As Reuters reported on 10 March 2021, the Malaysian High Court decided that Christians are allowed to use the term
"Allah" for the Christian God. However, even after 13 years, the saga is still far from over and Christians have already been
threatened in social media, which is being investigated by the police, as reported by UCA News on 17 March 2021.
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, explains: "This decision overturns the Malaysian government"s long-held position on the matter. The High Court declared the government"s legal basis (based on an official 1986 circular) to be unconstitutional since it violated individual"s rights of worship. The actual court case concerned Sarawak native Jill Ireland, who came back to Malaysia from a trip to Indonesia in 2008, bringing with her eight CDs with Christian content. They were seized at the airport as they used the term "Allah" for God, which is common in Indonesian Christian circles. Jill Ireland complained and after a first round of court cases, the confiscation was declared illegal and the CDs were handed back to her in 2014. However, at that time, the court fell short of declaring the government position to be unconstitutional. Now, in March 2021, this ruling has been made, but the government has already announced it will
appeal against it, claiming that by allowing Christians and other religions in Malaysia to use the term "˜Allah" for God, it would create confusion for the country"s Muslims."
Thomas Muller adds: "At first sight, this ruling seems to be
at odds with another one from 2014, in which a Catholic newspaper was banned from using the term "˜Allah" (BenarNews, 10 March 2021). However, the High Court seems to have made a distinction between individual"s rights and publications. If Christian publications wish to use the term "˜Allah", they have to be clearly marked as being intended for Christian use only. The Home Minister offered the Council of Churches to participate in a consultation about the issue of using the name "Allah", as this is a politically delicate question, bringing the government under pressure from both Islamic groups and East Malaysian leaders (on whose support the government depends). However, the Council
declined the offer (as The Malay Mail reported on 19 March 2021), since the government had already filed a Notice of Appeal against the High Court decision on 15 March, pointing out that such a move would be legally "˜inappropriate"."
