It's Sunday

30 Jan 2010

Churches have been burnt down in Malaysia in a row over Christians using the word Allah for God.

The government had ruled that the word must not be used except to refer to God as worshipped by Muslims. But the high court declared that a Catholic newspaper, the Herald, could continue to use Allah in its Malay edition, since the people in Borneo that buy the paper have from time immemorial referred to God by that name.

Two-thirds of Malaysians are Muslims and about 10 per cent of them Christians.

[...]

Many of those protesting at the Christian use of Allah had hardly been aware of the usage before the public row, for they do not buy Christian newspapers and they do not live in Borneo, where the papers mostly circulate. One popular objection among Malaysian Muslims to the use of Allah by Christians is that it might lead to Muslims being lured into conversion to Christianity.

[...]

The problem in Malaysia has erupted among people who do not use Arabic as their first language. No such misunderstanding would be possible between Arabic-speaking Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians, for whom the only word for God is Allah.

The Arabic word Allah comes from al-ilah, "the god". The word Allah was in use among the people of Mecca before Mohammed announced his message to them. It is found in pre-Islamic poetry and in ancient inscriptions in Arabia. It was used by Christians as their term for God long before Mohammed was born.

  UK Telegraph