| Defy Agong, Msia is not an Islamic state! Posted: 19 Jan 2014 10:21 PM PST That's the 'counter-decree' issued by a lawyer today when asked to comment on the King's statement the other day that the word 'Allah' is exclusive for the Muslims only.
Malaysia, according to Edmund Bon, is not an Islamic country but a secular one (did he understand what's stipulated under the Federal Constitution?).
So, he has started the ball rolling, and I personally believe others will jump onto the bandwagon. And as usual, things like these will come under heavy attacks from the Malays, Umno and Muslim NGOs. Let's wait. Malaysia merupakan sebuah negara sekular dan bukan Islam. Oleh itu, negara ini tidak perlu mematuhi mana-mana titah dikeluarkan pemerintah negeri atau fatwa dikeluarkan Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan, kata pakar Perlembagaan. Sultan Kedah yang kini merupakan Yang Di-Pertuan Agong semalam memetik keputusan Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan pada 1986 – mengatakan sesetengah perkataan termasuk kalimah Allah hanya eksklusif kepada umat Islam, menimbulkan kebimbangan kepada bukan Islam berhubung hak beragama seperti dijamin Perjanjian Malaysia 1963.
"Titah dan fatwa tidak boleh digunakan kepada bukan Islam kerana ia melanggar hak perundangan dan beragama mereka," kata peguam Edmund Bon (gambar) kepada The Malaysian Insider, memetik kes pada 2009.
"Bukan Islam tidak boleh didakwa di Mahkamah Syariah. Jadi mana-mana fatwa daripada Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan tidak terpakai kepada bukan Islam," katanya dan menambah fatwa hanya terpakai kepada umat Islam seperti diputuskan dalam kes Mahkamah Persekutuan pada 2009 yang diputuskan oleh tiga hakim dalam kes Sulaiman Takrib lawan Kerajaan Negeri Terengganu; Kerajaan Malaysia (pencelah) & Kes Lain.
Panel hakim pada ketika itu terdiri daripada Hakim Besar Malaya pada ketika ini Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, bekas Ketua Hakim Negara Tun Zaki Azmi dan Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad yang membuat penghakiman terakhirnya. Antaranya, fatwa hanya terpakai kepada penganut agama Islam.
Pengasas Lawyers for Liberty Eric Paulsen juga mengatakan tidak ada apa yang boleh dilakukan oleh penguatkuasa agama terhadap bukan Islam.
"Apa-apa titah dikeluarkan, sama ada daripada Sultan atau Yang di-Pertuan Agong, tidak terpakai kepada bukan Islam," kata Paulsen.
"Walaupun Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) atau Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) mengeluarkan perintah, ia tidak memberi kesan kepada bukan Islam."
Beliau mengatakan terdapat beberapa kes mahkamah dengan jelas menunjukkan Malaysia merupakan sebuah negara sekular.
"Islam bukanlah faktor utama yang boleh menafikan hak asasi rakyat Malaysia seperti dijamin Perlembagaan Persekutuan," kata Paulsen.
"Rakyat Malaysia dijamin kebebasan bersuara, berekspresi dan beragama. Semua ini jelas ditulis dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan."
Beliau memberikan komen selepas Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah mengatakan sensitiviti agama dan status Islam sebagai agama rasmi negara harus dihormati.
"Titah Agong merupakan nasihat. Bagaimanapun, ia tidak membantu kerana apa yang diperlukan untuk menyelesaikan isu 'Allah' adalah perundingan di antara pihak berkepentingan," kata Paulsen.
Beliau juga mengatakan, Raja-raja Melayu, Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat dan pemimpin Kristian harus duduk bersama bagi menyelesaikan isu ini secara aman.
Semua pihak berkepentingan harus membuang prejudis dan berbincang untuk menyelesaikan isu ini, kata peguam tersebut.
Pakar Perlembagaan Dr Abdul Aziz Bari juga berkata Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan tidak mempunyai kuasa undang-undang dalam perkara berkaitan Islam kerana perkara itu merupakan urusan kerajaan negeri.
"Perkara berkaitan agama Islam urusan negeri-negeri, dan Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan tidak mempunyai status di sisi Perlembagaan," katanya dalam satu kenyataan semalam.
"Pembahagian kuasa persekutuan-negeri yang meletakkan Islam di tangan negeri-negeri dikekalkan oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan."
Anymore of Edmund and Paulsen?  |
| 'Allah': The King speaks up Posted: 19 Jan 2014 03:08 AM PST Let's wait for reactions, especially by the churches, the Protestants and those who dragged 'Allah' to courts and making a polemic out of it. Now that the King has said that the exclusivity of using 'Allah' belongs to the Muslims, I personally believe there would be some contests. Jan 19 (Reuters) - Malaysia's king gave his backing on Sunday to a court ruling barring non-Muslims from using the word Allah to refer to God, weighing in for the first time on an issue that has fanned religious tensions in the multi-cultural country.
Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam, whose role as head of state is largely ceremonial, alluded to the issue which has raised questions over miniority rights during his birthday speech to the Southeast Asian nation.
A court in October ruled that the word was exclusive to majority Malay Muslims, overturning an earlier decision allowing a Catholic newspaper to use Allah in its Malay-language edition.
The court ruling has since prompted Muslim leaders to call for demonstrations against Christians who do not comply. Christians make up about 9 percent of Malaysia's 29 million people.
"In the context of a pluralistic society, religious sensitivities especially related to Islam as the religion of the federation should be respected," Sultan Abdul Halim said in the speech released by state news agency Bernama.
"Confusion and controversy can be averted if there is adherence to the provisions of the law and judicial decisions."
Police are currently investigating a Catholic priest under sedition laws for insisting the word can be used by non-Muslims in Malay, the country's national language.
Sultan Abdul Halim is one of the nine sultans who take turns every five years to serve as head of state.
While the king has limited powers, he is regarded as a defender of the Islamic faith and is deeply respected by the Malay Muslims who make up 60 percent of the population.
The sultans have become increasingly vocal about their role in defending Islam in a country that also has sizable Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.
They have the authority to appoint clerics and instruct religious police to safeguard the faith in Malaysian states that they head.
Earlier this month religious authorities in Selangor state seized over 300 Malay Bibles from a Christian group, saying they acted on a decree by the sultan of that state forbidding non-Muslims from using Allah.
Prime Minister Najib Razak had pledged in 2011 that Malay-speaking Christians across the country could use the word Allah.
That assurance came a year after arsonists firebombed several churches in 2010 over an initial court ruling that allowed the Catholic newspaper to use the Arabic word.
Government ministers have said the word could still be used in eastern Sabah and Sarawak states, where most of Malaysia's Christians live, but the October ruling and Sultan Abdul Halim's endorsement has left doubt over whether it can be used in the peninsula. Actually I am more interested to get comments from PAS leaders, who in securing their politics with DAP and PKR had said it was not wrong for non-Muslims to use 'Allah' as a reference to God. Forget Anwar, let's listen to what Hadi Awang and Nik Aziz have to say... Note: Also read The Scribe by A Kadir Jasin  |
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