Copyrighting ‘Allah’

Just came across this weird bit of news from Malaysia…

A church and Christian newspaper in Malaysia are suing the government after it decreed that the word “Allah” can only be used by Muslims.

In the Malay language “Allah” is used to mean any god, and Christians say they have used the term for centuries.

Opponents of the ban say it is unconstitutional and unreasonable.

[Source: BBC News]

Fortunately, they’ve woken up, and reversed the ban now…

But, of course it was unconstitutional and unreasonable, also stupid and unthinkable. I can’t find one ounce of logic behind a decision or a decree like this. It’s just too much.

Ali Eteraz writes on ‘Comment is free‘ how he thinks “This is yet another instance where Islam is being used by conniving leaders to advance political agendas. Leaders in Malaysia promote supremacist, dominionist versions of Islam, because it makes political sense for them to do so. Sixty per cent of the country is Malay-Muslim; the rest are Chinese Buddhists, Tamil Hindus and animists. So, if you can control the Muslims, you will control the government.”

But even if that’s why the government tried to do this, I don’t see how the Muslims of Malaysia would see such a move as anything but absurd.

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Mohamed Marwen Meddah

Mohamed Marwen Meddah is a Tunisian-Canadian, web aficionado, software engineering leader, blogger, and amateur photographer.