The Malay Mail Online – 1 hour 32 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- Penang’s religious affairs committee chairman Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim. — Picture …
GEORGE TOWN, Dec 17 — Penang’s religious affairs committee chairman Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim spoke out today in defence of Lim Guan Eng over the “Allah” controversy, saying the chief minister was right to say that fatwas do not apply to non-Muslims.
Lim, added the exco member, was speaking based on facts and not on religious principles.
“I only want to say that it is a fact that any fatwa (Islamic religious edicts) do not apply on non-Muslims,” he told reporters today when asked to comment on Lim’s controversial statement that non-Muslims here are not banned from using the word “Allah”.
Abdul Malik said any fatwa issued by the Penang Mufti is meant for Muslims and does not extend to non-Muslims.
Lim courted controversy last week when he said the ban on use of the word “Allah” does not apply to non-Muslims.
He backed his statement by pointing out that the Administration of Religion of Islam (Penang) Enactment 2004 and any resulting fatwas is not binding on non-Muslims.
Lim was responding to a call by MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker who demanded that the Selangor and Penang state governments repeal the respective state Islamic religious administration enactments to lift the ban on words like “Allah” from being used by non-Muslims.
This prompted criticism from Umno leaders against Lim, and has even led to a police investigation on the matter.
Two days ago, Lim reiterated his stand that the state Islamic enactment and any fatwa issued in the state are not legally binding on non-Muslims.
When asked today if he had spoken to the Penang Mufti on the issue, Abdul Malik said he is in “constant communication” with the religious cleric but did not offer specific detail.
He also said he is unaware if the mufti has met with Lim over the issue, adding that he does not want to speculate further on the matter.
When contacted, Penang Mufti Datuk Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor said he is currently on leave and does not want to comment on the issue.
The use of the word “Allah”, an Arabic word to refer to God, has become an issue of contention between the Muslims and Christians in the country.
The word is deemed by Malaysian Muslims as exclusive to Islam although it has been used by the Christian Bumiputeras communities in Sabah and Sarawak for decades.
The dispute started when the Catholic Church challenged the Home Ministry in 2008 for prohibiting its use of “Allah” in the Herald.
The case came to a conclusion this June when the Federal Court refused to hear the Catholic Church’s appeal against an appellate court decision upholding the ban.
