Two Malay rights groups today urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to close down the office of the Vatican representative to Malaysia if the latter does not retract his statement about usage of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians in a week’s time.
Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa (Perkasa) and Jalur Tiga (Jati) said that it is not fair for Archbishop Joseph Marino to support the Malaysian Catholic church’s stand to endorse Christians using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
"Muslim and Malay NGOs together are asking the Vatican ambassador to retract the statement," Jati president Hasan Ali said today.
"The statement was made by a diplomat who misused the immunity given to him by touching on our country’s internal affairs, fundamental things from the federal constitution, and touching on an issue where the majority of Muslims in Malaysia do not want the word Allah to be used by Christians in their Malay Bible," he added.
"If he does not retract his statement in seven days, we will have a delegation meet with the government to ask the prime minister via Wisma Putra to close the Vatican office and ask that the ambassador be sent back to the Vatican."
Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, meanwhile, concurred and said that his organisation shares the same opinion as Jati and Hasan.
Archbishop Marino was reported yesterday as praising the local Catholic church for championing the right of Christians to use the world ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
Meanwhile, Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim), a government-funded foundation, also urged Archbishop Marino to retract his statement.
Its president Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said that the statement made was not consistent with the diplomatic spirit between Malaysia and the Vatican, while also calling it sub judice since the matter is still in the courts.
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