Allah Controversy - High Court Sets Feb 27 For Mention Of Case

The High Court set Feb 27 for mention of the case to hear the use of the word ‘Allah’ in the Herald-The Catholic Weekly, a Christian publication.

Judge Lau Bee Lan said that the date was set to allow all parties time to file their affidavits.

The Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur has applied for a judicial review of a Home Ministry directive forbidding the Herald publishers from using the word ‘Allah’.

The Archbishop’s counsel Porres Royal said that the directive was unlawful under the Federal Constitution and that the word not exclusive to Islam.

On Dec 5, the publisher filed a writ of summons in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to seek a declaration on the use of the word.

The respondents are the Home Ministry, the Government and the state Islamic Councils of Federal Territory, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor, Kedah, Johor, Malacca and the Malaysia Chinese Muslim Association.

Mubashir Mansor, counsel for the Terengganu, Penang and Malacca Islamic councils said on Friday that they would file an affidavit in two weeks to the Federal Court saying that no court of law could hear this case. (The Star Online)

***** The die is cast and let us hope that common sense prevails. The issue involving the Herald-The Catholic Weekly is incidental. What is more important is which will triumph - the insecure, homegrown, narrow, Umno Malay interpretation of Islam or the more universal worldview of the religion.