Malaysian Islamic extremists have reacted violently to a court ruling that allowed non-Muslims to use the name of Allah.
Several Christian churches in the capital Kuala Lumpur and beyond have been attacked with fire bombs since last week, when a court decided that the Catholic newspaper The Herald could refer to its God as Allah.
Linguists supported the decision, as "Allah" has historically been the only word for "God" in the Malay language, and has been used by generations of Christians, as well as Muslims in the majority-Muslim country.
Though "Allah" is an Arabic word, it was historically used by non-Muslims long before the religion of Islam was founded in the 7th century.
The current controversy began in 2007, when Malaysia's only Roman Catholic publication was banned from using the name of Allah. The newspaper protested the ban, and it was finally overturned on December 31st last year.
On Wednesday January 6th, both sides agreed the lifting of the ban should be suspended temporarily amid fears of reprisals. Nevertheless, attacks began on Friday, when the Metro Tabernacle Church in the capital was fire-bombed.
Extremists have so far targeted at least eight churches, both Catholic and Protestant, as well as a Catholic school.
As of Sunday, no one had been injured in the attacks.
"The situation is under control and the people should not be worried," said Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
President Ragunath Kesavan told reporters that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak "understands the issue from both sides," and had pledged to "resolve" the issue.
10 January 2010
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