The Malay language Bible is known as the Alkitab. Recently the Malaysian Christians celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Alkitab. Despite the length of the existence of this Malay Bible, the use of the Arabic word for God - "Allah" is not allowed in this country. The Muslim communities said the word "Allah" is exclusive to Islam, thus no other religion can use this word as God. However, "Allah" has been in use by the Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims for ages to refer to God. Even before the creation of our country, the word had already been in used. Sadly, the Malay speaking Christians in Malaysia cannot use "Allah" freely to refer to God. The Catholic Church of Malaysia won a case against the government in 2009 to enable them to use "Allah" in their weekly publication "The Herald", but the government appealed this case and it is still pending. Meanwhile, the Catholic publication is not allowed to use this word.
This issue is a challenge to the Malay speaking Christians in Malaysia as a large portion of the Christians in this country speak the Malay language, thus using the Alkitab. There is no solution in sight.
We pray for God's will to prevail in this case and many other issues relating to Christianity in Malaysia.
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