Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Action can be taken against non-Muslim publications in 10 Malaysian states if they use four words related to Islam,including Allah.
Religious Adviser to the Premier Abdullah Md Zin said said in the early days,the word Allah already existed but it was wrongly used and was taken in the wrong context.
The Catholic Church had submitted an application for a judicial review over the use of the word Allah,seeking to quash the decision which imposed conditions on the publishing permit of The Herald,a Catholic weekly.
He added that people in that era claimed Allah had children,that angels were his daughters and Allah had associations with the many statues used for worshiping.
“That is why Allah directed Prophet Muhammad to clear the matter and declare that Allah is One,has no children,was not given birth to and cannot be associated and likened to other things,or objects,in this world.
“That is why the word Allah cannot be used by non-Muslims to describe their God,” the adviser was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper on Thursday.
The Malaysian states of Johor,Malacca,Negri Sembilan,Pahang,Perak,Kelantan,Terengganu,Kedah,Perlis and Selangor have gazetted the ruling which is now part of the respective state enactments on Islamic matters.
A ‘fatwa’ had been issued to prohibit non-Muslim publications from using the words Allah,Kaabah,Solat and Baitullah in their reading materials.
The remaining four states – Penang,Federal Territory,Sabah and Sarawak were in the process of gazetting the fatwa,the Star newspaper reported.
Recently,a leader of the Opposition Islamic PAS party said non-Muslims were allowed to use the word Allah as there was a verse in the Quran which quoted the non-Muslims of Mecca calling their god by that name.
