#allah issue

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MCMC: BFM contravened licence condition

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17, 2014:

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) today stressed that the action taken against the BFM89.9 radio station was due to its disregard in following its licence conditions and failure to abide by the Content Code.

MCMC, in a statement, said a report was made against BFM89.9 because of two reasons — its content was out of scope as BFM was a business-based content station and the recording was not approved by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).

It urged members of the public and media organisations to refrain from turning the fine imposed on the radio station for its actions into a sensitive religious issue.

Yesterday, several news portals reported that BFM89.9 was fined RM10,000 for airing an interview on the “Allah” issue with Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan on Oct 21 last year.

MCMC said BFM89.9 was a member of the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia and had pledged to abide by the MCMC Content Code, based on the framework of self-regulation in the broadcasting industry.

It said part 4 of the Content Code, Section 3.14 of the Specific Broadcasting Content, stated that all religious programming on Islam must be approved by the relevant religious authorities prior to transmission.

“The said licensee, hence, had breached the provisions of Section 206 (3) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

“A content applications service provider shall not provide any service, except in accordance with the conditions of the licence granted to that licensee.”

The statement said the offender could be charged under Section 242 of the same Act, whereby: “Every omission or neglect to comply with, and every act done or attempted to be done contrary to, this Act or its subsidiary legislation or any written instrument made under this Act, or in breach of the conditions subject to which any licence has been granted or assignment issued, shall be an offence against this Act or its subsidiary legislation.

“And for every such offence, where the penalty is not otherwise specifically provided for, the offender shall, in addition to the forfeiture of any thing seized, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.”

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Allah issue: Discuss not persecute, says opposition leader

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15, 2014:

It is better for the authorities to hold dialogues with those involved in the Allah issue rather than simply disallow people from using the word altogether, said opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the issue must not be blown out of proportion by those merely out to attain political mileage.

“We must all tread carefully when dealing with such sensitive issues, I  appeal for decency from all quarters involved”.

He added that no one was above the law but as long as they were not breaking the law there was no reason to act against them.

Anwar was commenting on the recent detention of Father Cyril Mannayagam on Dec 5 in Tangkak, Johor, for possessing 30 copies of a hymn book with the Arabic word for God in them. “Allah” has been deemed exclusive for Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia.

“I have consulted world renown ulamas who said there is nothing wrong with non-Muslims using the word ‘Allah’.”

Anwar was of the view that it was better to hold discourse on the issue with all relevant parties rather than simply overreacting and taking action against those concerned.

The opposition leader also expressed his unhappiness that a police report had been lodged against Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng over the kalimah Allah issue.

Lim had on Friday said that the fatwa on the word Allah did not apply to non-Muslims.

On Saturday, Bukit Mertajam Umno division Youth lodged a report over Lim’s statement on the kalimah Allah issue, regarding it as Lim’s interference in Islamic affairs.

Anwar defended Lim’s right to make the statement on the issue, adding that Lim was speaking about a specific issue.

On the attacks against him by Utusan Malaysia about going to church to discuss issues and claims of reading the bible simply to gain the support of the non-Muslims, he said he did not bother reading the paper.

He said he did not take the daily seriously as it only reported what it was told to.

“I will not stoop to that level,” he said.

He pointed out that when he was deputy prime minister he had organised a huge Islam-Confucius conference and Utusan supported it.

The opposition leader said he had been involved in discussing issues at churches and quoting the bible since he was Abim president.

“I view the attacks on me as a political gimmick and I am not compelled to answer them.”

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Catholic church files review application against 'Allah' decision

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 19, 2014: 

The Catholic Church has filed a review application against the Federal Court decision which had denied it leave to appeal over the home minister’s ban on the use of the word “Allah” in its weekly publication, Herald.

The church’s counsel, Benjamin Dawson confirmed that the review application was filed about 3pm today, at the Federal Court registry here.

He explained that the review application was based on three broad grounds.

The first was that there were certain legal issues that were central to the leave application but were not considered by the majority judgment of the Federal Court, such as on the constitutional questions relating to the scope of Articles 3 and 11 of the Federal Constitution, Dawson told Bernama when contacted.

He said the church further contended that there was also the fact the home minister’s decision to prohibit the use of the word, “Allah”, in the Herald had also taken into account a theological consideration.

Dawson said the second ground was that the Federal Court’s majority judgment had decided on certain legal issues that were not argued nor raised by the parties before the Federal Court or the Court of Appeal, such as on the constitutional validity of Section 9 of the Anti-Propagation Enactment.

“The third ground is that the Herald’s case is one of the most important constitutional cases to have come before our court, particularly where minority rights are concerned.”

He added there existed a public interest factor to support the review application.

On June 23, the seven-member Federal Court panel chaired by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, had in a majority judgment dismissed the church’s application for leave to appeal.

The church is seeking leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision delivered on Oct 14, last year which allowed the government’s appeal to overturn the 2009 High Court’s decision that Herald could use the word, “Allah”.

