Malaysian court rules ‘Allah’ ban can proceed
Print Edition
A Malaysian appeals court yesterday upheld a government ban against the use of the word “Allah” to refer to God in non-Muslim faiths, overruling claims by Christians in this Muslim-majority nation that the restriction violates their religious rights.
“Allah” is the Arabic word for God and is commonly used in the Malay language to refer to God. But the Malaysian government insists “Allah” should be exclusively reserved for Muslims because of concerns its use by others would confuse Muslims and could be used to convert them.
Malaysia’s Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities have often complained the government infringes their constitutional right to practice religion freely, accusations the government denies.
Yesterday’s judgment in the Court of Appeals overturns a decision by a lower court nearly four years ago ruling against the government ban. Anger over that ruling sparked a string of arson attacks and vandalism at Malaysian churches and other places of worship.
The legal dispute stems from efforts by the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia to use “Allah” in its weekly publication.
Roman Catholic representatives deny there are attempts to convert Muslims and say the government ban is unreasonable because Christians who speak the Malay language had long used “Allah” in their Bibles, literature and songs before authorities sought to enforce the curb in recent years.
Judge Mohamed Apandi Ali, who led a three-member appeals court panel, said the use of “Allah” was “not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
