Malaysia supreme court to hear ‘Allah’ appeal

The argument about who can use the word ‘Allah’ continues in Malaysia, as one Catholic church was firebombed last month after it was written on a banner.

Malaysia’s Catholic newspaper, the Herald, has not used the word for seven years since it was ordered to stop.

Since then, calls to not even utter the word have spread to the wider Christian community.

The government says the Arabic word for God is reserved for Muslims, but Christians say that violates their rights.

The Supreme Court will hear an application to appeal the ban in March.

Al Jazeera’s Stephanie Scawen reports from Penang.