YOURSAY 'I am so glad that the Sarawak lawyers have the guts and gumption to make a definitive stand on what is the correct interpretation of the court ruling.'

'Allah ruling does affect Sabah, Sarawak Christians'

Anonymous #37634848: I believe the Appeals Court ruling that "Allah is not an integral part of the Christian faith" is legitimate. Why? None of the varieties of the bibles use the word ‘Allah' for God. Over centuries, it has used Jesus Christ, the personification of God on earth.

The Malay Bible was drafted around 1600 using the King James Bible as reference. The word ‘Allah' was absent in that text. So why the word ‘Allah' in the Alkitab? Obviously, this was the aim of the evangelists then to propagate Christianity in the Malay archipelago.

Why the crusade over the word ‘Allah'? Christians have absolute freedom of worship here. They conducting aggression and usurping the Islamic tenets and faith. In my opinion, the Court ruling should be applied in the whole country.

Odin: The appeal was related to the using of the word ‘Allah' in the Malay edition of The Herald. We all know that. However, the judgment made on Oct 14 encompassed, by implication, the entire Church, i.e., Christianity in Malaysia.

We do not have to have read law, but as long as our comprehension of English is sufficiently good, we can tell that the prohibition is not limited to The Herald only, that in actuality it applies to any act performed by Christians throughout Malaysia in practising their faith and to any publication in any form used by or produced by them.

This is clearly implied in paragraph 51 of Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali's judgment which states, inter alia, "That being the historical fact it can be concluded that the word or name ‘Allah' is not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity, in particular that of the Roman Catholic Church."

This means that the word ‘Allah' may not be used in the following instances:

i) in the Malay edition of The Herald in whatever form it is published;

ii) during prayers, services, masses or any other religious rites peculiar to Christianity conducted in Malay or in any other languages where the word is normally used; and

iii) in the Alkitab and in any other publications that have to do with any religious rites, worship and praise consistent with Christianity and with the Christian faith published in any language where the word is normally used.

Further, the above also means that the so-called 10-Point Agreement has been nullified. Therefore, the statements made by a few parties, which include PM Najib Razak, that the ruling did not affect Christians in East Malaysia have been uttered either through sheer ignorance or due to the desire to deceive.

In Najib's case, one is very much inclined to conclude that his intention was to deceive. In his message marking the Islamic new year (Maal Hijrah) on Nov 5, he vowed to defend use of Allah as exclusive to Muslims. This is the very opposite of what he has said practically days earlier in Sabah.

The judgment passed on Oct 14 is flawed. F-L-A-W-E-D. It was a case of perversion of justice. It was made based on utterly incompetent research. The judge concerned is ill qualified to determine what is and what is not integral to the Christian faith.

This is painfully clear from the fact that he did not even know that the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament are one and the same thing.

The judgment was made merely to satisfy what Umno wants. The issue was initiated just six years ago by Umno to garner support from the ignorant, simple-minded Muslims in the rural areas and the bigoted, extremist ones in the urban areas in the hope to gain superiority over the PAS.

Like the coward and bully it is, it picked on a matter affecting the minority. Sabah and Sarawak must get out of Malaysia, a confederation founded on deceit and lies and led till today by a coterie of cowards, crooks, con men, thieves, amoral and immoral low-life forms, and similar denizens of the sewer.

MinahBulat: For the president of the Sarawak Advocates Association, Khairil Azmi Mohamad Hasbie, to come out with such a statement is indeed a courageous act as he is a Muslim.

I shudder to think that in Peninsular Malaysia you would be deemed an infidel by Muslim Lawyers Association's standards.

So the question now is, what are your Sarawak politicians going to do about it? They are so BN-compliant or rather Najib-compliant that since PM Najib Razak says that it is only applicable to The Herald, they just follow meekly.

Have you not heard the stand of the sometime church leader of Sidang Injil Borneo? Yes, that Kelabit boy by the name of Idris Jala. Tell him that he is wrong. That is, if you can persuade him.

NCRWarrior: Of course, Borneo politicians like Idris Jala after becoming a minister has to protect his own rice bowl, rather than his faith or his people.

That's why when Najib said the Court of Appeal decision does not affect Sabah and Sarawak, Idris Jala echoes his boss. It's the same with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Joseph Kurup and the other Christian Sarawak ministers.

God, please forgive and open up the minds and hearts of these people. Give them courage. Help them to not only think of worldly things and desires, like protecting their ministerial posts, and forsake you as a result.

Kairos: I am so glad that the Sarawak lawyers have the guts and gumption to make a definitive stand on what is the correct interpretation of the Appeals Court ruling.

No matter how much Najib and Co try to sweeten the bitter pill, it is still bitter for the bumiputera Christians in East Malaysia to swallow.

Anyway, our Umno leaders cannot be trusted anyway. They can twist and turn according to the type of audience they address. That's what makes it so disgusting. So on a point of law, it is illegal to use the word 'Allah' in Sabah and Sarawak, no matter what the politicians say.

It is high time that more Sabah and Sarawakian politicians rise up and be counted and not be cowardly in their stand against the intimidation and bullying tactics of peninsularians.

Chipmunk: To all the lawyers in Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA), are you seriously qualified to interpret the federal constitution? Have you really read the law?

MLA is just a bunch of desperadoes who are waiting on their Umno masters to hand down big contracts so that they can live in style (gaya, mutu, keunggulan - style, quality, prestige as they always say).

Malaysia is governed by the federal constitution and not syariah law. Be very mindful of that before you open and spew idiotic remarks and prove yourselves to be fools.

Tan Kim Keong: Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, the president of the Muslim Lawyers Association, pales in comparison with the legal nous of Khairil Azmi Mohamad Hasbie, the president of the Advocates Association of Sarawak.

Sodom Me Sodom You: I respect Khairil Azmi - a man with testicular fortitude to stand up against utter stupidity and double speak.

BernieBaby: Of course, the Appeals Court ruling on 'Allah' affects Sabah and Sarawak as well. Take for example the Catholics - there is no difference between an East Malaysian Catholic and one from the peninsula, let alone the rest of the world.

So whatever applies to Catholics in the peninsula applies to Sabah and Sarawak. The 'Herald only' directive is a clear-cut admission of stupidity.

Anonymous_40f4:Umno politicians like to 'pusing' or spin to fool the rakyat. Now they are 'pusing' the court decision to say it does not apply to Sabah and Sarawak. Indeed, Najib has got a PhD in 'pusing'.

Not Confused: This entire issue has begun to further sink into a farcical black hole of stupidity.

The leaders of Malaysia continue to cast Muslims in a really bad light - weak, confused, easily converted, feeble-minded - while the rest of the Islamic world looks on in bemusement that a so-called moderate Islamic government can act in such a crass and banal way.

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