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Malaysian Christians say they have used the word "Allah" for generations in prayers and masses |
KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysian catholic newspaper and church have sued the government over banning Catholics from using the word "Allah", the Arabic name of God.
"We are in the view that we have the right to use the word Allah, (a right) which ... is now sought to be curtailed," Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of The Herald, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday, December 28.
The Internal Security Ministry has banned articles written in Malay in The Herald, the weekly newspaper of the Catholic Church, for using the word "Allah".
It argued that the word "Allah" should not be used by religious communities other than Muslims.
Lawrence said that the ban was unconstitutional and against freedom of religion.
The lawsuit names the internal security minister, a post held by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as a co-defendant.
The Sabah Evangelical Church of Borneo has also filed a separate lawsuit against the government over the ban and confiscation of books containing the word "Allah".
"The decision to declare 'Allah' as only for Muslims, categorizing this as a security issue, and banning books with the word 'Allah,' is unlawful," lawyer Lim Heng Seng told the Associated Press on Friday.
Pastor Jerry Dusing said three boxes of children's education material have been confiscated by authorities from a church member.
He said that officials argued that the confiscated material contained the word "Allah" that could raise confusion and controversy among Muslims.
Race, language and religion are touchy issues in multiethnic Malaysia, where Muslim Malays form about 60 percent of the 26-million population.
Popular 'Allah'
Pastor Dusing said Malaysian Christians have used the word "Allah" for generations in prayers and masses.
"The Christian usage of 'Allah' predates Islam," he said.
"'Allah' is the name of God in the old Arabic Bible as well as in the modern Arabic Bible," he said, adding that "Allah" was widely used by Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Indonesia and other world countries.
He said the church is asking the court to declare the Catholics' constitutional right to use the word "Allah" and for the right to import publications with the word in it.
Christians make up around 9.1 percent of Malaysia's population, including a Catholic population of nearly 800,000.
Usually dubbed the "melting pot" of Asia for its potpourri of cultures, Malaysia has long been held up as a model of peaceful co-existence among its races and religions.
Buddhists and Hindus constitute 19.2 and 6.3 percent of the population respectively.
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