Alxmyr:

Attackers firebombed three churches in the southeast Asian nation of Malaysia overnight, assaults that come amid widespread Muslim ire over a court ruling that allowed Christians to use the word Allah as a term for God.

Malaysian news reports said no casualties have been reported, and police have promised to step up security for churches and other places of worship.

But the acts stirred unease in the diverse society -- where 60 percent of the people are Muslim, 19 percent are Buddhist, 9 percent are Christian and 6 percent are Hindu.

"We regret the irresponsible actions of certain extremist elements for the recent spate of firebombs thrown into church premises. These actions display their immaturity and intolerance toward others within a multi-racial society," the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Malaysia said in a statement.

The violence comes as Muslims protest a recent court ruling that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use the word "Allah" for God. Muslims believe Allah, an Arabic word, should only be used by Muslims. A stay has been placed on the order on the grounds of national interest.

Muslims took to the streets Friday to protest the use of the word by non-Muslims, and authorities such as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called for the matter to be resolved in court amicably and expressed hope the protests don't deteriorate.

"We should not raise the tension level in this country," he said Thursday, as quoted by Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia's head of state, on Friday called for calm and the spirit of unity, according to a Bernama report.

The three churches attacked were in the Kuala Lumpur region. They are the Metro Tabernacle Church, the Assumption Church and the Life Chapel. The attacks occurred late Thursday night and early Friday.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/08/malaysia.churches.attacked/index.html

is there no other name for God in Arabic? That's strange

tpia.:

^^ the word God isnt supposed to be exclusive to any one group of people.

However, for the sake of peace, I wonder if the Malaysian Christians shouldnt find another word in Arabic that means God, apart from Allah. Or maybe just use the Malaysian one.

You dont find it strange that a court had to order the word can be used by Christians?

paddy_lo:

malaysians dont speak arabic

No2Atheism:

An additional evidence that Arabs and muslims are just trying to cover up the lies about allah is revealed from the fact that: mohammed's father's name is "Abdallah" meaning servant of Allah

Guess what Allah was worshipped as a moon god . . . before the coming of mohammed hence all Arabs and muslims have just done is to re-brand "Allah" into a so called supreme deity . . .

oyb:

now this sounds more like what i would expect from a christian

oyb:

^^^^^

guess i shld modify - what i should expect from a nairaland christian troll

After Thursday's court ruling in favor of the church, moderate Muslims and non-Muslim Malaysians took to the country's various online-based publications to defend the right of Christians to use the term Allah. In some cases, political parties and even families are split over the issue. Marina Mahathir, a daughter of Dr. Mahathir and sister of Mr. Mukhriz, posted a lengthy article on Malaysian Insider, a Web site, saying that confident Muslims have no need to feel threatened by the High Court's ruling.

"A confident Muslim will not walk into a church, hear a liturgy in Malay or Arabic where they use the word 'Allah' and then think that he or she is in a mosque. A confident Muslim knows the difference," Ms. Marina wrote.

The Malaysian Chinese Association, a member of the Malay-led National Front coalition government, said in a statement Monday that it supported the court's ruling in favor of the church. "No group should claim exclusive ownership of 'Allah' as it is not a patented copyright of any ethnic group," party spokesman Gan Ping Sieu said.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126259010522914545.html

A church and Christian newspaper in Malaysia are suing the government after it decreed that the word "Allah" can only be used by Muslims.

In the Malay language "Allah" is used to mean any god, and Christians say they have used the term for centuries.

Opponents of the ban say it is unconstitutional and unreasonable.

It is the latest in a series of religious rows in largely Muslim Malaysia, where minority groups claim their rights are being eroded.

A spokesman for the Herald, the newspaper of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, said a legal suit was filed after they received repeated official warnings that the newspaper could have its licence revoked if it continued to use the word.

"We are of the view that we have the right to use the word 'Allah'," said editor Rev Lawrence Andrew.

'Unlawful'

The Sabah Evangelical Church of Borneo has also taken legal action after a government ministry moved to ban the import of religious children's books containing the word.

In a statement given to Reuters news agency, the church said the translation of the bible in which the word Allah appears has been used by Christians since the earliest days of the church.

There has been no official government comment but parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said the decision to ban the word for non-Muslims on security grounds was "unlawful".

"The term 'Allah' was used to refer to God by Arabic-speaking Christians before Arabic-speaking Muslims existed," he said.

Religious issues are highly sensitive in Malaysia, which has a 60% Muslim population.

Religious freedom is guaranteed in the law but minority groups have accused the Muslim Malay majority of trying to increase the role of Islam in the country


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/asia-pacific/7163391.stm


.

tpia.:

call me whatever name you like- you're about to become a jihadist religious fanatic, I can see. Assuming you arent one already.

Nothing new under the sun- many have gone before you and many will come after you.

oyb:


stop this ridiculous persecution complex/i must fight with everyone.
anyone else would realise i'm referring to no2athiesm

tpia.:

people look for any excuse to kill each other.


