God bless you Kiana
Reader comment on item: Russian Orthodox Churches in Saudi Arabia?
in response to reader comment: Let the Christians Build

Submitted by Francis T Rozario (Malaysia), Jan 7, 2009 at 21:19

Yes Kiana let the blessings of Almighty God be upon you, we need people who think like you.

I'd like your opinion on the following;

In Malaysia the "Herald" a Catholic weekly has now been ordered to stop printing in the national language, because there is now a dispute in the country about the use of the word "Allah"

Bahasa Malaysia or the Malaysian language is the national language, it is also the language with which the Malays (almost all are Muslims) an the rest of the ethnic population converse in. Like the Malaysians of Chinese and Indian origin the Malays are also an immigrant community having come from neighbouring Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand and are the dominant political force in the country.

Now the Malays claim that the word "Allah" is only meant for the Muslims and people of other faiths cannot use it, the issue has gone to the Courts - which will as usual take its time to deliver a verdict as most of the sitting judges are Muslims,and will not find any other way except as what is directed by the ulamak.

So whislt we await the settlement of this issue on the use of the word "Allah" we are not allowed to publish the "Herald" in the national language. The majority of Catholics are from the ethnic communities of East Malaysia who speak the national language and they shall be deprived of Church news.

As a Muslim can I get your comments.

Regards

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