Malaysian court suspends decision allowing Catholic paper to use 'Allah'
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan 7, 2010 / 11:56 pm (CNA).- On Wednesday, the Malaysian High Court suspended a ruling that would have allowed a Catholic newspaper to use the word “Allah” in a non-Muslim context. The decision came after an appeal was made by prosecutors trying to overturn the ruling.

The Herald, Malaysia's sole Catholic publication, was prosecuted last year by the Malaysian Home Ministry and threatened with the loss of its printing license for its use of “Allah” in describing the Christian God in its Malay-language section.

The Herald argued that use of the term follows a centuries-old tradition within the Arabic language that pre-dates Islam, while the Home Ministry claimed that its usage outside the Muslim context was an affront to Muslims. Islam is both the state religion and the largest faith in the country.

The High Court decision on Wednesday came after the Archbishop of Malaysia and the Malaysian Home Ministry agreed that banning the use of “Allah” for non-Muslims was of national concern.

After last week's court approval of the paper's usage of “Allah,” which has since been retracted,  hundreds of Muslim youth protested and The Herald's website was hacked several times. 

“We believe these actions (are designed) to create a climate of fear and a perceived threat to national security so as to pressure the court in reversing it's decision,” said Fr. Andrew Lawrence, editor of The Herald, in a statement to the Agence France Presse (AFP) Wednesday.

Nevertheless, The Herald has agreed outside of the court to the suspension of the controversial ruling, given the sensitivity of the issue and potential backlash.

“We are Malaysians and we want to live in peace and happiness,” Fr. Lawrence stated.

Though court officials have indicated that the matter should be resolved soon, no court date has been set.

The Herald has a circulation of 14,000 a week, and is printed in four languages. Malaysia is home to around 850,000 Catholics.

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Subscriber comments:
Published by: CommonSense02
Bedford, USA 01/10/2010 12:50 AM EST
njume, the muslim world is "provoked" to violence by teddy bears. I'm sick of catering to such tantrum-throwing children.
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Published by: Peter
Kuching, occupied Sarawak 01/09/2010 07:35 PM EST
While the situation in Malaya cannot be resolved, it is essential that Sarawak and Sabah immediately assume their rightful place as independent nations. When the British occupied Sarawak at the end of World War II, they forced out our legitimate Rajah and then turned our people over to the oppressive rule of Kuala Lumpur. Now Sarawak and Sabah are among the last places where colonialism reigns. Singapore rightly left Malaysia and has prospered. Now we Sarawakis must also free ourselves from Malay rule and become independent. Let the Muslims have their penninsula, while our oil rich and non-Muslim Sarawak will worship the true Christian Allah as a free people. A free Sarawak and Sabah will no longer have their great mineral wealth stolen to serve the corrupt regime in Kuala Lumpur. We indigenous peoples, as well as Chinese and Indians will then be out from under Muslim oppression. Sarawak was once an independent kingdom ruled by Christian rajahs. We should be independent again. Count me among many thousands of Iban Christians willing to fight for my nation of Sarawak.
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Published by: Catholic with Attitude
United Kingdom 01/08/2010 03:16 PM EST
njume: There is no other word in the Malay language for 'God'. This is less of an issue for the Chinese and to some extent Indian Catholics in Malaysia, but much more of a problem for the indigenous Malaysians in the East on the island of Borneo where the Malay language is their mother tongue.
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Published by: Malcolm
South Africa 01/08/2010 01:58 PM EST
The name for God=Allah Aramaic was in use by Christians and Jews before Islam was. Think a little more.
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Published by: njume
USA 01/08/2010 02:47 AM EST
Why should Chridtians use the name ALLAH for GOD.This is a provocative move ot the Muslim World I THINK.
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