Malaysia bans comic book for using Allah Japanese action hero referred to as Allah , amid a fierce debate over whether Malaysian Christians can use the word . Malaysia has banned an Ultraman comic book because it uses the word Allah to describe the Japanese action hero. The Home Ministry said in a statement on Friday that the Malay - edition of Ultraman , The Ultra Power contained elements that could undermine public security and societal morals . Ultraman is idolised by many children and equating the lead character, Ultraman King, with Allah would especially confuse Muslim children and damage their faith , the staetment said , according to an Associated Press news agency report. Allah , the Arabic word for God , is commonly used in the Malay language to refer to God . Allah cannot be used by outsiders or Christians. People now may know the difference but our children will not know, said Rosli Ani, a representative of a Muslim NGO known as Per 3 , the AFP news agency reported . The government says Allah should be exclusively reserved for Muslims because of concerns that its use by others would confuse Muslims and tempt them to convert . Both Arab Muslims and Christians use the word Allah for God . Ruling appealed Malay Muslims account for about 60 percent of Malaysia s 30 million people , while Christians makeup about 9 percent of the country s population . The ministry said Allah is holy for Muslims and warned that such irresponsible use of the word could provoke the community and threaten public safety . Ultraman is a fictional Japanese superhero who fights monsters and first appeared on television in the 1960 s . A line in the book said Ultraman is considered and respected as Allah, or the Elder, to all ultra heroes . The Ultraman character itself is not banned and only this edition is prohibited, the ministry said . Anyone caught distributing the book could be jailed three years , it warned . The government s tough stance over the word Allah has sparked controversy, as many Malay - speaking Christians commonly use Allah to refer to God . Religious tensions have been high in the past five years after the Catholic church went to court to seek the right to use Allah in its weekly newspaper . A lower court last year ruled in favour of the government , a ruling against which the Catholic church has appealed to the country s highest court. On Wednesday hundreds of Muslims demonstrated outside Malaysia s Federal Court as it postponed its decision whether it would hear the case . The church s lawyer Cyrus Das said he was quite confident the panel would allow a full hearing. What is ur take?
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 13:34:05 +0000
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