ENI — The Christian Federation of Malaysia expressed “deep disappointment and regret” at the government announcement that only Muslims were allowed to use the word 'Allah.' The Government said the word 'Allah' referred only to the Muslim God and that non-Muslims were banned from using the expression.
Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, a Jesuit cleric and head of the Malaysian Christian Federation responded in a statement: “The word 'Allah' is a pre-Islamic word used by Arab Christians before Islam came into being.
About 60 percent of Malaysia's 25 million people are Muslims. Christians and Buddhists, who are mostly from the country's minority Chinese community, make up about 28 percent of the population and Hindus of Indian origin make up about 10 percent.
