Christians in Sabah and Sarawak can continue to use 'Allah' in their home states but must avoid the word when they are in Peninsular Malaysia, a cabinet minister said today.

NONEElaborating on his support for the Court of Appeal's decision to back a Home Ministry ban on the use of the word ‘Allah' by The Herald, Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz (left) said East Malaysian culture was different from the peninsula and the two should not be mixed.

While Christians can continue using ‘Allah' in Sabah and Sarawak because that is a century-old practice, in the peninsula, they must mind sensitivities.

"It is not practised in Peninsular Malaysia. Because of that, I protest against it (the use of 'Allah' by Christians). I don't care what others are saying," Nazri told reporters.

"So, don't kick up a fuss. For Christians from Sabah and Sarawak, when they come here, they need to follow the customs and traditions in the peninsula," he added.

Nazri said differences were not so hard to accept. When Peninsular Malaysians visit Sabah and Sarawak, they had to show their passports to get into the Borneo states, but not the other way around.

“We find it funny eventhough we are all Malaysians, we need to use passports to (enter) Sabah and Sarawak, but we do it because we respect what they want,” said Nazri referring to the government's 10-points solution.

What about state anthems?

The 10-point solution was announced by the government in 2011 to address the use of Bahasa Indonesia Bibles in Sabah and Sarawak which contained the term "Allah" to refer to God.

“I warn the Sabahans and Sarawakians who come to the peninsula to respect us as much as we respect them,” warned Nazri.

According to Nazri, some quarters had stated that if "Allah" is only to be used by Muslims, then the non-Muslims are not able to sing several state anthems that contained the verses that meant “Allah blessed the sultan”.

Among the states anthem that contained the word "Allah" are Selangor, Perak, Johore, Terengganu, Pahang and Kedah.

Nazri explained that the word "Allah" in the anthems were referring to the religion of the Sultan and not referring to the religon of all the people.

“If a non-Muslim sings 'Kuan Yin blessed the Sultan, Siva blessed the Sultan or Jesus blessed the Sultan', he or she will get slap by the Sultan,” he said.

He further warned “I hope non-Christians group won’t get involved in this matter. It is between us Muslims and the Christians. This is very sensitive.

“If the people love this country, all must respect the sensitivity in the country, please be careful."

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