By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : The Catholic Herald magazine of Malaysia has got permission to use the word “Allah” on its masthead, provided it clearly states that the magazine is “For Christians only”.
Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew said this was stated in the recently gazetted Internal Security Act signed by the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar Feb 16.
“The next edition of the Herald will contain the word Allah, and we will print the words `For Christians only’ on the masthead so as not to contravene the act,” he was quoted as saying in The Star newspaper.
The Home Ministry’s Quran Publication Control and Text Division secretary Che Din Yusoh confirmed the content of the gazetted act.
The Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, who is the plaintiff, had applied for a judicial review of a home ministry directive last year forbidding the Herald publisher from using the word Allah as a synonym for “God”.
Malaysia has a multi-religious society that has majority Muslim population living with Hindus, Sikhs and Christians and Buddhists of different denominations.