PAS supports, Marina said its a "knee jerk" reaction, Dompok got historical back up, but Nazri said judge was wrong
After a special meeting to discuss a recent controversial court ruling, PAS has decided to reiterate its stand that the use of the word Allah by Christians was not against Islam and in accordance with the federal constitution which guarantees religious freedom.
"As a responsible Islamic body, PAS is ready to explain this issue to all parties in order to ensure a harmonious environment that is based on the principles of fairness such as is guaranteed in the constitution and by Islam itself,” PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said in a statement issued after a three-hour long discussion.
He also called on all parties not to politicise the matter as this could threaten the peace among the different religious groups in the country.
“We would like to state that based on Islamic principles, the use of the word Allah by the people of the Abrahamic faiths such as Christianity and Judaism, is acceptable,” Hadi said. “PAS strongly objects to any aggressive and provocative approach that can lead to tension in society.”
He was referring to the emotional outbursts from some Umno-back NGOs, who have threatened to hold mass demonstrations at mosques throughout the country if a recent landmark court decision was not reversed.
In another response to the uproar over the “Allah” issue, blogger Datuk Marina Mahathir said those protesting against the court ruling obviously did not know enough about Islam as a religion.
She felt that the recent outcry over matter was just “knee-jerk reactions,” and that these people had likely not taken the initiative to actually study the legal aspects of the case, as well as the court decision.
“Maybe it’s because they do not know enough. They say knowledge is power, and the lack of it is ignorance. Holding on to the word Allah is not going to ‘convert’ anybody from Islam into another faith,” said Marina.
Meanwhile, a senior Christian member of the Cabinet, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said Sabah adherents call God “Allah” because the younger generation are more comfortable using Bahasa Malaysia as Muslims remain outraged over a ruling that allows Catholic weekly Herald to use the term.
He also noted the term had been used for a long time, even before Sabah decided to form Malaysia with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore in 1963.
“The Sabah communities have always used Bahasa Melayu as it is the regional lingua franca and Christianity has been in Sabah since 1881,” the Plantations Industry and Commodities minister said in a statement today.
And suddenly, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said that High Court judge Lau Lee Lan, who made the ruling that Catholics could use the word “Allah” in their weekly publication Herald, was wrong.
So how fit was Datuk Seri Nazri actually, to say the high court judge was wrong and his judgment was the right one. He is unfit even to be a lawyer nor talk about the law. Datuk Seri Nazri had in fact insulted the high court by saying the judgment was wrong.
The high court judge made the judgment professionally based on facts and references to the provisions of the federal constitution. This also shows that Datuk Seri Nazri had in fact insulted the federal constitution as well.
"As a responsible Islamic body, PAS is ready to explain this issue to all parties in order to ensure a harmonious environment that is based on the principles of fairness such as is guaranteed in the constitution and by Islam itself,” PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said in a statement issued after a three-hour long discussion.
He also called on all parties not to politicise the matter as this could threaten the peace among the different religious groups in the country.
“We would like to state that based on Islamic principles, the use of the word Allah by the people of the Abrahamic faiths such as Christianity and Judaism, is acceptable,” Hadi said. “PAS strongly objects to any aggressive and provocative approach that can lead to tension in society.”
He was referring to the emotional outbursts from some Umno-back NGOs, who have threatened to hold mass demonstrations at mosques throughout the country if a recent landmark court decision was not reversed.
In another response to the uproar over the “Allah” issue, blogger Datuk Marina Mahathir said those protesting against the court ruling obviously did not know enough about Islam as a religion.
She felt that the recent outcry over matter was just “knee-jerk reactions,” and that these people had likely not taken the initiative to actually study the legal aspects of the case, as well as the court decision.
“Maybe it’s because they do not know enough. They say knowledge is power, and the lack of it is ignorance. Holding on to the word Allah is not going to ‘convert’ anybody from Islam into another faith,” said Marina.
Meanwhile, a senior Christian member of the Cabinet, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said Sabah adherents call God “Allah” because the younger generation are more comfortable using Bahasa Malaysia as Muslims remain outraged over a ruling that allows Catholic weekly Herald to use the term.
He also noted the term had been used for a long time, even before Sabah decided to form Malaysia with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore in 1963.
“The Sabah communities have always used Bahasa Melayu as it is the regional lingua franca and Christianity has been in Sabah since 1881,” the Plantations Industry and Commodities minister said in a statement today.
And suddenly, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said that High Court judge Lau Lee Lan, who made the ruling that Catholics could use the word “Allah” in their weekly publication Herald, was wrong.
So how fit was Datuk Seri Nazri actually, to say the high court judge was wrong and his judgment was the right one. He is unfit even to be a lawyer nor talk about the law. Datuk Seri Nazri had in fact insulted the high court by saying the judgment was wrong.
The high court judge made the judgment professionally based on facts and references to the provisions of the federal constitution. This also shows that Datuk Seri Nazri had in fact insulted the federal constitution as well.
