Malaysia court delays ruling on Catholic use of ‘Allah’

PUTRAJAYA: Hundreds of Muslims demonstrated outside Malaysia’s highest court on Wednesday as it postponed a decision on whether to hear the Catholic Church’s bid to be allowed to call God “Allah.”

The church is seeking to challenge a lower court’s ruling last October that sides with the government forbidding non-Muslims from using the Arabic “Allah” in the local Malay language, an issue that has increased tensions in the Muslim-majority multi-ethnic country.