Loke also denied raising the issue in Cabinet when he was transport minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan-led government, Sinar Harian reported.
“The decision to try and resolve the (case) out of court was made by the Cabinet. Maybe he (Muhyiddin Yassin) was absent from the meeting which discussed the matter,” he was quoted as saying.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin, who was the home minister in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration between May 2018 and February 2020, claimed that a minister from DAP had approached him to settle the court case involving Sarawakian Jill Ireland’s right to use the word “Allah” in her religious learning.
He claimed that he told the minister that he could not agree to the request as the home ministry wanted the case to proceed.
DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng then responded by demanding that Muhyiddin name the minister involved.
Loke said Muhyiddin was being unfair by linking DAP to the issue, and accused the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman of politicising the case.
Calling for the matter to be managed harmoniously in view of Malaysia’s plural society, the transport minister assured that the current Cabinet remained committed to defending Islam’s position as the federation’s official religion.
“I hope that matters like these would be managed more prudently without touching on sensitive issues,” Loke said, according to Sinar Harian.
On March 10, 2021, the High Court ruled that Jill Ireland could use the word “Allah” for the purpose of religious education in Malay and her native Melanau language in Sarawak.
In a landmark decision, Justice Nor Bee Ariffin said a Dec 5, 1986 home ministry directive to prohibit the use of the words “Allah”, “Baitullah”, “Solat” and “Kaabah” by non-Muslims was illegal.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), representing the home ministry, notified the Court of Appeal on April 18 that it did not wish to pursue its appeal from the High Court’s decision.
Meanwhile, a former aide to Muhyiddin had urged Putrajaya to declassify the minutes of Cabinet meetings that discussed the “Allah” issue under the previous PH government.
Mahathir was in his second tenure as prime minister during PH’s 22 months in power.
Meanwhile, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the High Court’s ruling had never touched on religion but concerned the contradictions between an administrative order issued in 1986 and a Cabinet decision made the same year.
He urged politicians to be factual when issuing statements on the government’s decision to withdraw its appeal in the case.