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1952497,00.html








every human being cant be the same and neither can everyone in the world be muslim.

You should ask yourself why God created people differently instead of making them clones of one another.

oyb:

^^^^^

guess i shld modify - what i should expect from a nairaland christian troll

oyb:


stop this ridiculous persecution complex/i must fight with everyone.
anyone else would realise i'm referring to no2athiesm

No2Atheism:

No2Atheism . . . aka. . . no retreat no surrender against Islam . . .

A church and Christian newspaper in Malaysia are suing the government after it decreed that the word "Allah" can only be used by Muslims.

In the Malay language "Allah" is used to mean any god, and Christians say they have used the term for centuries.

Opponents of the ban say it is unconstitutional and unreasonable.

It is the latest in a series of religious rows in largely Muslim Malaysia, where minority groups claim their rights are being eroded.

A spokesman for the Herald, the newspaper of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, said a legal suit was filed after they received repeated official warnings that the newspaper could have its licence revoked if it continued to use the word.

"We are of the view that we have the right to use the word 'Allah'," said editor Rev Lawrence Andrew.

'Unlawful'

The Sabah Evangelical Church of Borneo has also taken legal action after a government ministry moved to ban the import of religious children's books containing the word.

In a statement given to Reuters news agency, the church said the translation of the bible in which the word Allah appears has been used by Christians since the earliest days of the church.

There has been no official government comment but parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said the decision to ban the word for non-Muslims on security grounds was "unlawful".

"The term 'Allah' was used to refer to God by Arabic-speaking Christians before Arabic-speaking Muslims existed," he said.

Religious issues are highly sensitive in Malaysia, which has a 60% Muslim population.

Religious freedom is guaranteed in the law but minority groups have accused the Muslim Malay majority of trying to increase the role of Islam in the country


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/asia-pacific/7163391.stm

oyb:


hey troll/conspiracy theory man - hope you're checking the above out - kind of throws a spanner in your moon god fables, doesn't it  

or perhaps you will take refuge in the usual - they are not christians  

oyb:

when all else fails, we an trust our residet troll to revert o repeat mode

mr moon god/ rebranding please explain o us how it is that Christians have been using the name Allah

is that too hard for you to do?

or are, like so many of your forbears aware of this and choosing to ignore it because it does not fit in with your agenda

cherry picker


oya mr self proclaimed geek explain it o us

preferably in with your usual one line each and . . . s

No2Atheism:

Mr Rebranding . . . please explain to us how Mohammed's Father was already a servant of "Allah" (aka who was an Arabian Moon God) . . . even before Mohammed alleged got the revealations from Allah . . .

"The term 'Allah' was used to refer to God by Arabic-speaking Christians before Arabic-speaking Muslims existed," he said.

oyb:

what a slow poke -

if you actually read the Quran , instead of cherry picking , you will realise that all the prophets worshipped Allah.

Muhammed is the last messenger

No2Atheism:

No they did not worshipped allah cus Allah was a moon god . . .

Elijah (one of the prophets) did not worshipped the arabian moon god called allah
Moses (one of the prophets) did not worshipped the arabian moon god called allah
Elisha (one of the prophets) did not worshipped the arabian moon god called allah
John the Baptist (one of the prophets) did not worshipped the arabian moon god called allah
Jeremiah (one of the prophets) did not worshipped the arabian moon god called allah

. . . SO STOP LYING THROUGH THE TEETH . . .

No he is not even a prophet . . . talkeless of a messenger . . .

"The term 'Allah' was used to refer to God by Arabic-speaking Christians before Arabic-speaking Muslims existed," he said.

oyb:

stop trying to run and hide behind religious dogma - the bible says this the quran says that - we can play hat game all day

answer the question -


so who is the Allah those malay Christians are referring to? a moon god?  


answer now  

none of your usual retreating into repeating

see as he is dodging the real subject - how typical -  

abi its a conspiracy by those nasty white men to smuggle Allah into the bible

i'm sure we will soon see some ridiculous thread stating just that - no be you

oyb:

what a slow poke -

if you actually read the Quran , instead of cherry picking , you will realise that all the prophets worshipped Allah. Muhammed is the last messenger . the majority always forget their Lord within a generation.

No2Atheism:

No they did not worshipped allah cus Allah was a moon god . . .

Elijah (one of the prophets) did not worshipp the arabian moon god called allah
Moses (one of the prophets) did not worshipp the arabian moon god called allah
Elisha (one of the prophets) did not worshipp the arabian moon god called allah
John the Baptist (one of the prophets) did not worshipp the arabian moon god called allah
Jeremiah (one of the prophets) did not worshipp the arabian moon god called allah

. . . SO STOP LYING THROUGH THE TEETH . . .

No he is not even a prophet . . . talkeless of a messenger . . .