Malaysia court rules non-Muslims can't use 'Allah

October 14, 2013 - A Malaysian appeals court on Monday upheld a government ban against the use of the word ``Allah'' to refer to God in non-Muslim faiths, overruling claims by Christians in the 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 by various religions to refer to God. But the Malaysian government insists that ``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 that the government infringes in their constitutional right to practice religion freely, accusations the government denies. Monday's judgment in the Court of Appeals overturns a decision by a lower court nearly four years ago that ruled 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 Malaysia Herald, the newspaper of the Catholic Church in the country to use ``Allah'' in its Malay-language weekly publication. Fr. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the newspaper said he was "disappointed and dismayed'" by the decision of the judges and that they will resort to the Federal Court to seek redress. “The battle in court is thus not over, but it will now be up to the highest forum of the national judicial system. 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.'' (Source: AP)