In a statement that may undermine Pakatan Rakyat's bid to stand united on the 'Allah' issue, deputy PAS syura council chief Haron Din said today that the word was exclusive to Islam and non-Muslims may not use the name under any circumstance.

NONESpeaking to Utusan Malaysia from Mecca, Haron (right) urged all Muslims to defend the word from being abused, as 'Allah' refers only to the one true God and was inapplicable to the Christians' trinity God concept.

"On that, I invite the Muslim community to come together to praise Allah because the fight for right to the decree has reached the court of appeal stage and they have ruled in favour of Islam," Haron was quoted saying by the Umno-owned newspaper.

"In other words, the holy name is exclusively for Muslims only, while requests from other religions have been turned down by the court," he added.

Pakatan Rakyat yesterday reiterated an old stand that non-Muslims can use the word 'Allah' after a 90-minute meeting among party leaders to discuss the Court of Appeal judgment, among other issues.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and PAS leaders, however, declined to elaborate on the matter.

In the daily's report, Haron also urged all sides to prepare for more hurdles as the appellate court decision has been appealed to the Federal Court.

"We don't know what to expect, maybe Malaysia won't be the final battle ground for defending the Allah decree," he said, adding that it may then have to be decided at the level of international courts.

The court controversially ruled on Monday that Catholic publication The Herald must adhere to the ban on the use of the word 'Allah' as ordered by the home minister, who exerts control over publications printed in the country.

It overturned a previous court decision disallowing the ban based on constitutional provisions of freedom of religion in Malaysia.

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