Najib wants the matter to be resolved through the court process. — File pic
He said the government was aware of the sensitivities among Muslims and would be appealing against the decision. “We need to be calm and allow the matter to be resolved through the court process,” he told reporters in Pekan.
The court decision has left Muslims bitterly divided. Many Muslim politicians on both sides have spoken out against the ruling, but there are also Muslims, including members of the opposition PAS, who support it.
The High Court last Thursday lifted the Home Minister's ban on the Catholic Church's use of “Allah” to denote God in its newspaper Herald.
The Church had gone to court after the ban was imposed in 2007, arguing that the word “Allah” is a generic Arabic word for God and predates Islam.
The emotive debate has caused tension within the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance which has a history of squabbling over Islamic issues. Some of its leaders, such as PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, have reportedly said it was permissible for followers of Abrahamic faiths to use “Allah”.
However, Nik Aziz also said it could be misused, and a dialogue should thus be held between Muslim and Christian leaders.
But many in the opposition did not agree, and the ensuing debate has led to several opposition leaders trading insults between themselves.
PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin told fellow opposition MP Khalid Samad to resign from PAS after the latter said both Muslims and non-Muslims have used the word “Allah”.
Zulkifli said Khalid had destroyed the image of PAS as an Islamic party, and should join the Chinese-based DAP instead.
Khalid, in return, told Zulkifli to quit PKR and join PAS if he wanted to comment on issues relating to the Islamic party.
To complicate matters, PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa yesterday said Muslims should set aside partisan politics over this matter.
“The court decision is not only against the Constitution but it also goes against our faith, and this cannot be accepted,” he told Utusan Malaysia.
As Nasharudin had earlier courted controversy by holding “unity talks” with arch-rival Umno, this view will ring alarm bells in the opposition.
But as tensions rise in PR, Umno is taking a more cautious line. Its senior leaders, including Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor and Umno women's chief Datuk Shahrizat Jalil, are treading carefully.
Rais said the issue should not be debated in a manner that could damage race relations, while Tengku Adnan also urged restraint.
Beyond the political realm, Muslims also appear to be greatly divided, going by the debate on the Internet. A number, who are against the ruling, argued that while the word “Allah” may have predated Islam, it is strongly associated with Islam in the Malaysian context. They also argue that it may lead to confusion among Muslims.
“What more when it's used in the context of Christianity which has a 'special relationship' with Islam,” columnist Ziad Razak wrote in a news website. But Datuk Marina Mahathir, daughter of former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, disagreed and described those mourning the “loss” of the word “Allah” as 'idiots'.
“A confident Muslim will not walk into a church, hear a liturgy in Malay or Arabic where they use the word 'Allah' and then think that he or she is in a mosque. A confident Muslim knows the difference,” she wrote in her blog. — The Straits Times
No comments:
Post a Comment