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Malaysian court rules non-Muslims may call God Allah

Religious freedom is guaranteed by law in Malaysia

A court in Malaysia has ruled that Christians have a constitutional right to use the world Allah when referring to God.

The High Court said a government ban on non-Muslims using the word was unconstitutional.

The court was ruling on a lawsuit filed by the Herald, a publication of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, in 2007.

The authorities had insisted that Allah was an Islamic word which could only be used by Muslims.
The BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur said some Muslim groups suspect the Catholic Church is seeking to encourage Muslims to convert to Christianity - a move which is illegal in Malaysia.
'Glorious new year'
The issue had become a symbol of a growing number of religious grievances among minority groups, in a political environment often divided along racial and religious lines, our correspondent adds.
The Herald filed for a judicial review after it was temporarily ordered to stop publishing in 2007 for referring to "Allah".
The publication said it had been been using the word for decades, and had a constitutional right to do so.
The Herald welcomed Thursday's ruling, saying it would be a "glorious new year for some 850,000 Catholics in Malaysia".
More than half of Malaysia's population is Muslim but the large Chinese and Indian communities are mainly Christian, Buddhist or Hindu.

Firebombs were thrown at three more churches in Malaysia on Sunday and another was splashed with black paint, the latest in a series of assaults on Christian houses of worship following a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use "Allah" to refer to God.

I have read the comments and I think I have a duty to explain what happened there to all. 1) In arab countries Allah may also be used as common for all religion god becase that is the language. But in Malaysia, the common word is "tuhan" or "god" and all are allowed to use it. Tuhan for Muslim in Malaysia has always been Allah while Tuhan for Christian (jesus), Tuhan for hindu(harirama, hari krishna- I don't know much) and more for other religions there. 2) Most muslims in Malaysia are born muslim, even though they are not really practicing (prostitutes or drug addicts etc), they still stick to being muslim despite their sin. 3) Charistians in Malaysia has been actively trying to convert these muslims who are not very knowledgeable in Islam to christian, but being born Muslim as I said, they only believe in Allah, despite their sin. If you say other than "tuhan" Allah, they will not follow. Some chinese always say "tuhan ALLAH" when they speak, referring to Muslim's god. 4) So to make the conversion easier, christian come out with the idea using the word Allah, so that these "lack of knowledge in Islam" people will be tricked and convert. 5) To do that is not easy, so they applied to Malaysian Court and the case was handled by non-muslim judge who will not understand Islam definitely. So he allowed it. The reason is that it is being used in Arab countries. 6) As I said earlier, Arab countries are using their language as common god, but not in Malaysia as I already exlpained. 7) someone said it is used in Indonesia, Maybe it was through the same trick they are doing now in Malaysia, I don't know. But in Malaysia it is not yet and they are still trying. 8] That is why the muslim there is protesting. I hope this will clarify the situation.

The problem is Malays for centuries never come across of non-muslims in their country using word "Allah" for their god or gods. When non-muslims want to use it they feel like their God's name been hijacked or misused. All they know "Allah" is the one true God whereas Christians believe Jesus is God (also son of God), God has son, God died on the cross, God has human's attributes etc. Malay Muslims since their childhood were taught God is One (not 3 in 1), Eternel (not died on the cross), He begets not nor is He begotten (has no son nor He is son of anyone) and they believe there is nothing like God. They believe Jesus as one of Allah's prophet not that Jesus is Allah or son of Allah. So they feel insulted when other religions want to use "Allah" and gave Allah attributes those do not fit Him. They couldn't accept Allah's honor abused in Church with inappropriate attributes. I personaly do not agree with the Malays' protest but at the same time felt that Church should respect Muslims in Malaysia to honor their Lord the way they wish without being disturbed since centuries ago.

2) Most muslims in Malaysia are born muslim, even though they are not really practicing (prostitutes or drug addicts etc), they still stick to being muslim despite their sin. 3) Charistians in Malaysia has been actively trying to convert these muslims who are not very knowledgeable in Islam to christian, but being born Muslim as I said, they only believe in Allah, despite their sin. If you say other than "tuhan" Allah, they will not follow. Some chinese always say "tuhan ALLAH" when they speak, referring to Muslim's god. 4) So to make the conversion easier, christian come out with the idea using the word Allah, so that these "lack of knowledge in Islam" people will be tricked and convert.

shafique wrote:With all due respect Berrin, the explanation is laughable - if there are weak faithed Muslims in Malay that will be converted to Christianity because of the term 'Allah', then the solution is not to ban Christians etc from using Allah, but to educate the stupid ones.

Sheesh.

At least the Muslim authorities there are denouncing the violence.

Cheers,
Shafique

event horizon wrote:

shafique wrote:With all due respect Berrin, the explanation is laughable - if there are weak faithed Muslims in Malay that will be converted to Christianity because of the term 'Allah', then the solution is not to ban Christians etc from using Allah, but to educate the stupid ones.

Sheesh.

At least the Muslim authorities there are denouncing the violence.

Cheers,
Shafique

That's a good point too - a Muslim majority country should spend tax dollars on 'educating' Muslims in their faith so as to prevent them from converting to another faith. I wonder the uproar that would stir if that was proposed in a Western nation?

But never-mind. I personally would think a fusion of both plans would be the best way to combat Christian missionary activity - which is illegal under Islamic law in any event.