Today is a good day, Alhamdullilah

Updated 16.10.2013:

Just to be clear, and to make sure that DAP, PKR or PAS does not capitalise on the matter: 

'The ban on the use of the word Allah only applies to the Catholic weekly, Herald, and not other Christian publications or the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia bible which is widely used in Sabah and Sarawak' 

'The Cabinet decision to allow the use of Allah in Bahasa Malaysia or native language bibles in Sabah and Sarawak and the assurance given by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in 2011 stands'

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar

Source here

Original Post:

'The usage of the name "Allah" is not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity'

'We found no reason why the respondent was so adamant to use the word Allah in their weekly publication'

'Such usage if allowed, will inevitably cause confusion among the community'

Excerpts from the Court of Appeal Judgement over the usage of the word ALLAH in the Catholic Weekly Herald Magazine

Full Written Judgement of Yang Arif  Dato' Sri Haji Mohd Apandi bin Haji Ali

The court of appeal allowed the government's appeal over the usage of the word "Allah" in the Catholic weekly The Herald.

The three-man panel, led by Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali, in an unanimous decision, said the usage of the name "Allah" is not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity.

"We found no reason why the respondent was so adamant to use the word Allah in their weekly publication"

"Such usage if allowed, will inevitably cause confusion among the community," he said.

The panel was also comprised of judges Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim and Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh.

On Dec 31, 2009, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Lau Bee Lan had allowed the church's judicial review application and lifted the government's ban against the Catholic Church for publishing the word "Allah" to refer to the Christian God in the newspaper.

On Jan 4, 2010, the Home Ministry filed the notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal against the High Court decision.

Two days later, the High Court granted a stay of execution of its ruling pending appeal by the Ministry.

The judicial review application was filed by the Catholic Church, led by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, on Feb 16, 2009.

It named the Home Ministry and the government as respondents.

It sought, among others, a declaration that the decision by the ministry on Jan 7, 2009 to prohibit the use of the word "Allah" in the Herald was illegal and that the word was not exclusive to Islam.

On that date, the Home Minister approved the Herald's publishing permit for the period Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009, on condition that the word "Allah" was not used in it and the word "Restricted" was printed on the weekly's front page whereby it could only be circulated to Christians and at churches.

The Home Minister had justified the ban on grounds of national security and to avoid misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims.

At the compound of the Palace of Justice today since 7am, about 1000 supporters from various non-governmental organisations and the public gathered there.

Senior Federal Counsel Suzana Atan appeared for the Home Ministry and the government while counsel Porres P. Royan represented the Archbishop Datuk Murphy Pakiam.

Following is the summary of the judgement on the use of the word "Allah"

1

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF MALAYSIA

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. W-01-1-2010

BETWEEN

1. MENTERI DALAM NEGERI

2. KERAJAAN MALAYSIA

3. MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM & ADAT MELAYU

TERENGGANU

4. MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM WILAYAH

PERSEKUTUAN

5. MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI MELAKA

6. MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI JOHOR

7. MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI KEDAH

8. MALAYSIAN CHINESE MUSLIM ASSOCIATION

9. MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI SELANGOR … APPELLANTS

AND

TITULAR ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF KUALA LUMPUR … RESPONDENT

SUMMARY OF DECISION

[1] Basically this is an appeal against the decision of the High Court arising from an application for judicial review of the imposition of a condition in the publication permit of the Herald – The Catholic Weekly. The impunged condition was the prohibition of the name “Allah” in the said publication. In the course of allowing the judicial2 review the learned High Court judge also allowed certain declaratory relief orders pertaining to the respondent’s constitutional right to use

the name “Allah”.

[2] The law on judicial review in this country is trite law; namely judicial review is not concerned with the merits of a decision but with the manner the decision was made; and that there are 3 categories upon which an administrative decision may be reviewed, i.e. 1.Illegality; 2. Irrationality and 3. Procedural impropriety. When the decision involved an exercise of a discretion, the determinable issues depend on the facts of the case.

[3] Applying the law to the facts and circumstances of the case and bearing in mind the principles to be taken in dealing with judicial review as laid down in the often-quoted case of Council of Civil Service Union & Ors v. Minister for the Civil Service [1985] 1 AC 374; [1984] 4 All E.R 935, it is our considered finding that the Minister has not acted in any manner or way that merit judicial interference on his impugned decision.

[4] On the constitutionality of the action of the 1st appellant to impose the impunged condition prohibiting the usage of the word “Allah” in the Herald, it is our judgment that there is no infringement of the any of the constitutional rights, as claimed by the respondent.3

[5] It is our common finding that the usage of the name “Allah” is not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity. From such finding, we find no reason why the respondent is so adamant to use the name “Allah” in their weekly publication. Such usage, if allowed, will inevitably cause confusion within the community.

[6] In the circumstances and the facts of the case we are also mindful of the Latin maxims of “salus populi suprema lax” (the safety of the people is the supreme law) and “salus republicae suprema lax” (the safety of the state is the supreme law) do co-exist and relevant to the doctrine that the welfare of an individual or group must yield to that of the community. It is also our reading that this is how the element of “in peace and harmony” in Article 3(1) is to be read with the freedom of religion in Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution.

[7] On the evidence before us too we are satisfied that sufficient material have been considered by the Minister in discharging his function and statutory power under the Printing Presses And Publications Act 1984. Although the test under the written law is subjective, there are sufficient evidence to show that such subjective decision was derived by considering all facts and circumstances in an objective manner. Thus, there is no plausible reason for the High Court to interfere with the Minister’s decision.

[8] The detailed explanations and reasons for our findings can be seen in the full text of three separate written judgments, which shall be made available to all parties immediately, at the conclusion of today’s proceedings. My learned brothers, Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahim, JCA and Mohd. Zawawi bin Salleh, JCA have read and approved my judgment. In addition to my judgment, both of my learned brothers have respectively written separate supporting judgments, of which I agree with their methodological analysis and findings.

[9] In the light of our findings, we are unanimous in our decision to allow the appeal by the appellants. Appeal is therefore allowed. All orders given on 31/12/2009 by the High Court pursuant to the Judicial Review application are hereby set aside. As agreed between all parties there will be no order as to costs.

Sdg.

DATO’ SRI HAJI MOHAMED APANDI BIN HAJI ALI

Judge

Court of Appeal, Malaysia

Putrajaya

Dated this 14th day of October 2013.

The full judgement can be read at blogger Dr. Novandri's here:

PENTING ! DOKUMEN LENGKAP 40 MUKASURAT HUJAH HAKIM MAHKAMAH RAYUAN TOLAK THE HERALD GUNA KALIMAH ALLAH

The judgement also contains a letter from the KDN dated 24.04.2007 to Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, which extensively explained that the usage of the word ALLAH in the AlKitab(Injil Melayu) used by Christians Bumis in Sabah and Sarawak is allowed under some restriction, namely it is for sale and  use in a church premise only..hence busting the myth created by some Opposition politicians that the ban on the usage of the word ALLAH in the Herald publication also means a ban on the use of the word ALLAH in the AlKitab.

Picture from the NST - a crowd gathering at Istana Kehakiman waiting for the decision on the  appeal ..do you guys see any Progresif Liberal pemuda UMNO group anywhere, NO? well I guess they are busy celebrating their victory over their conservative regressive UMNO brothers and yes I don't think you'll be seeing the progresif liberals of Pemuda UMNO in such event any time soon, their boss will be busy pandering to the liberals whatever that may be.