Former AG: All Malaysians bound by "Allah" ruling

All Malaysians are bound by the Court of Appeal's ruling on the "Allah" issue, said former attorney-general Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman.

He said as such, he could not fathom the logic behind two ministers' insistence in saying that the ruling did not affect Christians residing in Sabah and Sarawak.

"It has the effect of a binding precedent and all have to respect that decision, whether you agree or disagree.

"There cannot be exemptions given to Sabah and Sarawak on this issue based on region or state," he told The Malaysian Insider.

He was responding to Tan Sri Joseph Kurup and Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili's statements that Christians in the Borneo states were unaffected by the court's verdict last Monday and could use the word in their religious practices.

The Court of Appeal had disallowed The Herald, a weekly publication, from using the term "Allah" in its Malay edition to refer to the Christian 'God'.

The decision was made by a three-man panel comprising Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali, Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Justice Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim following the Home Ministry's and government's appeal against the High Court's earlier decision that use of "Allah" was not exclusive to Muslims.

Appandi had said, the court found that the usage of the term "Allah" was not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity.

Referring to the ruling, Abu Talib, who was the chief legal adviser to the government for 13 years from 1980, there could be no two sets of law when "we have one nation and one supreme constitution."

"The Court of Appeal has made a finding that the name 'Allah' is not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity and, by that extension, the word is exclusive to Islam and Muslims.

"The position of Islam as the religion of the Federation and freedom of other religions could come under scrutiny if the merit of the appeal was heard in the apex court.

"It boils down to freedom of non-Muslims to practice their faith and any decision under the Federal Constitution binds all, irrespective of state and region," he had said.

Following the controversial ruling, DAP chairman Karpal Singh urged for a full-bench hearing comprising all 14 judges including Muslims and non-Muslim judges to hear the appeal at the Federal Court.

Karpal also said the court's judgment caused "serious disquiet and tension between Muslims and non-Muslims in the country, in particular the Christians."