PUTRAJAYA: The government has withdrawn its appeal over the High Court's ruling which allows non-Muslims to use the word Allah and three other words for teaching purposes. The other words are kaabah, solat and baitullah.
The senior federal counsel representing the Home Ministry and the government filed the termination notice on April 18. Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan confirmed this.
On March 21, 2021, Court of Appeal judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin, sitting as a High Court judge, made the ruling after a 13-year long legal battle between the government and Jill Ireland, a Christian woman from Sarawak.
Nor Bee described the Home Ministry's directive to prohibit the use of the four words by non-Muslims 35 years ago as "illegal" and "irrational". She said the government directive was issued beyond the aim of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA).
"PPPA cannot be used as a general law to check on public order, public health and morality. Ireland has the (constitutional) right to use and import any publication for her religious education.
"Her right has been guaranteed under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, where she can practise her faith without discrimination. However, the word Allah can only be used by the church provided any publication was only meant for Christians," she said.
Nor Bee said Christians in Sabah and Sarawak had used the word Allah in their church for about 400 years.
Ireland, a Melanau clerk from Sarawak, filed the judicial review in August 2008 against the home minister and the government after the seizure of eight compact discs (CDs) containing the word "Allah" by the Home Ministry near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The CDs bore the titles "Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah", "Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah" and "Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah".
On July 21, 2014, the High Court ordered that the CDs be returned to Ireland, but it did not make an order on the declaration applied for by the woman that she had the right to keep, use and import published materials containing the word "Allah".
On June 23, 2015, the Court of Appeal endorsed the High Court's decision, which ordered the Home Ministry to return the seized CDs to her after dismissing the appeal by the ministry and the Malaysian government against the High Court's decision.