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KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government on Monday (March 15) appealed a court’s decision to overturn a decades-old official ban and allow Christians in the Muslim-majority country to use “Allah” to refer to God.
The word has long been divisive in multi-ethnic Malaysia, with Christians complaining that attempts to prevent them from using it highlight the growing influence of conservative Islam.
But some Muslims accuse the sizable Christian minority of pushing the boundaries, and the issue has fueled religious tensions and sparked violence over the years.
READ: Malaysia’s high court rules that Christians can use the word ‘Allah’ in religious publications
Last week, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Christians can use “Allah” in publications, siding with a minority member and repealing a ban dating back to 1986.
A judge ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, as Malaysia’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
But the government filed a challenge in the appeals court saying it was “not satisfied” with the ruling, according to documents seen by AFP.
Authorities have long argued that allowing non-Muslims to use “Allah” could be confusing and entice Muslims to convert.
The case began 13 years ago when officials seized religious material in the local Malay language from a Christian at the Kuala Lumpur airport that contained the word “Allah.”
The woman, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, a member of an indigenous group in Malaysia, launched a legal challenge against the ban on Christians using the term.
Malaysia has largely avoided overt religious conflict in recent decades, but tensions have been mounting.
In 2014, a church was hit with gasoline bombs, while Islamic authorities seized Bibles containing the word “Allah.”
It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the 32 million people in Malaysia are Christians, mostly of Chinese, Indian or indigenous ethnic origins, while 60 percent are Muslims of Malay ethnicity.
