The ban on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims will not be lifted even if the Selangor government removes the relevant section in its enactment, law professor Abdul Aziz Bari said.

 

He said this in response to Cultural and Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz’s ( below ) challenge to Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor to do so to prove it treats all Malaysians equally.

 

The constitutional expert said that Nazri’s suggestion is irrelevant because the Federal Court ruling in the case involving the Catholic weekly, The Herald .

 

“Rightly or wrongly the law on the use of Allah now, as has been declared by the Federal Court, is that only Muslims can use Allah.

 

“The law of the land, which is also the highest law of the land, namely the constitution has been interpreted that way by the court,” Abdul Aziz said.

 

He said that this means that to overturn the ban, the government must amend the constitution, and this requires two-thirds majority at Parliament.

 

Alternatively, the Agong can ask courts to overturn the ban via a declaration.

 

Article 130 states that the Agong may refer to the Federal Court for its opinion on any provision on the constitution and the court can give its opinion as reference.

 

Separation of powers

 

Aziz Bari also stressed that the executive have no power to interpret the law, as per the separation of powers doctrine.

 

“So Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali have no power to change the law.

 

“Even the sultans or the National Fatwa Council cannot do anything about it,” he said.

 

The Federal Court in a slim 4-3 majority decision dismissed The Herald’s application to appeal the Court of Appeal decision on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by the weekly.

 

The Court of Appeal had overturned a High Court decision to quash the Home Ministry’s ban on The Herald’s use of the word ‘Allah’.