Malaysia's government won on Thursday, August 22, the right to appeal a court ruling that allows the country's non-Muslim minority to use the word "Allah" to refer to God.

“It is still a live issue,” Court of Appeal Justice Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin said in his judgment today, The Malay Mail reported.

“The controversy has yet to be resolved,” he added to a packed courtroom, ruling that the subject matter of the appeal was “not academic”.

“Allah” Debates Return To Malaysia

The row dates back to 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke Catholic paper Herald’s permit, prompting the Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.

The 2009 High Court decision that upheld the Catholic Church’s constitutional right to use the word “Allah” had shocked Muslims who considered the word to only refer to the Muslim God.

Roman Catholic representatives say the government's curb on their use of "Allah" is unreasonable because Christians who speak the Malay language had long also used the word to refer to God.

The Government's appeal against a High Court ruling to allow Catholic weekly Herald to use the word "Allah" has been allowed to continue, scheduling appeal hearings to start Sept. 10 to resolve the politically sensitive dispute.

The court ruling was praised by Muslim groups, regarding it as an important one for the Muslims in Malaysia.

“Allah is only for Muslims. It is our right,” Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali told The Star Online.

“We will support the issue all the way and we urge all Muslims to follow the issue closely,” he added.

Disappointed

Among Muslims’ cheers, Malaysia Christians expressed disappointment at the court decision.

"I will use the word disappointed, disappointed at the decision because we pray with the Bilbe, we quote the Bible with the word Allah, now with in our application, they are not permitting us,” Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald, told reporters on Thursday, Malaysia Chronicle reported.

“So, of course we are disappointed. We want to continue and nurture our Herald and the Constitution allows us to nurture our faith."

S Selvarajah, the lawyer for the Church, was adamant the chances for the Church still looked rosy despite Thursday set-back.

"We have strong grounds. Apart from the letter of 11 April, we have several strong grounds, there is the judgment from (High Court judge) Lau Bee Lan which we intend to reinforce," said Selvarajah.

"We have legal arguments for all the other points raised by the Government of Malaysia. We will be dwelling on the issue of Constitutionality, reasonableness, rationality and the also the Minister acted 'ultra vires-ly' in the Printing Presses & Publications Act.

“It is not the end of the road for us. We live to fight another day,” he added.

Usually dubbed the "melting pot" of Asia for its potpourri of cultures, Malaysia has long been held up as a model of peaceful co-existence among its races and religions.

Malaysia has a population of nearly 26 millions, with Malays, mostly Muslims, making up nearly 60 percent.

Christians, including a Catholic population of nearly 800,000, make up around 9.1 percent of the population.

Source: On Islam