Malaysia’s top court rejects church’s bid on Allah

June 23,2014 - 01:39 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  — Malaysia’s top court has rejected an appeal by the Roman Catholic church to use the word “Allah” to refer to God, saying a government ban on its usage by non-Muslim faiths was lawful.

The Federal Court ruled Monday that the church’s newspaper has no grounds to appeal a lower court decision last year that disallowed it from using “Allah” in its Malay-language weekly publication. The decision was agreed to by four of the seven judges on the panel.

The Catholic church said the ruling failed to consider the fundamental rights of minorities. It said it may ask the court to review its own decision.

The government says “Allah” should be exclusive for Muslims amid concern its use by others would confuse Muslims and be used to convert them.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

Read Next

Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.

TAGS: faith, Malaysia, Muslim, newspaper

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more, please click this link.