Malaysia Urges Calm, Appeals ‘Allah’ Court Ruling

Prime Minister Najib Razak appeared on national television yesterday calling for calm as 13 non-governmental organizations protested in Kuala Lumpur and Penang against the court ruling.

Non-Muslim publications have been banned by the government from using the word since 1986 on grounds it could threaten national security and confuse the country’s Muslims, who comprise more than 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million population. Judge Lau Been Lan ruled on Dec. 31 that the Herald had a constitutional right to use the word as it was only targeting Christians not Muslims.

The church is not on any campaign to convert Malaysians, the Malaysian Insider reported today, quoting the Herald’s editor, Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew.

The Herald had sought a judicial review after it was ordered to stop publishing for two weeks in 2007 for using “Allah” in its Malay-language section. The court verdict potentially allows the Catholic weekly to refer to Jesus Christ as the “son of Allah” in Malay language, which the government fears could stir religious tensions.

“We all have a responsibility to put a stop to extremists moving in the midst of our respective religious bodies,” the government-backed Department of Islamic Development said in a Malay-language statement today. The department appealed to Murphy Pakiam, the Archbishop of the Kuala Lumpur, to prevent the word from being used in any publication while the verdict is being appealed.