Award-winning American Muslim scholar on Allah ruling: “We are laughing at you”

Reza Aslan says Christians using the word Allah do not pose a threat to Islam.


A well-known American Muslim theologian has joined a long list of critics over the recent Court of Appeal ruling on the use of the word Allah, saying it was a "political decision more than anything else".

"This notion that Malaysian Muslims need to be protected by the court because you can't think for yourself, you can't make decisions on your own. We are laughing at you," said Reza Aslan, speaking on BFM Radio's Evening Edition programme yesterday.

"That you can control people's ideas, their behaviour, their faith and their minds simply by trying to control the words that they use, is absurd. It is an embarassment to a modern, constitutional, democratic and deeply Muslim state like Malaysia," he added.

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Judges “misinformed”, Allah ruling tantamount to persecuting Christians - Archbishop Pakiam

The head of the Malaysian Catholic Church today said that the decision of the Court of Appeal on the Allah issue was tantamount to persecuting Christians in Malaysia.

Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam (pic) noted that the three judges were grossly misinformed in arriving at the decision to ban Catholic weekly Herald from using the word Allah.

He said Christians in Malaysia have been using the word peacefully for centuries and "we do not accept the statement of these judges".


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Putrajaya’s silence on calls to defend Islam from “threats and insults” is worrying, say Christians

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is concerned over Putrajaya's inaction in cooling rising temperatures on the Allah issue, ahead of the case which will be heard at the Court of Appeal tomorrow.

Its chairman Rev Dr Eu Hong Seng said there had been calls by various groups to defend Islam from being insulted and threatened.

"The call for 'action' by some Muslims is incendiary and alarming to ordinary Malaysians.

"Worst of all, there appears to be no action or statement from any government authority calling for calm or even ordering a stop to such actions, which is clearly stoking anger," Dr Eu said in a statement.

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Tengku Adnan draws fire from Hindus for suggesting only their temples cause problems

At the centre of the storm, the temple which Tengku Adnan has downgraded to a 'shrine' in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. September 9, 2013.

Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor stepped into a minefield when he "downgraded" a century-old Hindu temple into a shrine and then pointedly asked why the authorities "always had problems with temples and not churches, mosques or Chinese temples".

The attitude of the Federal Territories minister to a sacred Hindu spot hit a raw nerve among other politicians and the head of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, who responded strongly today.

They questioned if Tengku Adnan knew enough about Hinduism to make comments on what is a shrine or a temple and on the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Temple, in particular.

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Court allows Putrajaya’s appeal against ‘Allah’ ruling

The Catholic Church today failed to strike out Putrajaya’s appeal against the 2009 landmark High Court ruling that upheld Christians’ right to refer to God as “Allah”.

Court of Appeal Justice Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin ruled that the subject matter of the appeal was “not academic”.

“It is still a live issue,” Abu Samah said in his judgment today.

“The controversy has yet to be resolved,” he said to a packed courtroom.

With the decision, the church will have to duke it out in the courtroom with Putrajaya again next month, prolonging the over four-year-long legal tug-of-war between Muslims and Christians here over one word — Allah.

Abu Samah was heading a three-man Bench that included Justices Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim and Datuk Rohana Yusuf.

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Smaller turnout than expected at ‘Allah’ protest

The highly-anticipated protest against the Catholic Church’s “Allah” appeal today drew a smaller turnout than expected despite Malay rights group Perkasa’s repeated calls for its members and supporters to turn up in a show of Muslim solidarity.

Around 200 people gathered outside the Court of Appeal here as they awaited the court’s decision on the Catholic Church’s application to dismiss the government’s appeal against the landmark decision to allow non-Muslims to use the word “Allah”.

“We’re not here today to protest but the show solidarity and support to our fellow Muslim lawyers to fight for us.

“Let’s respect one another and don’t do anything to provoke anyone,” Iqbal Hakim from Persatuan Belia Islam Nasional told the crowd.

On Monday, Muslim-Malay supremacy group Perkasa vowed to rally outside the court to protest the church’s attempt to use the word “Allah”, which it has insisted belongs exclusively to Muslims.

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On eve of trial, Catholic priest cautions against raising ‘Allah’

Catholic priest Rev Father Lawrence Andrew has implored Malaysians to refrain from raising the “Allah” issue now that the disputed word has returned to court, after Muslim supremacists declared a rally in protest against the Church tomorrow.

Andrew, who is also the editor of Catholic paper, Herald, said the issue “should not be tried by intimidation or in the media”, in response to Perkasa’s declaration.

“First and foremost, it’s a court case so people speaking about it outside the court is subjudice,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.

Self-declared defenders of Islam, Perkasa, had sparked alarm among Malaysia’s religious minorities with its intent to demonstrate against the Church outside the Court of Appeal while the case is underway as it called to mind the tensions that spiralled into violence four years ago after the High Court ruled “Allah” was not exclusive to Muslims.

