THOU SHALT NOT USE THE NAME ALLAH WHEN REFERRING TO GOD IF YOU ARE NOT MUSLIM SAYS SO BY THE RULING MALAYSIAN JUDGES WHO RULES WITH MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHOSE POPULATION IS 60% MUSLIMS AND THOSE OTHERS ARE CONSIDERED OTHER RELIGION–MALAYSIA HAS A STATE RELIGION CALLED ISLAM

A Malaysian court ruled on Monday that non-Muslims may not use the word “Allah” to refer to God, the latest decision in a long dispute that has polarized the multicultural country.

The decision, by a panel of three judges, was intended to protect Islam, the country’s official religion, from conversions.

“It is my judgment that the most possible and probable threat to Islam, in the context of this country, is the propagation of other religions to the followers of Islam,” the chief judge, Mohamed Apandi Ali, said in the decision, according to the news Web site Malaysiakini.

The Malay language is infused with Arabic, and while 60 percent of the population is Muslim, Malay-speaking members of other monotheistic faiths in the country often use Allah to refer to God.

Monday’s ruling overturned a 2009 judgment that allowed a Catholic newspaper, The Herald, to use Allah in its Malay-language newspaper.

The use of the word Allah “is not an integral part of the faith in Christianity,” the chief judge said. “The usage of the word will cause confusion in the community.”

Non-Muslims in Malaysia, where religion, ethnicity and politics are tightly intertwined, reacted with anger.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/world/asia/malaysian-court-restricts-use-of-allah-to-muslims.html