A prominent Malaysian sultan is attempting to ban non-Muslims from using the term Allah, the Arabic word for god, in prayers and religious materials, sparking protests and reviving a longstanding debate over whether Christians in Southeast Asia should refer to God as Allah.
Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has called for an emergency meeting of the Selangor Islamic Religious Council in order to ensure that the government enforces a 2010 ban on the use of Allah by non-Muslims. The issue arose following a Christmas message by Lim Guan Eng, secretary-general for an opposition party, which encouraged the government "to lift its ban on the word published in the Malay bibles shipped in to Sabah and Sarawak, who form the bulk of Malaysia’s 9.2 percent Christian population," according to the Malaysia Insider. Read more
No comments:
Post a Comment