Malaysia: Christians To Be Allowed to Use word “Allah”

KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian government has softened an earlier ban on the use of the word “Allah” by Christian publications to refer to God and is allowing them to use it as long as they specify the material is not for Muslims, the AP reported on February 26. The government had earlier argued that the use of Allah in Christian texts could confuse Muslims, who might think Allah refers to their God. The Rev. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald–the Roman Catholic Church’s main newspaper in Malaysia, said that the revised order was issued on February 16 by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar. Andrew said that the publication has already started printing “For Christianity” on its cover. The Herald publishes weekly in English, Mandarin, Tamil, and Malay with an estimated readership of 50,000. The ban on “Allah” concerns mainly the Malay edition, which is read mostly by indigenous Christian tribes in the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak. The other three editions usually do not use the word “Allah.”