Malaysia

What the law says:

How the law is used:

Yesterday, a Malay appeals court ruled that non-Muslims cannot use the word “Allah” to refer to their Gods. The decision comes after a long-running dispute about the ownership of the word, and at a time of heightened ethnic and religious tensions in the country. Around 61% of Malaysia’s 29 million inhabitants are Sunni Muslims (other denominations are banned), but the country also has sizeable Buddhist, Christian and Hindu groups. The country has a dual justice system, of which the state’s secular law applies to all and sharia law to Muslims. Both criminalise offending religious (Islamic) feelings. Nevertheless, the special position of Islam as the official religion of the country – and government enforced Muslim preferences - mean that most blasphemy charges arise from perceived offences to Islam.

As said, “Allah” has been the centre of a long-running controversy in Malaysia. In 2007, the Home Ministry banned the Catholic publication Herald from using “Allah” as the word for the Christian God. The Catholic Church in the country contested this decision in 2009 with lawyers for the church arguing that the word predated Islam and was commonly used by other religions to denote God in many parts of the world. Government lawyers claimed that Muslims would be “confused” and might even convert to Christianity if non-Muslims were to use “Allah.” The Catholics eventually won the case, which lead to widespread attacks on Christian churches in the country.

The government launched an appeal, and yesterday, an appeals court overturned the decision, with the unanimous verdict given by three Muslim judges. Chief Judge Mohamed Apandi Ali said: "The usage of the word Allah is not an integral part of the faith in Christianity. The usage of the word will cause confusion in the community." The Herald editor, Reverend Lawrence Andrew said he would once again appeal against the decision.

Besides the “Allah” debacle, blasphemy charges abound in Malaysia. Recently, a resort manager who had (seen in YouTube video) allowed the hotel’s surau (Muslim prayer room) to be used by Buddhist tourists for worship was charged under Article 295 of the Malaysian Penal Code for “defiling a place of worship.” In July, a dog-trainer was arrested for “causing disharmony on grounds of religion” for posting a video online to celebrate Eid al Fitr, the end of Ramadan festival, which shows her feeding and bathing three dogs while the Muslim call to prayer can be heard in the background. Dogs, as pigs, are considered unclean in Islam. During Ramadan this year, a non-Muslim blogger couple was also arrested for “sedition” after they posted a Ramadan greeting on Facebook. The greeting showed them eating a Chinese pork dish.

The ban on offending religious feelings also affects artistic expression – and is not limited to Malaysian citizens. Last month it emerged that a US heavy metal band had been banned from performing in the country. The government-run Department of Islamic Development decided to bar the Lamb of God from Malaysia because “the group's work could lead Muslims astray, partly because the band has been known to mix excerpts from the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, with heavy metal music.” In fact in 2001, several Malaysian states banned black metal music, with one state reportedly detaining metal-listening students for belonging to “satanic cults”, and even administering “herbal cures” to save these youngsters from the devil. Metal music is not the only one on the government’s blacklist: Only last year, soul artist Erykah Badu’s performance was banned, because a picture of her with the ever so controversial word “Allah” painted on her body was run with the concert ads. This, according to the Information Minister, was “offensive to Islam.”

But, even if the feelings of Muslims are protected by the state, the dual court system means that Muslims can be subjects to harsher punishments than non-Muslims. The Sharia courts operate mainly on the state level and are allowed to dictate decisions on matters relating to a Muslim’s family, personal and religious matters. Often this translates to archaic punishments like caning for “crimes” such as drinking alcohol or engaging in “illicit sex.” State Sharia courts also frequently influence state dress-codes and other modesty-related rules: for example, Kelantan state government imposes fines on Muslim women who show more than their face and hands, and on non-Muslim women who dress “sexily or indecently.” Maybe most troublingly, Sunni Muslims face enormous difficulties if they wish to convert to other religions, or leave religion entirely. In order for a Muslim to renounce their religion, they must attain permission from the Sharia court – which unsurprisingly is no easy feat. People belonging to the Malay ethnic group (around 60% of the citizens) are mandated by the Malaysian constitution to be Muslims, even though the constitution also guarantees freedom of religion. This then means that leaving Islam becomes as impossible as leaving one’s ethnic origin. For example, in 2007, a Malay woman lost her appeal to a Sharia court to convert to Christianity; and subsequently had to go into hiding after being ostracized by her community.

Yesterday’s “Allah” ruling has been said to have political motivations, with Prime Minister Najib Razak attempting to secure the ethnic Malays' support before the upcoming party assembly. Experts say that the decision may work to bolster the position of the PM’s UMNO party against the opposition Islamic party PAS, who have run a close race at the national elections May this year. The UNMO has led the country since its independence from Britain in 1957, and has instituted Malay-favouring policies which give the ethnic group preference in areas such as land purchase, university admissions and bank loans. While the government has promised to roll back some of these preferences, the latest "Allah" ruling suggests that any real reform of Malaysia's biased ethnic policies is unlikely to take place under the current authorities.

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