He said some of the comments and reactions with regard to the decision by the High Court on Dec. 31 in Kuala Lumpur is not helping the effort to strengthen unity and relations between races in the country.

He said Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan has scrutinised all aspects of the history and constitutional rights before arriving at her decision.

Historically, the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said, the word "Allah" has already been used for a very long time even before Sabah decided to join in the formation of Malaysia together with Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak in 1963.

"The society in Sabah has used Bahasa Melayu in line with its status as the lingua franca in the region," he said.

He said Christianity started in Sabah since 1881 and flourished after that.

Christian Bumiputeras in Sabah such as the Kadazandusun and Murut, Dompok said, use three main languages namely English, Malay and their mother tongue in church service.

In English service, he said the term used is God while in Kadazandusun, "Kinoingan" and in Bahasa Melayu as "Allah".

Dompok, who is also Penampang MP, said most of the churches in urban areas use English during church service. But in rural areas, most of the churches uses either Bahasa Melayu or their mother tongue.

The acknowledgement of Bahasa Melayu as the national language and medium of instruction in the nation's education system, he said, has spread the influence of the Bahasa Melayu among communities in Sabah.

"(Hence) the generation who were born after the policy was set were more comfortable using Bahasa Melayu. They were also more comfortable attending church service conducted in the national language," he said.

The younger generation of Christian Bumiputera from Sabah who migrated to West Malaysia either to work or continue their studies at institutes of higher learning, he said, also requested the church there to use Bahasa Melayu during church service because they are more familiar with the language.