Allah, more than just a word

This book traces the genesis of the stand-off between the Umno-dominated ruling coalition and the Church in Malaysia for the past 31 years over the restricted ban on the Alkitab, the Malay Bible, and the prohibition of the use of the word Allah to refer to God by Christians. The High Court ruled on 31 Dec 2009 that the Home Minister and Malaysian government were wrong on all counts in prohibiting the Herald - The Catholic Weekly - from using the word ‘Allah’. It’s not about Islam as the religion of the Federation or the Sultans’ authority over it but whether the Government can lawfully prohibit non-Muslims from using the Allah word. -The Herald Judgment . This controversy actually began when I was Prime Minister. The Cabinet at the time held the opinion that its use in the Bible is a sensitive matter. Sensitive matters such as this cannot be resolved by simply referring to the law. -former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (5 Jan 2010). The word ‘Allah’ has already been used for a very long time even before Sabah decided to join in the formation of Malaysia together with Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak in 1963. -Bernard Dompok, Federal Minister and president of Upko party Sabah. (5 Jan 2010) Bob Teoh was a career journalist and is now a freelance writer and fulltime volunteer with an international community development