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Pray for ‘Allah’ appeal, Archbishop urges Catholics

Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam urged Catholics nationwide to pray for tomorrow’s highly-anticipated Court of Appeal hearing.

Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam has urged Catholics nationwide to pray for tomorrow’s highly-anticipated Court of Appeal hearing, when the Catholic Church is scheduled once again to duke it out with the government over its right to use “Allah”.

The hearing could see another legal victory for the Church or prolong its legal battle for the right to refer to its God as “Allah”, the word in the centre of a protracted legal battle that has put a major strain on religious ties between Christians and Muslims here.

”The Archbishop of KL calls on Catholics to gather in Churches on Thursday, 22 Aug 2013 from 9am-12noon to pray for a just verdict while the Allah case is being heard at the Court of Appeal,” read a brief text message forwarded to The Malay Mail Online by Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of Catholic weekly Herald.

Yesterday, the Catholic Church’s Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur made a similar plea for prayer for “peace and good sense” to prevail, having voiced its concern that recent statements over the “Allah” issue may reignite sentiments that have been simmering since a landmark 2009 High Court ruling.

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Perkasa to rally against Catholic Church as ‘Allah’ case in swing

Perkasa and other Muslim groups said today they will demonstrate against the Catholic Church outside the Court of Appeal when the religious tussle over the Middle Eastern word for god heads back to the legal arena.


Catholic Arcbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam should brace himself this Thursday should he decide to attend the court hearing to defend the Church’s right to use “Allah”.

Perkasa and other Muslim groups said today they will demonstrate against the Catholic Church outside the Court of Appeal when the religious tussle over the Middle Eastern word for god heads back to the legal arena.

Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said the planned rally was in support of the Home Ministry in its efforts to prohibit non-Muslims from referring to God as “Allah” in print materials.

“The Court of Appeal’s decision in this case is very important to Muslims,” Syed Hassan said in a statement emailed to The Malay Mail Online.

“Perkasa also calls on other Muslims to join us at Putrajaya in great numbers this Thursday morning. Show our support towards efforts in defending the word “Allah” from being used and misused by other religious believers,” he added.

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In Borders case, common sense triumphs over bad faith

In the face of Malaysia’s rising religious conservatism, a civil court judge has boldly ruled on reason and common sense to uphold a Muslim storekeeper’s constitutional right to sell a book Islam’s gatekeepers here found offensive.

The court case involving the local Borders’ sale of Canadian author Irshad Manji’s book “Allah, Liberty and Love” has been closely-watched since it hit national headlines last year after Islamic enforcement officials seized the stock and charged the store manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz with violating publication and distribution laws.

Five months after pronouncing the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (JAWI), the home minister and the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs guilty of abusing their powers to illegally prosecute the bookstore’s Muslim manager, Datuk Zaleha Yusof of the Kuala Lumpur High Court has finally released her grounds of judgment.

Though couched in the language of the court, the judge’s strongly-worded explanation kept to a strict interpretation of the law that has given hope to Malaysians that their civil liberties as laid down in the country’s founding document remain as robust as the day they were conceived half a century ago.

“I am satisfied that the applicants have shown existence of illegality, abuse of discretionary powers, irrationality, unreasonable exercise of power, unconstitutionally and that there exists procedural impropriety on the part of the respondents,” Zaleha wrote in her grounds of judgment released last week.

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On YouTube, yet another religious row stirs

Malaysians are again picking up their well-worn pitchforks after a video surfaced on YouTube yesterday allegedly showing a Muslim prayer room in Johor being used by Buddhist tourists for worship.

The 85-second-long video titled “Surau dijadikan tokong???” (A surau turned into a temple?) begins with an external shot of a small building and a close-up of what appears to be a sign in Arabic script over a doorway.

The video’s maker then approaches the building to record what appears to be a prayer session by a dozen white-clad people led by a monk in red and saffron. At the front of the room, the video briefly displays a Buddhist poster below a plaque with Arabic script.

According to reports by several local dailies today, the surau (prayer room) is located within the grounds of Tanjung Sutera Resort, but the resort’s manager has clarified that the tourists were allowed to use the Muslim prayer hall as the other locations were unavailable due to over-booking.

Still, the angry responses are pouring in.

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Your silence is deafening, DAP tells Muhyiddin

The Education Minister’s silence and inaction in the SK Seri Pristana issue is sending out the wrong message to educators in schools nationwide.

DAP's national vice-chairman M. Kula Segaran said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s indifference to the plight of whistleblower Guneswari Kelly, who had to transfer her daughter to a vernacular school, has angered the public.

Guneswari, a parent of a pupil at the school, had exposed how non-Muslim pupils at the school were made to have their recess in a shower room during the Ramadan month after she posted a photo on Facebook.

Her nine-year-old daughter had suffered after that when she became the target of abuse by teachers of the school.

Two days ago, Guneswari told The Malaysian Insider that she will transfer her daughter to a vernacular school in Subang as a result of the bullying. The mother had also been the target of threats.

