Selangor's Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has instructed the state's Islamic council (Mais) to apply as an intervener in Putrajaya's bid to appeal a High Court ruling allowing non-Muslims to use the word Allah for educational and religious purposes.

The monarch (photo, above) also urged other state Islamic councils to intervene and "protect the glory of the word Allah and the sanctity of Islam".

This is after Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar last week ordered the Johor Islamic Council to assist Putrajaya in the appeal.

The Malay rulers are constitutionally the heads of Islam in their respective states.

"What use is it for me to be Selangor's head of Islam if I fail to ensure the glory of the word Allah and the sanctity of Islam is not smeared by those with their own agendas," Sultan Sharafuddin said in a statement today.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Nor Bee Ariffin ruled that the government erred in issuing the 1986 ban on the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims.

She said the directive had no statutory backing and was therefore illegal and irrational.

In the full written grounds of judgment, Nor Bee ruled that the Home Ministry ban in 1986 was also against the then cabinet policy allowing Christians to use the word Allah conditionally.

The ruling was made in a bid by Jill Ireland, a Melanau Christian who was seeking a declaration that her constitutional right to practice her religion was violated by the imposition of a restriction or ban on the import of educational materials.

The judge said there was no evidence that the use of the word "Allah" by indigenous Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christian communities of Sabah and Sarawak for over 400 years has ever threatened public order.

Sultan Sharaffuddin, however, said that in Selangor, the word Allah is exclusive for Muslims and that state enactments prohibit non-Muslims from using it.

He said all Selangor citizens should respect each other's religions.

"If Muslims in Selangor can respect those of other religions by not interfering in their religious matters, then I also urge non-Muslims to respect Muslims, especially on the use of the word Allah".