Malaysia

Malaysia’s high court is expected to announce its decision this week on a case contesting whether the government of the predominantly Muslim country can bar Christian groups from referring to God as “Allah.”

Earlier this month, Court Justice Lau Been Lan set Dec. 30 as the date he would rule on the case, which pits the federal government against the weekly publication of the Catholic Church of Malaysia.

While the Catholic Church maintains that the word “Allah” is not exclusive to Islam, the government has argued otherwise, saying that it is not only exclusive but that its usage by non-Muslims could pose a threat to national security and cause misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims. more >>

Malaysia’s high court began hearing legal arguments Monday over the use of “Allah” by Christians as a translation for God.

While the Catholic Church in Malaysia insists that the word “Allah” is not exclusive to Islam and has been used by Christians and Muslims in Arabic-speaking countries for centuries, Senior Federal Counsel Datuk Kamaluddin argued otherwise, saying that the word is exclusive to Islam and that its sanctity must be protected.

"In our country, if one refers to Allah or mentions kalimah Allah, it will bring to one's mind that it refers to the god for Muslims. Kalimah Allah is sacred to the Muslims and put at the highest position, and its sanctity must be protected," he said Monday, according to local sources more >>

The representative body of Christians in Malaysia is calling for the immediate release of the more than 15,000 Bibles that were seized by Malaysian authorities this past year, arguing that the confiscation is an infringement of their constitutional rights.

“This constitutional right is rendered illusory if Christians in Malaysia are denied access to Bibles in a language with which they are familiar,” stated the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) in a statement Wednesday.

“It is baseless to withhold the Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian language) on the ground that they are ‘prejudicial to public order,’” it added. more >>

Malaysian authorities have seized more than 15,000 Bibles that refer to God as “Allah” in recent months, said church officials Thursday.

About 10,000 Bibles from Indonesia were confiscated by authorities on Sept. 11, according to the Rev. Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, according to The Associated Press. The other 5,100 Bibles, also from Indonesia, were seized in March, according to an official from the Bible Society of Malaysia, who requested that AP not identify him to avoid angering the government.

In Malaysia, Christian publications cannot use the word Allah to refer to God. The government contends the word “Allah” is exclusively for Islam, but church officials argue that Allah is not exclusive to Islam because it is an Arabic word that existed before the religion. more >>

Unity within the body of Christ and the common mission of evangelism were emphasized Thursday at a six-day Lausanne gathering in Malaysia.

Phil Butler, senior associate with the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and international director of visionSynergy, stressed the importance of collaboration in missions to the young Christian leaders at the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering.

“We are in the middle of a revolution,” said Butler as he highlighted partnerships that are taking place around the world, according to Lausanne. As an example, Butler shared about a gathering of believers in Hong Kong who met to pray for Christianity to take root in the country of Mongolia. more >>