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SIS warns Jakim against claiming to be voice of God

Malaysia’s religious authorities risk the sin of “shirik” (idolatry) after seemingly speaking for God in judging an online video deemed offensive to Islam, Muslim women’s group Sisters in Islam (SIS) warned yesterday.

On Friday, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) adjudged a video made by dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof, which shows her walking and bathing her dogs, to be an insult to Islam and resulted in the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) pursuing investigations against her.

“What differentiates Jakim’s opinion from that of the lay person is that Jakim’s views are backed up by enforcement powers of the state,” SIS programme manager Suri Kempe told The Malay Mail Online via email yesterday.

“Anybody who questions and challenges the injustice of these views and actions is accused of being against Islam and God,” she said. “This is tantamount to claiming to be the embodiment of God, and Jakim should be very careful as it could be a form of shirik.”

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Racial policies enforced Malaysia’s brain drain, admit BN leaders

Senior Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders admitted today that race-based policies had contributed to Malaysia’s brain drain problem, which the country needs to plug if it is to join the ranks of high-income nations by 2020.

They were responding to former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s remarks in his new book that Malaysia’s acute loss of talent was due to Putrajaya’s insistence on promoting “one race” above all others.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that the rise of “Ketuanan Melayu” or Malay supremacy had previously caused local talents to quit the country.

“I will say in the past the issue of Ketuanan Melayu in fact caused some migration of people from the country but we want to emphasise that Malaysia is a multiracial country and we preserve harmony and unity in this country.

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Seri Pristana whistleblower transfers daughter to vernacular school

The whistleblower parent who exposed how non-Muslim pupils at the SK Seri Pristana had been made to have their recess in a shower room has removed her daughter from the school.

Guneswari Kelly said she is putting her daughter in a vernacular school in Subang, adding she made this decision after her child allegedly was shamed during school assemblies and subjected to constant racial slurs by teachers and schoolmates.

"One of her teachers harassed her by accusing her of bringing shame to the school. She also told my daughter she was not fit to be a pupil of the school," Guneswari told The Malaysian Insider today.

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Jakim gives MCMC nod to go after dog trainer

The country's Islamic authorities have set the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on dog trainer Maznah Yusof, saying action against her online video would be a “lesson to society not to repeat such acts”.

Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director Datuk Othman Mustapha said his department today submitted its investigations paper on Maznah, also known as Chetz Yusof, to the commission and may also call her up for counselling.

“If authorities take action against her (Maznah) it will be seen as a lesson to her specifically and society at large not to repeat such acts,” Othman was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama today.

On Tuesday, a 105-second video reposted on YouTube showed Maznah walking and bathing her three dogs as the “Takbir Raya”, or Muslim call to prayer traditionally reserved for the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, plays in the background.


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Jakim hands report on dog trainer Maznah to MCMC for action

The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) has sent its report to the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for action to be taken against dog trainer Maznah Yusof (pix) over her Hari Raya video.

Jakim director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha said the department and the state religious authority also planned to call the woman to explain her action and to advise her.
"If action is taken against her, it is to serve as a lesson to her, in particular, and society as a whole, not to do it again," he said in a statement here.

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Strip Namewee of his citizenship, demands Perkasa

Malay rights group Perkasa has demanded that rapper and filmmaker Namewee’s (pic) citizenship be revoked over his criticisms against the government and for allegedly issuing racial comments.

Deputy president Datuk Abdul Rahman Abu Bakar said it had lodged countless police reports against Namewee but the Attorney-General had done nothing.

“We urge the authorities to stop being soft towards Namawee. He has insulted the national anthem, flag and yet nothing was done,” he said today at a press conference to highlight Namewee’s latest YouTube clip.

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Muhyiddin must apologise for inferring non-Muslims behind dog bathing video, says Pakatan

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should apologise for jumping the gun and blaming non-Muslims for being behind a video clip depicting a dog undergoing ablution similar to Muslims before prayers, DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang said today.

"He should apologise for condemning the video without checking the facts," said the Gelang Patah MP in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today.

Muslim dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof, 38, had recorded a Raya greeting video three years ago that showed her washing dogs' paws while the call for Azan is heard in the background.

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One parent enough to convert kids, says Islamic Affairs Dept

The state Islamic Affairs Department needs only the consent of one parent who has embraced Islam to convert the children to the faith, state director Datuk Johani Hassan said.

This was clearly spelt out under the laws for those who wished to embrace Islam, he said, adding that such laws were in force in several states.

“The law does not say that we need the consent of both parents before we can convert their children.

“When one parent embraces Islam, the children can be automatically converted,” he said.

The Government, however, had announced in April 2009 that children of an estranged couple should be raised in the religion of the parents at the time when they were still married.

The announcement was made by the then de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

Johani was responding yesterday to a claim by a 29-year-old Hindu mother that her estranged husband had converted their two children, aged five and eight, without her knowledge in April.

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