On Dec 31, 2009, the High Court declared that the decision by the home ministry in banning the Herald from using the word, “Allah”, was illegal, null and void.

The Roman Catholic Church, led by Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam filed a judicial review application in 2009, naming the home ministry and the government as respondents, seeking, among others, a declaration that the ministry’s decision to prohibit the use of the word, “Allah”, in the Herald was illegal.

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Anwar: Stating 'Allah' issue must be resolved at state level is passing the buck

PETALING JAYA

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to state his personal stand on the “Allah” issue which he said had increased racial tension in Malaysia.

Anwar also described the federal government’s statement that the “Allah” issue must be resolved at the state level as “passing the buck”.

“When you are the PM, you have to say with clarity what your position is.

“What is your view on groups threatening another May 13?

“What is your view on the campaign by party stalwarts who claim that Islam is under siege?” Anwar asked, alluding to the 1969 racial riots.

Anwar said this when asked to respond to Najib’s statement that the party would abide by the 10-point solution over the use of the Arabic word for God by the Christian community.

The Permatang Pauh member of parliament said this after delivering a special address to Malaysians on Sunday.

Najib, on Friday, had stressed that the implementation of the agreement was subject to the Federal Constitution and the state Islamic religious enactments.

10-point agreement

The 10-point agreement is a solution signed by Najib that allows Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to use “Allah” in Malay Bibles, a word which some quarters say is exclusive to Islam.

Anwar said while Najib was upholding the agreement, there was a “void”, although he did not elaborate.

The opposition leader explained that the legislation had been initiated by the federal government, but was implemented by the state governments.

Some state governments, Anwar said, had full jurisdiction while some made it clear it was under the rulers.

“The issue is very complex. We need a national consensus,” he said.

Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said the federal government had no power to interfere in the case of the seizure of Malay language Bibles at the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM). The Bibles were seized by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais).

The Bibles were seized for containing the word “Allah”, which the Court of Appeals had ruled was exclusively for Muslims.

Khairy explained that this was because the jurisdiction of religious affairs — except for Sabah, Sarawak, Malacca and Penang — was under the respective state religious enactments.

The Rembau member of parliament said as far as the federal government was concerned, it stood by its commitment to the 10-point solution pertaining to the issue.

Sinister conspiracy?

Anwar also renewed his call for dialogue with Barisan Nasional (BN). This follows a “series of circumstances and developments” that collectively were fast eroding the cohesiveness that was so “crucial” to Malaysia’s identity.

Leaders from both sides of of the political divide, he said, must put aside all partisan concerns and show real leadership in easing the tension.

“In reaffirming the position of Islam and recognising that Muslims make up the majority of the population, we must reject the notion that Islam is under threat.

“We must reject the notion that there is some sinister conspiracy to replace Islam as the religion of the federation with some other religion.”

Anwar added that recent developments appeared to be reaching a crescendo that threatened to tear the fabric of Malaysia’s unity.

The de-facto PKR leader said there had been all kinds of attempts by certain quarters to “take this nation to the brink”.

“The voices of hate and animosity, the voices of prejudice and suspicion, and the voices of wreck and ruin are attempting to drown out the harmony, cooperation and understanding that we have managed to build on the ruins of this tragedy,” he said, in reference to the 1969 May 13 racial riots.

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Strong mandate from Umno Supreme Council on govt stand on Allah issue

  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak received full support from the Umno Supreme Council on the Allah issue.[/caption]

KUALA LUMPUR

The Umno Supreme Council on Friday has thrown its support behind the government’s stand in defending the position of Islam, including on the use of the word Allah, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Najib, who is also Umno president, said the Supreme Council also took note of the Cabinet’s 10-point resolution on this matter in 2011, which among others, allows the Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak to continue using the word Allah in the Malay version of the Bible.

However, he said the points therein were subject to federal and state laws.

“This means that if the state has an enactment (on use of the word Allah), it is subject to it.

“If the state does not have such an enactment, like Sabah and Sarawak, the usual practice will continue and no party should scare others,” he told reporters after chairing the Umno Supreme Council meeting at Menara Dato Onn here Friday.

Najib said the ninth item in the resolution specifically stated that it was subject to federal and state laws.

Commenting on the decree by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah recently that the use of the word Allah was the exclusive right of Muslims, Najib said the decree was in the context of the state of Kedah as he issued it as the state’s sultan.

“The speech was made on the Agungs’ birthday. It does not cover the whole country.”

Meanwhile, Najib said the meeting Friday also approved the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Umno and they would be issued to all divisions, branches  and state liaison offices.

The KPIs would ensure that work was performed actively and systematically and the Supreme Council members would be assigned the task of monitoring  KPIs at the divisional level. The division heads would be responsible for monitoring KPIs of their branches.

ends..

Caption: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak received full support from the Umno Supreme Council on the Allah issue.