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Christians You are not allowed to use Allah Malaysia Rules Catholic Paper Can't Use 'Allah' Reverses 2009 Lower-Court Ruling That Sparked Arson and Other Vandalism By ABHRAJIT GANGOPADHYAY and CELINE FERNANDEZ A Muslim group recited a prayer during a protest Monday against the use of the word 'Allah' by a Christian weekly magazine as a translation of 'God.' Malaysia's appeal court ruled Monday that a Roman Catholic publication can't use the term "Allah" to refer to the Christian God, despite its widespread use among Malay-speaking Christians .Celine Fernandez/The Wall Street Journal Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Roman Catholic newspaper the Herald, whose use of 'Allah' was the subject of the lawsuit. "Allah"—Arabic for "God"—is used in prayers and rituals as well as in everyday speech in Malay, by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Arabic-speaking Christians also use the word. It was introduced to Southeast Asia by Muslim traders around the 12th century and was adopted by local converts to the faith, who didn't have the concept, or a word, for a single deity. "Tuhan"—Malay for "Lord"—is one alternative, but Catholic officials have said it isn't an accurate translation. Some conservative Islamic leaders disagree, saying that Muslims could be misled by Christians using "Allah" and that it should be reserved for Islam alone. The Christian Federation of Malaysia said that about 60% of the approximately 2.6 million Christians in the country of 28 million use the word "Allah" to refer to God. In its arguments before the appellate court last month, the Roman Catholic Church noted that the word has been used for centuries by the Malay-speaking Christian community. The government argued that the word is specific to Muslims and that the then-home minister didn't act in bad faith when he restricted the use of the word because he was seeking to maintain security and public order. See Related Video on #WorldStream Muslims Pray on Courthouse Steps After Ruling Father Lawrence Andrew Says Christian Use of 'Allah' is Centuries-Old Monday's ruling confirmed the ban. "It is our common finding that the usage of the name 'Allah' is not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity," said the ruling from a three-member judge panel Monday, which reversed the 2009 lower-court decision. To allow the Herald to use the word "Allah" would have been unconstitutional, said Haniff Khatri Abdulla, one of the lawyers of the six Islamic State Councils which oppose the use of the word by non-Muslims. While the decision drew cheers from hundreds of Muslims who gathered outside the court, some carrying banners that read "Allah is owned by Islam," Christian groups were quick to criticize the verdict." This is unbelievable to me, do they not know their Bible. They are calling on a different god than the God of the Bible, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. There is NO Son or Father God in Islam. If they are faced with terrorism do they call on Allah to save them? You can thank the Catholics for this kind of merging of names. As if the Hebrew name or even Greek name that the bible was written in is not adequate to use. Catholics have always brought portions over of other religions to merge with their Catholicism but this should be evident what not to do. Calling YHWH, the God of Israel Allah cannot be acceptable to Biblical practicing believers nor to God himself. Its time to make a change and correct this compromise. For God is not lenient in calling upon him with other gods names. Certainly a solution can be found to call Him Father as the New Testament teaches and even use the Aramaic for this. Nowhere will you find an apostle using a particular gods name, they purposely used the generic Greek term, theos for the Gentiles they were witnessing to so there would be no confusion. |
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