Now, Sikhs want to be part of suit over the word Allah

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4, 2008
The StarOnLine

The Sikh community in Malaysia has become the latest party seeking to intervene in the suit by the Catholic Church over the use of the word “Allah.”

The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council filed an application to intervene in the suit through the firm of Jagjit Singh & Co on Tuesday.

In a supporting affidavit, its president Jagir Singh said the word “Allah” in reference to God was an integral part of the original version of the Sikh holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

As such, he said, no followers of the Sikh religion would tolerate any form of obstruction on the use of the original terms taken from the holy book.

Jagir Singh said the council, the umbrella body of some 130 gurdwaras nationwide representing more than 100,000 followers of the Sikh religion, had an interest in the declaration sought by the applicant of the suit.

In the suit, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Datuk Murphy Pakiam is seeking to declare that the Catholic weekly Herald is entitled to use the word “Allah”.

He is also seeking to declare that its usage was not exclusive to Islam.

Rev Murphy, 70, had named the then Internal Security Minister (now Home Minister after the ministry was merged with the Home Affairs Ministry) and the Government as respondents in the application filed on March 19.

The archbishop is named as an applicant in the action in his capacity as publisher of the Herald.

Other parties which have applied to intervene in the suit are the Penang Islamic Religious Council, Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Custom Council, Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council and Perak Islamic Religious and Malay Custom Council.