NGO Centre for a Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) co-president Gan Ping Sieu believes a blanket ban on the use of the words is “counter-productive” in a plural society.
“The ban should only be restricted to curb attempts at proselytising among Muslims or for other ill-intent, such as a non-Muslim calling himself a ‘haji’ or referring to his place of worship as ‘masjid’.
“We respect Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution and the respective state laws that ban attempts to propagate other religions to Muslims,” Gan said in a statement today.
His comments came after the Kedah government recently amended state law to increase the number of words non-Muslims are prohibited from using, from 24 to 55.
In Selangor, the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 passed by the then-BN state government prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases used inn Islam, including “Allah”.
'Ban serves to build more barriers'
However, Gan said the ban not only makes a “mockery” of the national as well as Arabic languages, it also serves to build more barriers among the different ethnic communities in the country.
“A blanket ban will further create impediments for non-Muslims to have learning access and a better understanding of Islam,” he said, stressing that no group should have monopoly over words in any language.
“How else can non-Muslims converse in Malay without using common words like ‘syariah’, ‘masjid’, ‘surau’, ‘ulama’, ‘Quran’, ‘haji’, and ‘solat’?
“What about non-Muslims in states where the state anthems contain the word ‘Allah’?” he asked.
Pointing out how some Muslim scholars do not see any problem with non-Muslims using “assalamualaikum”, Gan also believes that allowing non-Muslims to use the greeting and other banned words for communication purposes would enhance the sense of camaraderie among all races in the country.
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