The Malaysian Gudwaras Council (MGC) said today that the decreeby the Selangor Sultan banning the use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims was akin to preventing Sikhs from reading their holy book.
This, its president Jagir Singh said in a statement today, is because the word 'Allah' is an integral part of the original text of Sikh Holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji for reference to God.
"The Holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji contains divine revelations and therefore, not a single word of these revelations in their original form can be changed, amended, or altered.
"Thus, any curtailment of the use of the words in the original text in the Holy
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji will be tantamount to prohibiting Sikhs from
reading their Holy Book and following their religion as enshrined in the
federal constitution," he said.
Jagir said the council was saddened by the Selangor Sultan's decree of banning non-Muslims from using the word 'Allah'.
"The MGC is further dismayed that that no exceptions have been made in the decree.
"Other than this, we do not wish to make any further comments, except to say that we shall take up the issue at an appropriate forum," he said.
He also reminded the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais) that despite its assertion of Section 9 of the Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation amongst Muslim) Enactment 1988 bans non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah', it had in fact been declared unconstitutional in a 2009 High Court ruling.
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