Kibunango
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- Aug 29, 2006
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Malaysian churches fire-bombed ahead of demonstrations
Three churches have been attacked in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, ahead of planned protests by Muslim groups.
The administrative offices of one church were destroyed by a firebomb attack and one of the other two churches attacked was slightly damaged.
Some Muslim groups are angry at a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use the word Allah to refer to God.
The government relies on the Malay Muslim vote, and will let Muslims march from mosques to churches on Friday.
Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the church attacks, saying such actions would "destroy our country's harmony".
"The government will take whatever steps it can to prevent such acts," he said.
The controversy stems from a ban on a Catholic newspaper, The Herald, using the word Allah.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court struck down the three-year old ban on use of the word Allah - a ruling now the target of planned demonstrations.
Some major Muslim organisations, including the Islamic political party, PAS, have agreed with the court, saying other Abrahamic religions - Christinaity and Judiasm - may use the word Allah.
But some vocal groups, including the Muslim Youth Movement, Abim, have cast the use of the word Allah as a surreptitious effort on the part of Christians to try to seduce Muslims away from Islam.
Church officials say that although the word Allah originated in Arabic, Malays have used it for centuries to refer generally to God, and Arabic-speaking Christians used it before Islam was founded, says the BBC's religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott.
More at BBC NEWS
Three churches have been attacked in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, ahead of planned protests by Muslim groups.
The administrative offices of one church were destroyed by a firebomb attack and one of the other two churches attacked was slightly damaged.
Some Muslim groups are angry at a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use the word Allah to refer to God.
The government relies on the Malay Muslim vote, and will let Muslims march from mosques to churches on Friday.
Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the church attacks, saying such actions would "destroy our country's harmony".
"The government will take whatever steps it can to prevent such acts," he said.
The controversy stems from a ban on a Catholic newspaper, The Herald, using the word Allah.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court struck down the three-year old ban on use of the word Allah - a ruling now the target of planned demonstrations.
Some major Muslim organisations, including the Islamic political party, PAS, have agreed with the court, saying other Abrahamic religions - Christinaity and Judiasm - may use the word Allah.
But some vocal groups, including the Muslim Youth Movement, Abim, have cast the use of the word Allah as a surreptitious effort on the part of Christians to try to seduce Muslims away from Islam.
Church officials say that although the word Allah originated in Arabic, Malays have used it for centuries to refer generally to God, and Arabic-speaking Christians used it before Islam was founded, says the BBC's religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott.
More at BBC NEWS
