Islamic authorities in Malaysia on Thursday seized 16 boxes containing more than 300 Bibles from a Christian group because they used the word Allah to refer to the Christian God, signalling growing intolerance that may inflame ethnic and religious tension in the Southeast Asian country.
The raid comes after a Malaysian court in October barred a Malaysian Catholic newspaper from using “Allah” to refer to the Christian God in its Malay-language edition, a verdict which was welcomed by Muslim conservatives but which sparked concern among Christians, a minority in the multi-faith country.
According to the society’s president Lee Min Choon, he and a colleague were also detained “under a state law, which prohibits the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims”. They were later released but must meet authorities again next week.
He added, “We have been using them (the Bibles) ever since the society started (in 1985), and even before that, this is the first time we have been raided.”
Officials from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
Howevr, the Council of Churches of Malaysia said in a statement that it was alarmed by the raid and urged the government to “protect religious rights as provided under the Federal Constitution”.
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