Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v. Menteri Dalam Negeri (sometimes referred to as Malaysia v. The Herald) was a 2009 legal decision by the High Court of Malaya holding that Christians do not have the constitutional right to use the word "Allah" in church newspapers.
An official with the Malaysian Home Ministry's publication control and al-Quran text division said this was because an editorial on the by-election was a topic under current affairs and politics.
"[4] The Herald and the archbishop of the diocese of Kuala Lumpur opted to take the legal route and take the government to court to overturn the ruling on the use of the word Allah.
Meanwhile, the state Islamic councils of Selangor, Terengganu, Malacca, Kedah, Johor, Penang, Federal Territory, and the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association applied to intervene in the case.
[11] The Herald was ordered by the Malaysian government to cease printing its Malay language edition until the courts resolve a ban on the paper's use of the word Allah.
The Herald newspaper editor Father Lawrence Andrew said the move was part of a series of restrictions put in place by the conservative Muslim government when it renewed the paper's licence on 30 December 2008.
[15] One of the reasons for the government ban was concern that Malay language news content which used the word Allah to describe God in a non-Muslim context would confuse followers of Islam in Malaysia.
On the ruling by the Malaysian government on 27 February 2008, The Herald's editor stated that the controversial ban on the word Allah to mean God for non-Muslims is still in place.
Father Lawrence quoting a letter dated 16 February 2009, said that the printing, publishing, sale, issue, circulation and possession of any document and publication relating to Christianity containing the words Allah, Kaabah, Baitullah and Solat were prohibited unless on the front cover of the document and publication are written with the words "FOR CHRISTIANITY" in font type Arial of size 16 in bold.
This was stated in the recently gazetted order under Internal Security Act signed by the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar on 16 February.
[19] On 31 December 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in favour of The Herald, stating that even though Islam is the federal religion of the country, this does not empower the government to prohibit the use of the word Allah.
In a judgment handed down on March 17, 2021, High Court Judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin noted that the Directive being used was ‘illegal’, ‘irrational’ and ‘unconstitutional’.