Malay court says only Muslims may use ‘Allah’
A court in Muslim-majority Malaysia has ruled that only Muslims are permitted to use the word Allah to describe God, overturning a lower court’s 2009 decision that allowed others to use the word.
“The usage of the word Allah is not an integral part of the faith in Christianity,” chief judge Mohamed Apandi Ali said October 14 in the ruling, supporting the government’s case.
“The intended usage will cause unnecessary confusion within the Islamic community and is surely not conducive to the peaceful and harmonious tempo of life in the country,” said Ali, according to the government-run Bernama news agency.
