A reminder of why our freedoms are worth protecting.
Bible Society of Malaysia Chairman Lee Min Choon said, “We were told that we were under investigation for breaking a Selangor state law banning non-Muslims from using the word Allah.” Two of the Bible society’s officials were taken to a police station, made statements, and were then released on bail.
The raid to take the Bibles was catalyzed by a ruling by a Malaysian court in October that use of the word “Allah” was only allowed to Muslims, and the centuries-old practice of Malaysian Christians referring to God in the Bible was illegal. That decision overturned a lower court decision in 2010 that permitted a Malay-language Roman Catholic newspaper to use “Allah” to refer to God.
The 2010 decision was the stimulus for the firebombings of several churches by Islamists.
According to a 2010 census, Muslims comprise 61.3% of the Malaysian population, followed by Buddhists at 19.8%, Christians at 9.2%, and Hindus at 6.3%, with Confucianists, Taoists, and other traditional Chinese religions behind these.
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