By
Admin
KOTA
KINABALU: Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB), Sabah’s second largest church, has assured
Muslims that the Catholic church’s appeal against the Allah ruling is not
against them or Islam, but against the wrongful conduct of the Federal
Government and its officials.
In
a communique to its leaders and members today, SIB said the church has never
undermined the position of Islam as the religion of the federation.
SIB
president Reverend Datuk Jerry W.A. Dusing (photo) in
the statement, however, also pointed out that Christians should not be misled
by assurances by certain quarters that they could use word Allah to refer to
God in Sabah and Sarawak.
“It
is more than just about a word; it is about the fundamental right to worship
God in the way we have been doing for generations without hindrance.
“The
decision of the Court of Appeal against Herald puts new restrictions on our
human and constitutional rights to freedom of religion.
“Nevertheless,
we urge you to continue your friendship with your Muslim brothers and sisters
and to extend love to them as you have always done,” he was quoted as saying in
a Malaysian Insider report.
Dusing,
however, stressed that by the same token, Christians also expected their
constitutional right to profess, practise and propagate their faith to be
respected by the courts and the government.
He
noted that although SIB welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s
assurance that Christians in Sabah and Sarawak can continue to use the word Allah
and the Al-Kitab following the Court of Appeal’s decision on October 14, any
decision must be based on Constitutional guarantees of the people’s religious
freedom.
“We
reject any 1Malaysia – two Alkitab policy that only serves to divide the nation
and will not serve our members who are residing in Semenanjung Malaysia,” he
said.
SIB
also reminded its members of the case it filed against the government in 2007
regarding the Allah issue, which is scheduled for mention this Wednesdayat
the Kuala Lumpur High Court, and explained that its position on the matter
remained the same.
SIB
is suing the Home Ministry for confiscating its Malay-language Christian
education publications that contained the word Allah in 2007.
Dusing
said it was SIB’s policy to resolve any dispute amicably but in this matter,
all other means had been exhausted without any resolution.
As
the Allah ruling was affecting the fundamental rights and freedom of the
practise and expression of the Christian faith, SIB was seeking redress from the
court, he said.
SIB
also suggested that the Allah issue could be resolved if Putrajaya took steps
to withdraw the December 5, 1986 circular by the Home Ministry that banned the
use of the word Allah, among other words, in all non-Muslim publications.
This
was also brought up last week by former attorney-general Tan Sri Abu Talib
Othman, who said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi could just
revoke the 1986 ministerial order to end the hotly-debated controversy.
SIB
proposed that the 1986 letter be amended by another letter to limit the
restriction to just the words “Kaabah”, “Baitullah” and “Solat” in Christian
publications in Malaysia.
The
Christian group also wanted reviews on administrative and legislative action
that offended the meaning and intent of the letter, giving full effect to the
10-point solution in 2011 that allowed churches in Sabah and Sarawak to
continue using the word Allah.
“We
want to work towards a fair and just resolution of the pending case in the High
Court, which will provide a clear formulation of the constitutional rights of
Christians to use the word Allah,” Dusing added.
SIB,
which is the second largest Christian denomination in Sabah, has members who
are mainly Bumiputeras of various ethnic groups.
They
use the Malay-language bible, Al-Kitab as its Holy Scripture. The Al-Kitab uses
the word Allah to refer to God..Borneo Insider
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