the Herald.
Judge Lau Bee Lan had said then that the church had a constitutional right to use the word Allah in its newspaper on the grounds that religions other than Islam can be practiced in peace and harmony.
UPDATED
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today reserved its decision to a date to be fixed later on whether or not to grant leave to the Catholic Church to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision which prohibited its weekly publication, the Herald from using the word Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia version.The Federal Court made the ruling after seven senior judges heard arguments for and against the Court of Appeal judgment which had barred the Catholic weekly publication from using the term ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
The panel judges were lead by Chief Justice Ariffin Zakaria.
The other six judges were Court of Appeal president Raus Sharif, Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judges Suriyadi Halim Omar, Zainun Ali and Jeffrey Tan.
The panel had earlier heard submissions from lawyers representing the church, six state Islamic religious councils and the Malaysian Chinese Muslims Association (Macma) as well as submissions from a senior federal counsel representing the Home Ministry.
The six states are Terengganu, Kedah, Johor, Malacca, the Federal Territories, and Selangor.
Earlier a group of supporters from different agencies and non-government organisations (NGOs) who are Muslims performed solat hajat in front of the Palace of Justice square.
The members, clad in red or black, arrived by the bus loads earlier this morning to protest against the Church’s bid to overturn the Appellate Court’s decision.
They began shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is great) while waiting for the verdict and ran in droves towards the building’s exit, where they were blocked by the police, who formed a human barricade.
“Let us show them that we Malays are not weak! We have been patient and tolerant for far too long,” the protesters shouted.
They tried to negotiate with the policemen on duty to allow them into the court room which turned out to be fruitless. They eventually gave in and dispersed.
A few of these protesters however said the scene would have turned ugly if the policemen were not Malays.protest fed court1
Others vented their frustration by hurling items at the Federal Court building, although they were stoped by fellow protesters who reminded them not to harm government property.
Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali who was with the protesters said if the Federal Court verdict was not in favour of the Muslims, then it would jeopardise the nation as Malays were the majority.
“Even minus the non-Muslim Bumiputeras, Malays are still the majority. We inherited this land when it was still called ‘Tanah Melayu’ (Malaya)… All the rulers, the royals are Malay Muslims,” Ibrahim told reporters.
“We respect any decision made by the court, but still I am worried what could happen to the country,” he said.
Ibrahim added that should the Federal Court allow the appeal to proceed, the Malay NGOs would come here each day to support the “Malay cause.”
In October last year, the Court of Appeal banned the Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its weekly newspaper.
A three-man bench chaired by Mohamed Apandi Ali delivered the decision then, ruling that the government’s appeal was allowed.
The church filed an appeal against this ruling and the Federal Court heard arguments on the leave application today.
On Dec 31, 2009, the High Court allowed the church’s judicial review application and lifted the Home Minister’s ban on the use of the word in the Herald.
Judge Lau Bee Lan had said then that the church had a constitutional right to use the word Allah in its newspaper on the grounds that religions other than Islam can be practiced in peace and harmony.
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