Times of India
5th july, 2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- A Sikh group in Muslim-majority Malaysia is demanding the
right to use the world "Allah" as a synonym for God and has
joined a legal battle by Christians against a government order
banning non-Muslims from using it, an official said on Friday.
The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council filed an application at the
Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday seeking to join a suit by the
Herald, a Roman Catholic newspaper, against the government over
use of the word "Allah", said council president Sardar Jagir
Singh.
The home ministry previously ordered the newspaper not to use
the word "Allah" in its Malay-language publication as a
translation for God, saying using the word would confuse
Muslims. The Herald then filed suit, claiming it had a right to
use the word.
Jagir said his council, representing more than 100,000 Sikhs,
wanted to join the suit because the ruling would affect them.
The word Allah appears on "numerous occasions" in the Sikh holy
book, Guru Granth Sahib, he said. "Not a word can be altered.
It's our holiest book ... it will mean we can't practice our own
religion."
Jagir said so far he has not received a court date. The high
court is scheduled next Wednesday to hear the applications of
several Islamic institutions that have applied to intervene in
the suit to defend the ban.
The Herald says "Allah" is an Arabic word that predates Islam
and has been used for centuries to mean God in Malay.
The government has not explained how the use of "Allah" by other
religions would confuse Muslims, but apparently wants to draw a
sharp distinction between the Islamic God and all other deities.
The case is an example of increasing complaints by religious
minorities in Malaysia that their rights have been undermined by
government efforts to bolster the status of Islam, the country's
official religion.
