KUALA LUMPUR: Three Malaysian Christian churches were attacked with firebombs on Friday, causing extensive damage to one and sharply escalating
religious tensions in the country over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslim minorities.
Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the attacks by unidentified assailants, who struck before dawn in different suburbs of Kuala Lumpur. He said the government "will take whatever steps it can to prevent such acts."
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the country's leaders were very concerned about the situation. "We don't want this to spread out into something else ... I am not only assuring the minorities, I am assuring all Malaysians, anybody who is in Malaysia, that they are safe," he told reporters.
Malaysia is often held up as a model for other Islamic countries because of its economic development, a progressive society and the generally peaceful coexistence of its different races. The Malay Muslim majority comprise 60% of the country's 28 million people while the rest are mostly ethnic Chinese and Indians. They follow Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other faiths.
The Allah controversy, however, has the potential to shatter that carefully nurtured harmony, drive a deep racial wedge and scare away sorely needed foreign investment as the country struggles to emerge from the global financial crisis.
In the first attack, the ground-level office of the three-story Metro Tabernacle Church was destroyed in a blaze set off by a firebomb thrown by attackers on motorcycles soon after midnight, police said. The worship areas on the upper two floors were undamaged and there were no injuries.
Two other churches were attacked hours later, with one sustaining minor damage while the other was not damaged.
http://newageislam.com/3-malaysian-churches-attacked-in--allah--dispute/islamic-world-news/d/2345
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10:34 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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