Malaysia's Islamic party leader supports non-Muslims in their fight to use 'Allah'

The leader of Malaysia's Islamic opposition party says non-Muslims should be allowed to use the word "Allah" to refer to God, questioning a government ban that has been criticized by Christians as a blow to freedom of religion.

Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the influential spiritual leader of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, cited a verse in the Quran in which non-Muslims of Mecca call their God "Allah."

Nik Aziz's views are an unexpected boost for Malaysia's Christian minority, who have gone to court to challenge a 2007 order banning non-Muslims from translating God as "Allah" in their literature. The government says its use would confuse Muslims in this multiethnic, Muslim-majority country.

Christian groups say the ban is unconstitutional, arguing that the word "Allah" predates Islam and Muslims do not have an exclusive right to it.

The ban was aimed against the Malay-language edition of the main Roman Catholic newspaper in Malaysia, the Herald, which is read mostly by indigenous tribes who converted to Christianity decades ago. The Herald's Mandarin, English and Tamil editions do not use the word "Allah."

Nik Aziz said last Sunday that he is only giving his opinion as a Muslim scholar, and will let the government decide whether to ban the word.

The government is unlikely to heed Nik Aziz's opinion because he's an arch political rival of the ruling coalition. Also, it is not clear how much influence he has among Muslims outside the four states where his party has done well in recent elections.

For many Christians, the ban symbolizes their eroding religious freedom under the Muslim-Malay dominated government, while for many Muslims, a lifting of the ban would be seen as a blow to Malay supremacy in the country. source>>>

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