State Bans On Religious Words May Be Unconstitutional Says Multi Faith Body

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The Kuala Lumpur High Court had ruled in 2021 that a Sarawakian woman, Jill Ireland, could use the word ‘Allah’ in her religious education.PETALING JAYA: A multi-faith group says the banning of several religious words under state laws may be unconstitutional as it goes beyond the scope of the Federal Constitution.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism said most states have passed enactments to prohibit non-Muslims from using between 20 to 40 words.
The state bans had relied on Article 11 (4), the constitutional provision that permits Parliament and state assemblies to place restrictions on propagating any religious doctrine or belief among Muslims.
However, the council said “propagation of any religious doctrine” to Muslims must be present for any of these banned words could come within the ambit of prohibition.
If no propagation was involved, the mere use of the currently restricted words for personal learning should not fall within the scope of Article 11 (4), the council said.
Section 9 of the state enactments, which bans certain words even when there is no propagation involved “will be unconstitutional and is beyond the power given by Article 11 (4),” the council added.
The council urged the government to declare that Section 9 of the respective state enactments are unconstitutional, to protect the rights of all individuals in line with the Federal Constitution.
The statement by the multi-faith body comes after the government confirmed it had decided to abandon an appeal against a lower court ruling on a Sarawakian woman’s right to use the word “Allah” in her religious learning.
In a landmark decision in 2021, the Kuala Lumpur High Court, had upheld Jill Ireland’s right to use the word “Allah” in her religious education. The home ministry filed an appeal, but the attorney-general’s chambers informed the Court of Appeal on April 18 that it did not wish to pursue the matter. - FMT

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