A setback for religious freedom and for the dialogue of religions

According to the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), it is a serious setback for the freedom of religion and the dialogue of religions in Malaysia, that a Malaysian court has now decided that the Christians in the country are not allowed to refer to "God" as "Allah". Christians in Malaysia have been calling their God "Allah" ever since the first appropriate translation of the Bible more than 400 years ago. "The new ban is a populist measure to try and marginalize the Christians and other religious minorities in the predominantly Muslim country," criticized the STP's Asia-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Monday.

Human rights activist warned that the proponents of the decision are spreading distrust and are stirring up the conflict between the religious communities. They are trying to give the impression that the Christians were using the name "Allah" in order to convince the Muslim population to convert to Christianity. In Malaysia, it is illegal for non-Muslims to proselytize Muslims.

On Monday, an appeals court in Putrajaya (close to the capital of Kuala Lumpur) confirmed that the Interior Ministry was right to stop the Catholic Church newspaper "Herald" from using the term "Allah" for "God". In 2009, the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur – the editor of the newspaper – had won the case first instance and the ban was declared to be unconstitutional. Back then, the Interior Ministry had opposed. Now the Archdiocese announced to address the Malaysian Supreme Court. 

Following the first court ruling in favor of the Archdiocese in late 2009, at least eleven Christian churches and a Sikh temple had been set on fire in Malaysia. The Christians make up about 9.2 percent of the population. 6.3 percent are Hindu, 20 percent Buddhists and about 61 percent are Muslims.