KUALA LUMPUR—Nine Christian churches and a convent school have been fire-bombed or vandalized in Malaysia since a court ruling lifted a government ban on non-Muslims using “Allah” as a translation for “God.”
The Metro Tabernacle church in Kuala Lumpur was gutted on Friday, Jan. 8. Others churches since then, also in the Malaysian capital and in the states of Perak, Malacca, and Sarawak, have been vandalized or had Molotov cocktails thrown at them. There was also a fire-bomb attempt against a Catholic Convent School in Taiping, Perak. These incidents came following a New Year’s Eve ruling of high court justice Lau Bee Lan against the government’s ban on the use of “Allah” in a local Catholic newspaper, the Herald.
The newspaper said they used the word “Allah” as a translation for God in consideration that no other word in Malay sufficiently denotes “God.” The government argued that the word should only be used by Muslims and set a ban on the publication of the paper. Fundamentalist Muslims are concerned that the paper is proselytizing and luring Muslims into Christianity.
According to the Asia Sentinel, the high court justice said the federal constitution allows the church to use “Allah” as part of its right to freedom of speech and expression and freedom of religion. However, the ruling in the newspaper’s favor was suspended pending an appeal, after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict. According to local judiciary sources, it is possible for the court of appeal to grant a stay of execution.
In response to the fire bombings, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has criticized the attacks and said the government would not tolerate any threat to racial harmony.
“This divisive event, and others like it, does not represent Malaysia or Islam,” he said.
“An investigation into this matter has already been launched, and those responsible will be brought to justice.”
Media reports say the prime minister has also announced that his government will allocate RM500,000 (US$149,500) to the Metro Tabernacle Church.
According to AFP, about 10 percent of the 27.5 million people in Malaysia are Christians, 850,000 of whom are Catholics, the majority of which come from indigenous groups in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, who mainly speak Malay and read the Bible in Malay.
