Malaysian Catholics insist on right to call God “Allah”
The Malaysian government has forbidden Christians from referring to God as “Allah”, even though the word “Allah” means exactly that in the national language. The Roman Catholic church has gone to court to decide the issue.
Muslim leaders insist that “Allah” must be restricted for usage in Islam, else “young or unsuspecting Muslims” might get confused and convert to Christianity. That “argument” is impossible to take seriously. If some Muslims are confused about the meaning of words used by Islam, the real problem is inadequate teaching by Muslim imams. Why penalise Christians because Islamic clerics can’t or won’t teach their own followers?
This BCC report has it right: This controversy is about religious freedom far more than it is about language.