Malay churches firebombed
Source: Agencies |
January 9, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Four Malaysian churches were attacked with firebombs, causing extensive damage to one, as Muslims pledged yesterday to prevent Christians from using the word "Allah," escalating religious tensions in the multiracial country.
Many Malay Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the population, are incensed by a recent High Court decision to overturn a ban on Roman Catholics using "Allah" as a translation for God in the Malay-language edition of their Herald newspaper.
prayers yesterday at two main mosques in downtown Kuala Lumpur, young worshippers carried banners and gave fiery speeches, vowing to defend Islam.
"We will not allow the word Allah to be inscribed in your churches," one speaker shouted into a loudspeaker at the Kampung Bahru mosque. About 50 other people carried posters reading "Heresy arises from words wrongly used" and "Allah is only for us."
The demonstrations were held inside the mosque compounds to follow a police order against protests on the streets. Participants dispersed peacefully afterward.
Malaysia is often held up as a model for other Islamic countries because of its economic development, progressive society and generally peaceful co existence between the Malay majority and the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who are mostly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.
In the first attack, the ground-level office of the three-story Metro Tabernacle Church was destroyed in a blaze set off by a firebomb thrown by attackers on motorcycles soon after midnight, police said. The worship areas on the upper two floors were undamaged and there were no injuries.
Three other churches were attacked hours later, with one sustaining minor damage while the others were not damaged. No arrests have been made.
The tribespeople of Sabah and Sarawak, who speak only Malay, have always referred to God as "Allah," an Arabic word used not only by Muslims but also by Christians in Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt, Syria and Indonesia.
Many Malaysian Muslims say its use by others would mislead people, tempting them to convert to Christianity.
Many Malay Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the population, are incensed by a recent High Court decision to overturn a ban on Roman Catholics using "Allah" as a translation for God in the Malay-language edition of their Herald newspaper.
prayers yesterday at two main mosques in downtown Kuala Lumpur, young worshippers carried banners and gave fiery speeches, vowing to defend Islam.
"We will not allow the word Allah to be inscribed in your churches," one speaker shouted into a loudspeaker at the Kampung Bahru mosque. About 50 other people carried posters reading "Heresy arises from words wrongly used" and "Allah is only for us."
The demonstrations were held inside the mosque compounds to follow a police order against protests on the streets. Participants dispersed peacefully afterward.
Malaysia is often held up as a model for other Islamic countries because of its economic development, progressive society and generally peaceful co existence between the Malay majority and the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who are mostly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.
In the first attack, the ground-level office of the three-story Metro Tabernacle Church was destroyed in a blaze set off by a firebomb thrown by attackers on motorcycles soon after midnight, police said. The worship areas on the upper two floors were undamaged and there were no injuries.
Three other churches were attacked hours later, with one sustaining minor damage while the others were not damaged. No arrests have been made.
The tribespeople of Sabah and Sarawak, who speak only Malay, have always referred to God as "Allah," an Arabic word used not only by Muslims but also by Christians in Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt, Syria and Indonesia.
Many Malaysian Muslims say its use by others would mislead people, tempting them to convert to Christianity.
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