At least three Malaysian churches were attacked with firebombs ahead of a Muslim protest planned Friday against a court ruling allowing Christians to use the word Allah, church leaders said, DPA reported.
The three-storey Metro Tabernacle, an Assemblies of God church in suburban Kuala Lumpur, was set ablaze around midnight Thursday when two suspects smashed the windows on the ground floor and tossed in flammable materials.
Church leader Peter Yeow was quoted as saying witnesses could not stop the suspects because they sped off on a motorcycle, the Star newspaper said.
Hours later, the Protestant Life Chapel Church and Catholic Church of Assumption in Petaling Jaya, a city outside Kuala Lumpur, were attacked when single homemade bombs were thrown into the church grounds.
"Our guards saw the suspects flee in a car but could not recognize them," Church of Assumption priest Philip Muthu said.
He said the makeshift bomb was an ignited kerosene-filled bottle.
The reverend said Friday's incident was the second such attack on the church in two months.
Nobody was hurt in the attacks although the Metro Tabernacle church suffered damage to its ground floor.
Several Muslim groups have announced mass street protests later Friday to oppose a High Court ruling last week that allowed the Herald, Malaysia's main Roman Catholic newsletter, to use Allah, which is the Arabic word for God.
The government last year had banned the use of the word in any non-Muslim publications.
The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, which represents the majority of Malaysia's Protestant churches, said there were reports that more churches were victims of similar attacks early Friday but it could not confirm the exact numbers.
"We are shocked that these attacks have taken place at these places of worship," the fellowship's secretary general, Sam Ang, said.
"We told the police," Philip said. "We don't want to connect this to the Allah issue."
"We're not reading anything extra into these attacks, but of course, we needed to make a police report in light of the recent security issues," he said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the attacks, saying they would "destroy the country's harmony" and urged police to hasten investigations into finding the culprits.
Social activist Marina Mahathir also urged all Muslims to condemn the attacks.
"This is not what Islam is about," said Marina, who is also the daughter of former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad.
"The leadership must play its role and come out and tell the people not to condemn houses of worship," she was quoted as saying in the Star.
Police have said they would step up patrols around churches nationwide.
This week, the government filed an appeal against the High Court ruling, and a stay of execution has been approved until the appeal can be heard.
Non-Muslim groups have come out in opposition of the ban, saying the word Allah predates Islam and has been used by Malay-speaking Christians for decades. Critics said the ban restricts non-Muslims' freedom of practising their religion.
Multiracial Malaysia has always struggled with balancing religious and racial sensitivities. While Muslims make up the majority of its 27 million people, Malaysia is also home to large groups of Buddhists, Hindus and Christians.