Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin today to explain the issue on the use of the word 'Allah' and measures taken by the government to find a solution to the problem.

NONE A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said Tuanku Mizan had consented to the measures taken by the government, and the prime minister had informed the cabinet ministers about the meeting at its weekly meeting today.

The statement also said that as the matter had been taken to court, it was proper that everyone should respect the legal process in the country.

"The government had already filed an appeal on the decision of the High Court.

"While the appeal process is going on, it is our responsibility not to do anything that can jeopardise the interest and well-being of the people," the statement said.

The audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is a normal practice adopted by Najib every Wednesday morning before the cabinet meeting.

Ikim's discussion

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) will hold a discussion among experts on Jan 21 to analyse the issue on the use of the word "Allah" which is a hot topic currently.

Ikim director-general Nik Mustapha Nik Hassan said the closed-door discussion entitled "Translation of 'God' as Allah : Identifying the Root of the Problem and Its Solution", would gather all the state mufti, head of usuluddin faculty/department of public and private institutions of higher learning as well as lawyers and senior officers of the Syariah Division, Attorney-General's Chambers.

He said that representatives of political parties and academicians would also be invited to attend.

"At least we have made efforts to find a meeting point between the political parties and those who are more knowledgeable to discuss the issue. We want them to give their views or suggestions that can help in resolving the problem," he said.

Nik Mustapha said meetings with representatives of the non-Muslims would also be held to seek their views.

The issue cropped up following the decision of the high court to allow a Catholic weekly newspaper to use the word "Allah" as translation for the word 'god' in its Malay edition, and this had angered the Muslims.

- Bernama

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