Muslim activists celebrate as judges reject Catholic church's argument that Arabic word has been used for centuries in Malay-language literature to refer to the Christian God

Malaysia's highest court on Monday dismissed an attempt by Christians for the right to use the word Allah, ending along legal battle that has escalated religious tensions in the country.

The case, in which the Catholic church challenged a government ban on its use of the Arabic word to refer to God, came amid concern from minority religious groups who feel that their rights are under threat from rising Islamisation.

The government had previously banned the use of Allah in the local Malay-language edition of the Church's Herald newspaper, which had angered Muslims, who say Christians are overstepping religious boundaries.

A seven-judge panel in the administrative capital Putrajaya ruled that a lower court decision siding with the government stood. "It [the Court of Appeal] applied the correct test, and it is not open for us to interfere," chief justice Arifin Zakaria said.

Analysts termed the ruling a "vote-winner" for the government. S Selvarajah, one of the church's lawyers, said his team would explore further ways to challenge the ban.

"It's a blanket ban," he told AFP. "Non-Muslims cannot use the word. It has a major impact." The Herald editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, said the ruling "didn't touch on the fundamental rights of minorities", adding: "We are greatly disappointed by this judgement."

Outside the court, which was cordoned off, about a hundred Muslim activists cheered the news of the verdict. Earlier, they had shouted Allahu Akbar (God is great) and waved banners that read "Uniting to defend the name of Allah".

"I'm very pleased and happy that we have won the case. I hope the issue will be put to rest," said Ibrahim Ali, head of Muslim rights group Perkasa. "We must defend 'Allah' because this is our religious obligation. I hope other communities, including Christians, understand this."

The dispute first erupted in 2007 when the home ministry threatened to revoke the publishing permit of the Herald for using the Arabic word in its Malay-language edition.

The Church launched a court case to challenge the directive, arguing that the word Allah had been used for centuries in Malay-language Bibles and other literature to refer to God outside of Islam. But authorities say that using Allah in non-Muslim literature could confuse Muslims and entice them to convert, which is a crime in Malaysia.

In 2009, a court ruled in favour of the Church, sparking a spate of attacks on houses of worship. Last October, an appeals court reinstated the ban.

Malaysia has largely avoided overt religious conflict in recent decades, but tensions have been growing. Two petrol bombs were thrown at a Malaysian church in January, causing minor damage.

Also in January, Islamic authorities seized hundreds of Bibles, which contained the word Allah, from a Christian group. About 2.6 million people among the south-east Asian country's 28m people are Christians, who come from mostly ethnic Chinese, Indian or indigenous backgrounds, while 60% are Muslim ethnic Malay.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who took office in 2009, has increasingly rolled back his initial reformist and conciliatory rhetoric to please hardliners of his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has ruled the country virtually uninterrupted since it gained independence in 1957.

James Chin, a political science professor at Monash University, said it was unlikely that authorities would use the verdict to start seizing Malay-language Bibles and other literature containing the word Allah on a large scale or crack down on Malay-language church services. "The idea is to use this as a political weapon to raise tensions," he told AFP. "They [the ruling party] feel that this is a vote-winner for the next election."