Malay court overturns ban on Christians using the word 'Allah'

A Malaysian high court has overturned a government ban and ruled that Christians may use the word "Allah" to refer to God.

The court said a law banning non-Muslims from using the word is unconstitutional, the Malaysia Star reports.

The government, in imposing the ban, had argued in January that the use of the Arabic word might offend the sensitivities of Muslims who make up 60% of Malaysia's population of 28,000, Reuters reports.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Herald, a publication of the Catholic Church in Malaysia that had been temporarily barred from printing the word.

The BBC says some Muslims suspected that the Catholic Church was using the word in publications as part of an effort to encourage converts to Christianity -- a move that is illegal in Malaysia.

The large minority Chinese and Indian communities are mainly Christian, Buddhist or Hindu.

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