"Allah" Is a Muslim Only God

Several months ago, Tiny Muskens, the retiring Roman Catholic Bishop of the Netherlands, decided it would be best to dispense with all the different names for God and embrace the name Allah.

"Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? ... What does God care what we call him? It is our problem."

Well, apparently it is more than just our problem as the Malaysian government has decided that Allah is only the name of the Muslim God.

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.

It is pretty sad Bishop Muskens, when you cannot even appease properly. Why don't you just start praying toward Mecca and get it over with?

h/t Dan at Protein Wisdom