Churches Attacked in Malaysian ‘Allah’ Dispute

By SETH MYDANS Published: January 8, 2010 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Three Christian churches were attacked with firebombs Friday as tensions rose in a dispute over whether Christians could use the word “Allah” in this largely Muslim nation. Later in the day, small crowds rallied outside two major mosques in the capital, in a growing protest over a court ruling that overturned a government ban on the use of “Allah” by Roman Catholics as a translation for God. The government has appealed that ruling, insisting that the ban should remain in force, and made no move to bar the unsanctioned rallies, as it commonly does. But a police helicopter hovered low over the front of the city’s central mosque, drowning out the words of the speakers on its balcony. “Allah is only for us,” said Faedzah Fuad, 28, who participated in the rally. “The Christians can use any word, we don’t care, but please don’t use the word Allah.” Despite escalating political rhetoric and the early-morning violence, the rallies of 200 to 300 people were far smaller than the thousands predicted by organizers. Hand-lettered signs reading “Please respect the name of Allah” remained in a stack on the ground where Ms. Faedzah had prepared them. Though Malaysia is 60 percent Malay and Muslim, sizable minorities of Chinese and Indians practice Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism in this country of 28 million. Ethnic and religious politics have grown more intense since the government suffered severe losses in a general election last March. Much of the reverse came at the hands of minority voters who were disturbed by the government’s increasingly conservative Islamic tone. The government has appealed and has been granted a stay of the High Court ruling on Dec. 31 that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use the word “Allah” in its Malay-language editions. The word has been widely used as a translation for the word “God” in Malay-language texts and services, particularly among Christian indigenous tribes in the remote states of Sabah and Sarawak. It is also the common word used to describe the Christian God in Arabic-speaking countries like Egypt and Syria and in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, whose language is a variant of the Malay language. During the current dispute, many Muslims here have argued that the use of the word by other religions could confuse believers and tempt them to convert from Islam. Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the attacks on the churches Friday and defended the government against accusations that it had at least tacitly sanctioned the violence. “We have always been very responsible,” he said at a news conference. In the first attack, shortly after midnight, the police said that a firebomb had destroyed the ground-level office of the Metro Tabernacle Church. They said that worship areas on the two upper floors were undamaged and that no one had been injured. Two other churches were attacked by arsonists before dawn, with only one of them sustaining minor damage, according to the police. From The New York Times