Malaysia court reinstates Allah ban pending appeal

Prime Minister Najib Razak called for calm,with his office issuing a statement saying that everyone should await the outcome of the appeal and not “do anything that can jeopardize the interest and well-being of the people.”

In her landmark decision,Lau struck down a 3-year-old ban on the use of “Allah” to refer to a God other than the Muslim one. The decision was seen as a victory for ethnic minorities,who practice Christianity,Hinduism and other religions. These groups have been increasingly complaining of religious discrimination – a charge the government denies.

Lau ruled on a petition by The Herald,the main publication of Malaysia’s Roman Catholic Church,which uses the word Allah to refer to God in its Malay-language edition read by indigenous Christian tribes in the remote states of Sabah and Sarawak.

The government says Allah,an Arabic word that predates Islam,is exclusive to Muslims,and its use by others would be misleading. Many Muslim activists say indiscriminate use of the word would entice Muslims to convert to Christianity. They ignore the argument that “Allah” is used widely by Christians in Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt,Syria and Indonesia.

Government ministers have blasted the Dec. 31 decision,and The Herald’s Web site has been hacked three times and plastered with profanities and veiled threats. Muslim Malays make up 60 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million people. Ethnic Chinese,Indians and indigenous tribal people,who are ethnically Malay,make up the rest.

The Herald’s lawyers raised no objection Wednesday to Lau’s decision to suspend her ruling.

“We have agreed to the stay in the national interest,” said attorney Derek Fernandez. The Herald’s editor,the Rev. Lawrence Andrew,said: “We want to be rational. We don’t want to be emotional.”