A Malaysian court on Monday agreed to review the Catholic Church’s bid to reverse a government ban against publishing the word “Allah” in its weekly paper. The hearing has been set for January 21 next year.
The Herald newspaper had been told by the government that using the word Allah to mean God was illegal.
Earlier this year, a seven-member panel of the Federal Court, in a majority judgment, dismissed the Catholic Church’s application for leave to appeal.
The Church is seeking leave to appeal against a decision delivered last year, which allowed the government’s appeal to overturn a decision given in 2009 that the Herald could use the word “Allah”.