Responding to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s repeated call for Christians to use the word ‘Allah’, a National Fatwa Council member has reminded all parties not to challenge the council’s decision that ‘Allah’ can only be used by the Muslims in the country.

According to Malay daily Sinar Harian , Penang mufti Hassan Ahmad stated that the matter has been clearly explained by the council and it should not be polemicised any further.

“The decision to ban the usage of the word ‘Allah’ in the Bible must be respected by all races,” he was quoted as saying.

Hassan was referring to Lim’s Christmas message urging the government to allow the Christians in peninsular Malaysia to use the word ‘Allah’ in their Malay version of the Bible.

NONE Lim ( left ) also said that if the government is principled then it should not politicise Christianity to gain the support of its Malay voting base for the upcoming general election.

Hassan asserted that the word ‘Allah’ has been categorised as one of the 40 words that cannot be used by non-Muslims.

“The Penang mufti’s department has decided that words such as ‘ Allah ’, ‘ takwa ’, ‘ haji ’ and ‘ masjid ’ can only be used by Muslims.

“The rule was enforced during Pakatan Rakyat’s regime and agreed by Lim as the chief minister, in which he has been notified and regulations have been enacted.

“He already knows about this matter, we have already informed and the rule has been enacted,” Hassan stressed.

DAP’s coalition partners PAS also shared the same stance as the council.

PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali told the Malay daily that the Bible should only be translated into Malay with the original words.

He explained that since the Bible originally uses the word ‘God’, thus the precise Malay translation for the word would be ‘Tuhan’.

“It is only fair to use the word 'God', there is no need to use ‘Allah’,” he was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, PKR was of the view that the matter should not be made into an issue, as it has been clarified that the usage of the ‘Allah’ is subjected to the government’s approval.

PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said that this matter has been answered by the Pakatan and PKR leadership back in 2010.

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