Friday, January 8, 2010

Dispute over the term for "God" results in Malaysian church bombings

Three Christian churches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were firebombed on Friday. The bombings are in response to the debate over the usage of "Allah" by Christians in Malaysia, an Islamic nation. Crowds gathered outside two major mosques to protest a recent repeal of a ban against Roman Catholics using "Allah" as a translation for "God." The reasoning behind the protest is that "many Muslims [in Malaysia] have argued that the use of the word by other religions could confuse believers and tempt them to convert from Islam." Other Islamic nations such as Egypt allow Christians to use the term "Allah," simply because the majority of the nation is Arabic speaking. Prime Minister Najib Razak denied governmental involvement while condemning the bombings.

By: Caleb B. Ray
Source: The New York Times

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