Sunday, January 19, 2014

Allah: Malaysia's God problem erupts, tarnishing moderate image...

The Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic church seems like a model for the multicultural, tolerant Malaysia that its government likes to present to the outside world.

An ethnic Chinese priest conducts the service in the Malay language to a congregation made up of migrants from the country's eastern Borneo island states along with a handful of Vietnamese immigrants.

But it takes only a few minutes for the worshippers to utter the Malay and Arabic word for God that has become a festering source of contention in the Muslim-majority country, deepening ethnic divisions and tarnishing its moderate image.

"We believe in Allah, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth," the 300 or so faithful chant.

A long tussle over who can say "Allah" in Malaysia has flared anew, as Islamization that many see as driven by political forces threatens to erode the secular constitution and minority rights in the ethnically diverse country following a divisive election last year. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Call to burn Bibles heightens Malaysian election tensions...
  2. Christians in Malaysia to be banned from using the word "Allah..."
  3. Malaysia seizes 15,000 Bibles...
  4. Malaysia bans Erykah Badu show over 'Allah tattoos'
  5. Allah vs atheism: ‘Leaving Islam was the hardest thing I’ve done’
  6. Two women in Iran risk death for converting to Christianity...

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