Malay-speaking Christians in the Malaysian state of Selangor are now concerned that using the word “Allah” for God could be construed as disobeying the sultan, or local hereditary ruler. The concern arose after a minister said in Parliament on July 13 that “those who insult or disobey orders of the sultan, as head of Islam, are committing an offence under Section 12 of Syariah Criminal Enactment (Selangor) 1995,” ucanews.com reports.
The penalty is a fine of not more than 3,000 ringgit (US$930) or a jail term of not more than two years, or both.
De facto Law Minister and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamad Nazri Aziz made these remarks when asked whether orders made by sultans could be enforced despite them not being gazetted.
The fact that such orders were not gazetted did not render them ineffective, and this would include orders made by sultans, as head of Islam in their states, to protect the religion, said Nazri.
Nine of Malaysia’s states and territories have a hereditary ruler, usually called a “sultan.”
Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah earlier this year said he wanted the state to abide by the Selangor Fatwa Council’s decision that the word “Allah” was exclusive to Muslims.
Some churches in Selangor, which surrounds the federal capital Kuala Lumpur, continue to use “Allah” in their Malay-language services.
“We are not being disobedient to our Sultan,” a deacon said. “But we have a responsibility to preach the word of God to some of our people in the language they best understand, which happens to be Malay.”
Shari’a lawyer and constitutional law expert Shad Saleem Faruqi had said earlier this year that “every person’s communion with God is personal and cannot be regulated. In my opinion, any attempt to control people in their communion with God is downright impossible.”
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