YOURSAY 'There seems to be so much confusion about the judgment. Is it a blanket ban on non-Muslims or just pertaining to The Herald ? What about the Sikhs?'

Church's lawyer: Judgment goes beyond The Herald

Odin: Muslim Lawyers' Association of Malaysia (PPMM) president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, the subject of the case was the matter of the using of the word ‘Allah' in the Catholic weekly The Herald .

However, in his judgment, Federal Court judge Mohamed Apandi Ali said, "In the Bible, God has always been known as ‘Yahweh'. That being the historical fact, it can be concluded the word ‘Allah' is not an integral part of the faith and Christianity practice, in particular that of the Roman Catholic Church."

It is clearer than daylight that this means that the word ‘Allah' is not needed in Christianity and that there is no necessity for Christians to use the word in practising their faith. This is more than just the using of the word ‘Allah' in The Herald .

Indeed judge Mohamed Apandi is one very confused person. In the Bible published in English, God is referred to as ‘God'. At other times, He is referred to as ‘Lord'. At yet other times, He is referred to as ‘Lord God'. He is not referred to as ‘Yahweh'.

Mohamed Apandi himself has stated that his research was short and that he has resorted to the Internet to do his brief research. I put it to you that his research was faulty.

I further put it to you that the wording of the part of his judgment mentioned to above is also faulty. Witness the phrase "it can be concluded the word ‘Allah' is not an integral part of the faith and Christianity practice, in particular that of the Roman Catholic Church".

The Roman Catholic Church is part of Christianity. If something is deemed impermissible for Christianity as a whole, then it is also so for the Catholic Church. He was so confused that he said "in particular that of the Roman Catholic Church". Either that or he was attempting to confuse others.

Suppose a judge says "Muslims are not allowed to eat pork, in particular the Malay Muslims". Does that make sense to you? Does that illustrate clarity of speech? In legal matters, you must never be ambiguous so that there will not be any contest as to their meanings.

Clever Voter: One politician has insisted that the court decision must be respected, another said it was confined to the Catholic weekly, and then you have one more who said Sabah and Sarawak are exempted.

All others have their own interpretations. The truth is that this is a political-motivated decision that was ill-thought of, and having to back track shows sheer stupidity.

Anonymous #58458950: There seems to be so much confusion about the judgment. Is it a blanket ban on non-Muslims or just pertaining to The Herald ? What about the Sikhs' usage of the word and the bumiputeras in East Malaysia?

Awakened: I tend to agree with Catholic Church's lawyer Annou Xavier rather than Zainul Rijal.

The grounds of judgment from the Appeal Court judges are very clear that ‘Allah' is not integral to the Christian faith and the use of ‘Allah' by Christians will cause confusion not only to Muslims but the Christians themselves.

The judge also tried to be a theologian by explaining why the Christian concept of God of Trinity is different from the Islamic God Allah. The grounds stated are very clear that it is not only The Herald which cannot use Allah but all Christians publications.

I found it illogical for Zainul to state that only the use of ‘Allah' in The Herald will cause confusion but not ‘Allah' in Alkitab or other Christian publications.

PPMM has no guts to state that the judges have erred in their judgments but try to be political by saying that the judgment does not apply to East Malaysia's Christians who has been using ‘Allah' in their Malay Bible for decades.

Changeagent: Zainul Rijal is a fool for suggesting that the recent judgment only referred to The Herald , and was not a blanket ban on the use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims.

If that is so, why did the cabinet decide that Sabah and Sarawak Christians can still use the word? Isn't the cabinet's decision redundant then? Or is Zainul insinuating that the cabinet are fools too?

Disbeliever: I concur with Annou Xavier and not with Zainul Rijal simply because although the appeal was whether the Catholic Church could use the word 'Allah' in the BM section of

The Herald , the Court of Appeal judges had laid out reasons which go beyond what is needed for their decision.

Because of their eagerness to plug all loopholes in their judgment, they have even acted as theologians. Although the government is happy with the outcome, it did not foresee the sticky situation it is caught in. Thus, the assurance by the ministers from East Malaysia.

To put it in a nutshell, I doubt the sincerity of the government. If the government is sincere, it should not have appealed the High Court's decision of 2009.

By appealing, it has opened up the floodgates which allowed Perkasa, Jati (Jalur Tiga) and other right-wing Islamic organisations to ride along. Had the government accepted the decision of 2009 and the PM clarify matters, the issue would have been laid to rest.

Quigonbond: There is no point in splitting hairs. There is now a judicial interpretation on the constitutionality of the use of the word ‘Allah' by Christians.

As the constitution is the law of the land, it should apply with equal weight whether in Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah and Sarawak. Any attempt to permit the use of ‘Allah' only in Sabah and Sarawak will simply be unconstitutional.

The BN government cannot have the cake and eat it too. It's either there is constitutional safeguard for religious practice in Malaysia, or there is not.

Clearly, the Muslim judges second guessing themselves and wearing their religion on their sleeves have failed Malaysians, failed to interpret the constitution without bias, and failed to uphold the constitution.

Perkasa and the Umno right-wing may well have its victory for now, but in the mid-term, they will lose out big time. What goes around will come around and soon judgement will descend upon those who sacrifice our constitution on the altar of political expediency.

BTN: Allah or God created human being and not any political party or race. Call your maker either Allah or God as long as you feel it is right. It's really between you and your maker and not any mortal.

Fantastic4: You mean you can suit the verdict according to your objectives?

Umno is up the creek without a paddle

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