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 The raid comes after a Malaysian court in October ruled that the
Arabic word was exclusive to Muslims, most of whom are ethnic
Malays, the largest ethnic group in the country alongside sizeable
Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities.
That ruling overturned a court decision that allowed a Roman
Catholic newspaper printed in Malay, the country's national
language, to use Allah.
The change has heightened concern that religious authorities, which
issue rulings for Muslims and operate alongside civil courts, now
have more legal muscle.
Analysts say new rulings that affect non-Muslims could be a way of
deflecting anger against Prime Minister Najib Razak's government
from poor Malay Muslims over subsidy cuts likely to force up
electricity, petrol and sugar prices.
On Thursday, the top Islamic authority in the richest and most
populous state of Selangor seized the Malay-language Bibles from the
Bible Society. The society said authority officials escorted two of
its officials to a police station to make statements after which
they were released on bail.
"We were told that we were under investigation for breaking a
Selangor state law banning non-Muslims from using the word Allah,"
said Bible Society of Malaysia Chairman Lee Min Choon.
The raid is a marked escalation from the occasional seizure at
border checkpoints of Bibles imported from Indonesia. It was the
first time Islamic authorities have entered premises belonging to a
Christian organization to carry out a raid.
Christians from Malaysia's rural states of Sabah and Sarawak in
Borneo, who have used the word Allah for centuries, have moved in
droves to Selangor and other parts of peninsular Malaysia in recent
years to look for work.
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BAD ELEMENTS
The main political party within Najib's ruling coalition, the United
Malays National Organisation (UMNO), said its Selangor members would
protest at all churches in the state on Sunday against unauthorized
use of the word Allah.
"There are laws in Selangor and there was a decree by his Royal
Highness the Sultan. So what they are doing is carrying out the
Sultan's decree," Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President
Muhyiddin Yassin was quoted by media as saying.
"They are not doing anything against the law."
The Sultan of Selangor, one of nine sultans who serve in turn as
titular Malaysian head of state, decreed last year that non-Muslims
must refrain from using Allah in Bibles. He asked Muslims to unite
against "bad elements" that misuse the word.
The increasingly assertive stand by holders of the largely
ceremonial office show that Muslim leaders have become increasingly
vocal about their role in defending Islam.
In 2010, arsonists firebombed several churches over the initial
ruling that allowed the Catholic newspaper to use the Arabic word.
Two Malay men were found guilty for setting fire to one of the
churches.
(Editing by Ron Popeski)
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