KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia\u2014Malaysia has banned an Ultraman comic book because it uses the word \u201cAllah\u201d to describe the Japanese action hero.<\/p>\n
The Home Ministry said in a statement Friday that the Malay-edition of \u201cUltraman, The Ultra Power\u201d contained elements that can undermine public security and societal morals.<\/p>\n
It said \u201cUltraman is idolized by many children\u201d and equating the lead character, Ultraman King, with Allah would especially \u201cconfuse Muslim children and damage their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allah, the Arabic word for God, is commonly used in the Malay language to refer to God.<\/p>\n
The government says Allah should be exclusively reserved for Muslims because of concerns its use by others would confuse Muslims and tempt them to convert. Malay Muslims account for about 60 per cent of Malaysia\u2019s 30 million people, while Christians makeup about 9 per cent of the country\u2019s population.<\/p>\n
The ministry said Allah is holy for Muslims and warned that such irresponsible use of the word can provoke the community and threaten public safety.<\/p>\n
Ultraman is a fictional Japanese superhero who fights monsters and first appeared on television in the 1960s. A line in the book said Ultraman \u201cis considered and respected as Allah, or the Elder, to all ultra heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ultraman character itself is not banned and only this edition is prohibited,\u201d the ministry said. Anyone caught distributing the book could be jailed three years, it warned.<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s stand over the word Allah has sparked a controversy in this multi-racial\u00a0Southeast Asian\u00a0country, where many Malay-speaking Christians commonly use Allah to refer to God.<\/p>\n
Religious tensions have been high in the past five years after the Catholic church went to court to seek the right to use Allah in its weekly newspaper.<\/p>\n
A lower court last year ruled in favour of the government, which the Catholic church has appealed to the country\u2019s highest court. The Federal Court said Wednesday it will decide at a later date whether to hear the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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