Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum has denied the right of religions, apart from Islam, to use the word ‘Allah’ when referring to God. According to Malaysiakini's report , the Catholic weekly newspaper Herald is facing problems renewing their annual publishing permit because the organ of the Catholic Church in Malaysia had used the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God in its Malay language section.

Johari said that this word is Arabic therefore it is a Muslim word. In other words, any Arabic theological word automatically becomes a patent of Islam.

According to Wikipedia , “Allah is the standard Arabic word for ‘God’. While the term is best known in the West for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews in reference to ‘God’."

Besides, it also says that as Arab Christians today have no other word for God other than Allah, they use terms like ‘Allah al-ab’ meaning God the father, ‘Allah al-ibn’ meaning God the son and ‘Allah al-ruh al ghodus’ meaning God the Holy Spirit."

Language is a tool for communication. Since ‘Allah’ is a general word that is not the registered intellectual property of Islam, why can’t Christians use the word? The Federal Constitution protects freedom to practice other religions in peace and harmony. Arabic speakers from the three monotheistic religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism, use the same language to annotate their own religious creed. This proves the rights of Christians to use the word ‘Allah’ when referring to God.

Nobody can deny that Islam, Christianity and Judaism originated from the Arab region. Likewise, if any Malaysian Jew wants to use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to the Jewish god, it is his right to do so as protected by the constitution. All citizens are requested to recognise the status of Islam as the official religion of Malaysia. Malaysians must respect other religions too and the government has to show consideration for the feelings of all citizens. It is unreasonable to attack Christians because they have the right to use the word ‘Allah’ since Christianity originated in the Arab region.

The Indian NGOs have requested that the government set up a non-Muslim affairs department. The prime minister has said that this is not necessary. It is a splendid suggestion to handle non-Muslims' affairs without ignoring the rights of Islam as the official religion. While the Islamic affairs department has been set up a long time ago, the prime minister should realise that it is necessary to have a government department to represent non-Muslims. This will prove that the constitution is not merely words.

If established, there are many debatable cases that the non-Muslim affairs department can address. These include Lina Joy’s request to change her religion on her identity card, the demolition of Hindu temples and even such debates on religious terms. The prime minister’s reason to reject this request is that Islam is official religion of the country.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang found it comical that the prime minister has ‘secretly’ appointed Ong Ka Ting as Buddhist affairs minister, Samy Vellu as Hindu affairs minister and Bernard Dompok as Christian affairs minister. But these unofficial appointments cannot restore people’s confidence in the government's sincerity.

Ours is not a request to set up individual departments for each and every non-official religion. It is a request to establish an affairs department to represent the 40 percent of Malaysians who are believers in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism, Shamanism, Sikhism, Bahá'í, Taoism, Confucianism and others.

If it is not necessary, I wonder what is the reasoning behind the prime minister’s request to the private sector to employ more bumiputera staff to show the "multi-racial condition" of our country. This request is the result of a meeting between the prime minister and Indian NGOs after the Hindraf rally. If the prime minister only makes empty talk about his concern towards the people and their requests, the credibility of this ‘big ear’ leader will be ruined.