Court rules Malaysian government can appeal ruling on use of 'Allah'

August 24, 2013 - The Malaysian government has won the right to continue its appeal against a court ruling that allowed non-Muslims, including a Malay-language Catholic newspaper, to use the word Allah. In a case that has sparked nationwide debate over which religion has exclusive rights to the word Allah, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that the government's efforts to ban the use of the word in Christian publications will continue. The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10, reported Ucanews. Christians argue that "Allah" is the only word for God in the Malay language. The case dates back to a dispute over the re-registration of the publishing license, for The Herald, a national Catholic weekly, following criticism from the Home Ministry over political articles that appeared in its pages. In 2009, the Malay edition of the Herald received an injunction to cease publication. The Herald and the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur successfully sued for the right to continue, but the government then lodged an appeal against the High Court ruling, which stated that Muslims did not have exclusive ownership of the word Allah. (Source: UCANews)