ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF MOSLEM "DUALITY" OF RULES - One for them one for us

Malaysian Catholic weekly told to drop use of 'Allah' in order to renew publishing permit

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia:

A Catholic weekly newspaper in Malaysia has been told to drop the use of the word "Allah" in its Malay language section if it wants to renew its publishing permit, a senior government official said Friday.

The Herald, the organ of Malaysia's Catholic Church, has translated the word God as "Allah" but it is erroneous because Allah refers to the Muslim God, said Che Din Yusoff, a senior official at the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit.

"Christians cannot use the word Allah. It is only applicable to Muslims. Allah is only for the Muslim god. This is a design to confuse the Muslim people," Che Din told The Associated Press.
The weekly should instead, use the word "Tuhan" which is the general term for God, he said.

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"This is not something new. The word Allah has been used in Malaysia for a long time. There is no confusion," he said.

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Publishers in Malaysia are required to obtain annual permits from authorities under a printing law that has long been criticized by rights groups as infringing press freedoms.

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Che Din said Christians don't use the word Allah when they worship in English, so they shouldn't use it in the Malay language too.

There are four Malay words that must not be used by other religions, he said: Allah for God, "solat" for prayers, "kaabah" for the place of Muslim worship in Mecca and "baitula" the house of Allah.

The Herald's permit will only be renewed if they stop using Allah in their publication, he stressed.