PUTRAJAYA: The cabinet has been granted the consent of the king to present proposals to strengthen the enforcement of the use of the word "Allah" to the Council of Malay Rulers.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the proposals were aimed at forging greater unity and harmony among the people, who are of different races and religions.
"The cabinet today discussed the decision by the attorney-general to withdraw its appeal against the (Sarawakian) Jill Ireland case related to a publication containing the word 'Allah'.
"The cabinet took note that such a decision revolved only around administrative matters and would not change the ruling of the Federal Court in 2014," he said in a statement today.
The statement was issued shortly after Anwar attended the Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house hosted by the Prime Minister's Department.
The unity government under his leadership, said Anwar, respects, acknowledges and adopts state enactments and the decree issued by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Feb 27 to maintain existing policies on the use of the word 'Allah'
"The government would continue to defend the Federal Constitution especially Article 3, in relation to Islam being the religion of the Federation and that other religions can be practised in peace and harmony," he said.
Umno information chief Datuk Seri Azalina Othman yesterday said ministers from the party would raise the use of the word 'Allah' by Christians, during the weekly cabinet meeting today.
Azalina, who is also minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms), said that the issue must be handled carefully as the government continued to be criticised for withdrawing its appeal against the High Court ruling.
It was reported that the government withdrew its appeal over the High Court's ruling which allows non-Muslims to use the word Allah and three other words for teaching purposes.
The three other words are kaabah, solat and baitullah.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the move to withdraw the appeal was following the discovery of a contradiction between a 1986 cabinet decision and the Home Ministry's administrative order the same year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the use of the word "Allah" by Christians for the publication of religious materials for educational purposes is only limited to Sarawak.