The government said on Monday it had filed an appeal against the court ruling amid concerns.More than 43,000 Malaysians protested online over a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper to use the word "Allah" to describe the Christian God.
A group page on social networking site Facebook was drawing 1,500 new supporters an hour on Monday as last week's court ruling.
The government said on Monday it had filed an appeal against the court ruling amid concerns.
The Facebook page, named in Malay as "Protesting the use of the name Allah by non-Muslims", said that the group was for Muslims who realise that this is propaganda to confuse Muslims now and in future".
The Catholic Church, which publishes a Malay version of its newspaper, The Herald, uses the word "Allah" for the Christian God.
The ruling by the Kuala Lumpur High Court followed a ban by the government on the weekly Herald in January last year over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians.
The government had said that the use of the Arabic word might offend the sensitivities of Muslims who make up 60 percent of Malaysia's 28 million population, while Christians -- including about 800,000 Catholics -- make up about 9.1 percent.
The Herald circulates in Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island where the indigenous Muslim population had been converted to Christianity more than a century ago and where the word has been commonly used in prayer for decades.
A group page on social networking site Facebook was drawing 1,500 new supporters an hour on Monday as last week's court ruling.
The government said on Monday it had filed an appeal against the court ruling amid concerns.
The Facebook page, named in Malay as "Protesting the use of the name Allah by non-Muslims", said that the group was for Muslims who realise that this is propaganda to confuse Muslims now and in future".
The Catholic Church, which publishes a Malay version of its newspaper, The Herald, uses the word "Allah" for the Christian God.
The ruling by the Kuala Lumpur High Court followed a ban by the government on the weekly Herald in January last year over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians.
The government had said that the use of the Arabic word might offend the sensitivities of Muslims who make up 60 percent of Malaysia's 28 million population, while Christians -- including about 800,000 Catholics -- make up about 9.1 percent.
The Herald circulates in Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island where the indigenous Muslim population had been converted to Christianity more than a century ago and where the word has been commonly used in prayer for decades.
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