Malaysian govt wins right to appeal in 'Allah' case

Malaysia's government won the right to appeal a c ourt ruling that allowed the country's non-Muslim minority to use the word "Allah" to refer to God. Appeal hearings are scheduled to start September 10 to resolve the politically sensitive dispute that triggered attacks on Malaysian churches and other places of worship more than three years ago. "Allah" is the Arabic word for God and is commonly used in the Malay language to refer to God. The government, however, insists "Allah" is an Islamic word and that i ts use by others would confuse Muslims. Roman Catholic representatives say the government's curb on their use of "Allah" is unreasonable because Christians who speak t he Malay language had long also used the word to refer to God in their Bibles, literature and songs before authorities sought to enforce the ban in recent years. A nearly 6-y ear-old court dispute over the issue stems from efforts by the newspaper of t he Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia to use "Allah" in its Malay-language publication. Malaysia's Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that the government has the right to challenge a 2009 verdict by a lower court that permitted the newspaper to use "Allah." The ban has become a symbol of grievances in Malaysia among Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities, who sometimes complain that their constitutional right to practice religion freely is undermined.