Malaysia’s top court confirms ban on non-Muslims referring to God as ‘Allah’

Malaysia’s highest court on Monday dismissed a bid by Christians for the right to use the word “Allah”, ending a years-long legal battle that has caused religious tensions in the Muslim-majority country.

The Catholic Church had been seeking to reverse a government ban on it referring to God by the Arabic word “Allah” in the local Malay-language edition of its Herald newspaper.

But a seven-judge panel in the administrative capital Putrajaya ruled a lower court decision siding with the government stood.

“[The Court of Appeal] applied the correct test, and it is not open for us to interfere,” chief justice Arifin Zakaria said. “Hence, the application is dismissed.”

S. Selvarajah, one of the church’s lawyers, said the decision meant the end of the court case.

“It’s a blanket ban. Non-Muslims cannot use the word,” he said.