Court declares 'Allah' ban invalid

UPDATED 8.35 PM In a landmark judgment, the Kuala Lumpur High Court presented the Catholic Church a belated Christmas present by ruling that the Home Ministry’s blanket ban on the use of the word ‘Allah’ is illegal.

In making the decision to allow the motion by the Catholic Church to set aside the ban, High Court judge Lau Bee Lan stated that the minister's order is "illegal, null and void" and said that Catholic weekly The Herald can use the word 'Allah' and that the term is not exclusive to Islam.

In addition to that, Justice Lau said that the home ministry also failed to substantiate any of its claims of threats to national security which could be caused by the use of the word 'Allah' by the Herald.