In a Facebook post, Baru revealed that several ministers under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration had attempted to resolve the matter in mid-2019 in an effort led by Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) chairman Daim Zainuddin.
He said the decision was made after referring to lawyers for Jill Ireland and Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Sabah, who agreed to settle the issue out of court, as well as the senior federal counsel from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
“Tun Daim was unable to take action because the Cabinet member responsible for resolving the issue did not seem keen on communicating with him,” Baru said.
Baru, who was works minister under the former PH government, said he and other ministers raised the issue with the Cabinet on Nov 8, 2019, and suggested that the 1986 directive be amended to allow Christian publications in Sabah and Sarawak to use the word “Allah” unconditionally.
The peninsula would also be allowed to use the word “Allah”, granted the symbol of the cross and the phrase “Christian publication” were featured on the cover of books.
Baru said the AGC had agreed to their proposal, but it required approval from the home minister.
“Unfortunately, the minister (Muhyiddin) did not agree to the proposal and decided to leave it to the courts to resolve the matter.”
He then urged the lawyers for Ireland and SIB to write to the AGC’s senior federal counsel again with the same proposals.
“But before the special committee of ministers or the Cabinet could make a final decision, the PH government had collapsed in February 2020.
“Hence, the problem was no longer in our hands and was left to be addressed by the home ministry under the current government.”
On March 10, High Court judge Nor Bee Ariffin ruled that a Dec 5, 1986 home ministry directive to prohibit the use of the words “Allah”, “Baitullah”, “Solat” and “Kaabah” by non-Muslims was illegal and unconstitutional.
The judge said the directive was wrongly issued as it went beyond the aims of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
On Monday, the government filed an appeal against the High Court ruling that Christians were now not subject to the 1986 directive and therefore not prohibited from using the word “Allah” in their religious education and books.