Malaysian Court Rules Non-Muslims May Call God Allah

December 31, 2009

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8435975.stm

A court in Malaysia has ruled that Christians have a constitutional right to use the word Allah to refer to God.

The High Court said a government ban on non-Muslims using the word was unconstitutional.

The court was ruling on a lawsuit filed by the Herald, a publication of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, in 2007.

The authorities had insisted that Allah in the Malay language refers only to the God in Islam, which could only be used by Muslims.