The ruling also applies to the ban’s broader applications, such as Malay-language Bibles, 10,000 copies of which were recently seized by authorities because they translated God as Allah.
“We will not allow the word Allah to be inscribed in your churches,’’ a speaker shouted over a loudspeaker at the Kampung Bahru mosque.
The Herald says its Malay edition is read mainly by Christian indigenous tribes in the remote states of Sabah and Sarawak.
But the government contends that making Allah synonymous with God may confuse Muslims and mislead them into converting to Christianity, a punishable offense in Malaysia despite a constitution that guarantees freedom of religion.
It suggests using “Tuhan,’’ but Christians say Tuhan is more like “Lord,’’ and can’t replace “Allah.’’
Leading Muslim scholars, activists, and opposition politicians have supported the Christians’ right to call God Allah, and yesterday’s protests were relatively small, with most of the congregation ignoring them. Still, the unprecedented church attacks compounded the difficulties for a country that prides itself on having managed to maintain broad harmony among a mix of races and religious groups. About 9 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million people are Christian, including 800,000 Catholics, most of whom are ethnic Chinese or Indian. Muslims are 60 percent.
Minorities have long complained of discrimination. The government refuses to allow construction of new churches and temples, court verdicts in religious disputes usually favor Muslims, and an array of laws guarantees preferential treatment for Malays, the dominant and largely Muslim ethnic group, in jobs, housing, and education.
“The distrust has always been there but now the minorities in Malaysia feel that they are under siege,’’ said James Chin, who teaches political science at the Monash University in Malaysia.
The Allah ban is unusual in the Muslim world. The Arabic word is commonly used by Christians to describe God in such countries as Egypt and Syria. The confiscated Bibles came from neighboring Indonesia, an overwhelmingly Muslim country.
In the worst incident, the ground-floor office of the three-story Metro Tabernacle Church was gutted by a firebomb thrown by attackers on motorcycles, police said.
