Malaysian Govt Appeals Ruling Allowing Christians to use Allah in Publications — BenarNews benarnews.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from benarnews.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
[Reuters]
Malaysian Christians are allowed to use the word “Allah” to refer to God in educational publications, a High Court ruled on Wednesday in ending a decades-long ban, which the court said was unconstitutional because it restricted religious freedom.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court further ruled that a 1986 directive by the home ministry to bar the use of Allah and three other Arabic words in Christian publications was illegal and irrational, because Malay Christians had used these words for more than 400 years, the state-run Bernama news agency reported about the verdict.
“The use of the words would not disrupt public order,” Judge Nor Bee Ariffin said in her ruling allowing Christian publications to use not just “Allah, but also the words “baitullah,” “kaabah” and “solat.”