MALAYSIA'S CURSE: Catholic Church loses legal battle to use the word 'Allah' in reference to God

Arab Christians have been using the word 'Allah' in pre-Islamic period. The Apostle Creed in Arabic says it: (Source: Creationism.org):

بالحقيقة نؤمن بإله واحد، الله الآب، ضابط الكل، خالق السماء والأرض، ما يُرَى وما لا يرى.

نؤمن برب واحد يسوع المسيح، ابن الله الوحيد، المولود من الآب قبل كل الدهور، نور من نور، إله حق من إله حق.

مولود غير مخلوق، مساو للآب في الجوهر، الذي به كان كل شئ. هذا الذي من أجلنا نحن البشر، ومن أجل خلاصنا، نزل من السماء، وتجسد من الروح القدس ومن مريم العذراء، وتأنس.

وصلب عنا على عهد بيلاطس البنطي. وتألم وقبر وقام من بين الأموات في اليوم الثالث كما في الكتب.

وصعد إلى السموات، وجلس عن يمين أبيه، وأيضا يأتي في مجده ليدين الأحياء والأموات، الذي ليس لملكه انقضاء. نعم نؤمن بالروح القدس، الرب المحيى المنبثق من الآب. نسجد له ونمجده مع الآب والإبن. الناطق في الأنبياء.

وبكنيسة واحدة مقدسة جامعة رسولية. ونعترف بمعمودية واحدة لمغفرة الخطايا.

وننتظر قيامة الأموات وحياة الدهر الآتي. أمين.

Sadly, the Federal Court of Malaysia finally BAN Catholics from using the word 'Allah' [Arabic الله‎ ] in reference to the One Almighty God!

"Allah (English pronunciation: /ˈælə/ or /ˈɑːlə/; Arabic: الله‎ Allāh,  is the Arabic word for God (al ilāh, literally "the God"). The word has cognates in other Semitic languages, including Elah in Aramaic, ʾĒl in Canaanite and Elohim in Hebrew.

"It is used mainly by Muslims to refer to God in Islam, but it has also been used by Arab Christians since pre-Islamic times. -Wikipedia

How could Malaysia's majority Muslims be given the EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS to use the word 'Allah' when in the West MINORITY MUSLIMS keep on telling non-Muslims that 'WE ARE BROTHERS' with 'THE SAME GOD'.  How could we refrain from STEREOTYPING MUSLIMS and ISLAM as a religion when what WESTERN MUSLIM APOLOGISTS say is different from MUSLIMS say in Islamic countries.  Could this be MYTHS OF ISLAM:

"Muslims often complain of popular "misconceptions" about their religion in the West.

"We took a hard look, however, and found that the most prevalent myths of Islam are the ones held by Muslims and Western apologists. The only glaring exception to this is the misconception that all Muslims are alike (they aren't, of course), but even Muslims often believe this as well, as evidenced by the various contrary factions insisting that they are the true Muslims, while those who disagree with them are either infidels, hijackers, or hypocrites."

Malaysia's  FEDERAL COURTS decision only PROVES what CRITICS of ISLAM in the WEST have been saying since the Islamic terrorist attacks in the US in 9-11. If Muslims around the world wish that minority Muslims in other countries are respected, THEY SHOULD KNOW how to RESPECT RELIGIOUS MINORITIES in Islamic States such as Malaysia!

Let's learn from JESUS, the Son of God / the Prophet of God:

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. -Mt. 7:12

Malaysia Church loses battle to use 'Allah' in Catholic newspaper

The Federal Court in Malaysia has ruled that the Catholic Church has no right to use the term “Allah” which means God in the newsweekly Herald.

The decision follows the Church’s five year-long legal battle for the constitutional right to use the phrase.

A five-man bench led by Tan Sri Abdull Hamid Embong unanimously upheld that here had been no procedural unfairness in the Federal Court's earlier decision not to grant leave. He added that the threshold for the review had not been met. 

A seven-member panel of federal court judges on June 23, 2014, dismissed the church's application for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision to ban the Herald from using the Arabic word for "God" in its Bahasa language content.

Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria was among the four on the panel who dismissed the church's application, in a 4-3 "skin of our teeth" judgment, as the church's lawyers have called it, that saw three other judges dissenting.

With no more legal avenues to pursue for the right to use the word "Allah" in the Herald, the publication’s editor Rev Father Lawrence Andrew expressed disappointment on Wednesday that the Federal Court's dismissal of the appeal would further undermine the rights of minorities.

"Malay has been the language in the church in Malaya for centuries and I have shown evidence [that Bahasa Malaysia] was already a language of worship for hundreds of years in devotional booklets,” he said. "And during this period, there was no trouble whatsoever, so I don't see an possibility of evoking trouble.”

The word “Allah” is widely used by the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak and the church has argued that the ban of its use in the Herald is a violation of freedom of religion and expression.

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) politician Gan Peng Sieu, who is also a lawyer and was holding a watching brief on the case for the party, described the Federal Court's decision as a great injustice.

Islam is the official language of Malaysia, whose population is 61% Muslim, 20% Buddhist, 9% Christian, and 6% Hindu. About half of Christians in the Southeast Asian nation are catholic.

My heartfelt sympathy to all Victims of this curse. May they ALL REST IN PEACE!

Curse of Malaysia Airlines? 5 tragic moments in airline's history before MH17 and MH370 -Mirror.co.uk

Missing AirAsia QZ8501 and MH370: Twitter reacts to 'cursed' Malaysian flights -International Business Times

‘Is it a curse?’ Prayers for missing AirAsia plane -Al Arabiya News

The curse of Malaysia Airlines: MH17 brings back nightmares of MH370 -Daily Star News 

"I want to remind them to not be excessive in their demands,” said Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali

Are we not witnessing how Muslims excessively demand for mosques built  in our cities and the Qur'an being translated to local languages even Muslims are minorities? While we, non-Muslims living in their cities have to live in constant fear from threat and violence from its own people according to the dictates of their secular laws? Sensitivities demands equal sensitivity so please do not think that a translation of the Bible to local Malaysian languages could make a Muslim a convert. Our Bible is a "corrupted book" right? So there is nothing to be afraid of.  All we wanted is to share with non-Christians a "best selling novel" called THE BIBLE and maybe some would want to believe in a book that has been "corrupted" according to the Islamic teachings. -CD2000

Don’t test patience of Malays, Perkasa warns Christians Comments @ JihadWatch  By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal 

The Perkasa chief accused Christians of exploiting
sensitive issues ahead of the Sarawak elections.

KUALA LUMPUR (The Malaysian Insider) — Christians should be wary of making unreasonable demands such as asking that bibles be printed in Bahasa Malaysia, Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali said today. 

The Malay rights group president said that Malays have been patient for “far too long” and have allowed non-Malays to make excessive demands. 

“How many Malays are Christian? Why do you have to have bibles in Bahasa? Why not use bahasa Iban, or Kadazan? 

“This is a problem of national security ... we (Malays) have been far too giving, I want to remind them to not be excessive in their demands,” said Ibrahim. 

“They are not the majority of the country,” he stressed.

Christians protest: government blocks 30 thousand Bibles in Malay

The Christian Federation of Malaysia express the disappointment, anger and despair of Christians in a statement: "It would seem that the authorities are conducting an ongoing program, surreptitiously and systematically against Christians in Malaysia, denying them access to the Bible in the Malay language. " The block tied to the controversy on the use of the word "Allah" to refer to God

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The largest Christian organization in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, said it is "fed up" of the government's refusal to allow the distribution of tens of thousands of Bibles. It argues that it is an affront to religious freedom. It is a rare protest by the Christian Federation of Malaysia. It 's also a sign of growing impatience among the religious minorities, over the dispute, now years old, on the government ban on the use of the word "Allah" as a translation of the word "God" in the Bible and Christian religious texts in the Malay language.

Federation president, Bishop Ng Moon Hing said that the authorities are holding 30 thousand copies of the Bible in Malay in a port of the island of Borneo. This is the latest attempt by Christians to import Bibles, particularly from Indonesia, after previous attempts failed. There are no problems for texts in English.