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Any Muslim been misled with use of 'Allah'?
Published:  Jan 11, 2013 9:32 AM
Updated: 7:17 AM

YOURSAY 'The possibility of it causing confusion is just a manufactured excuse - it cannot be sustained with empirical evidence.'

The complexities of the 'Allah' issue

your say Paul Warren: I, too, would prefer the use of ‘Tuhan' than ‘Allah'. But for whatever purpose when the first Christian literature was translated in the 17th century, they used ‘Allah'. Since then ‘Allah' has been used continuously.

And over the years in both Indonesia as well as Malaysia, this has not caused confusion amongst Muslims. The possibility of it causing confusion is just a manufactured excuse. It cannot be sustained with empirical evidence that it has in fact caused such confusion.

Indeed English-speaking Malay Muslims would better understand the Bible than they would the Quran. They have not been misled. The Cape Malays, isolated for centuries and having forgotten the Malay language, still retain their faith in Islam despite being surrounded by Christians.

Left alone, no one would have thought anything about this. But someone in the 1980s decided that this is a one-upmanship they could foisted on the Christians to show to Muslims that they were the true defenders of Islam.

They started passing laws. The manufactured excuse is, I believe, something more recent. It is not just ‘Allah' that is a protected word. I believe in one of the states, ‘Amin' is also protected. But that is the word we all use in any language to close a prayer and it is also found in several passages in the Bible in whatever language.

Clearly this whole thing was just not well thought-out and it was done more as a showcase for showing Umno, rather than PAS, was the true defender of Islam in this country. And going one up on the Christians surely scores a lot of points.

‘Allah' was already in use in Christian literature long before this charade. The point is if the Christians backed off now, would that stop these people from violating us further?

Will they tell us that we should not refer to Jesus as the son of God? Rather, to him as a prophet? Will they tell us to change the story line of Abraham so that it is Ishmael who is to be sacrificed?

Malaysia ABU: I wonder why the Malay-speaking Christians never worry that they could pick up the Al-Quran and mistaken it as Alkitab?

And also not worry that by the use of ‘Allah' in both the holy books, they could be easily converted to Islam?

With the dominance of Islam in Malaysia, the Malay-speaking churches should be more easily influence by Islam and their flock be converted to Islam, not the other way round. Why are some Muslim groups so paranoid?

Odin: Oon Yeoh, I believe Christians in East Malaysia refer to God as ‘Tuhan Allah' when they use their own languages. Only when they converse in English would they say ‘God'.

They have also been using the word ‘Kitab' to refer to their Bible since a long, long time ago. Perhaps informed East Malaysians reading this might want to confirm my understanding, or correct me if I am wrong.

If you go back to the early days of Islam, you will find that the Muslims considered Jews and Christians as of their own kind. They described the latter as Ahl-al-Kitab, Arabic for ‘People of The Book'.

If they were in the ruling side, they protected and were benevolent to the latter. The only thing they prohibited was for the latter to convert Muslims to their religions.

In any case, and as far as I know, this issue never existed in the past in Malaysia; it came up only very recently, less than 10 years ago, was it? It died down, and now brought up again.

YF: Oon Yeoh, thanks for making matters worse and further confusing everyone. Clearly you have no knowledge of what you are talking about and neither does your friends. Sorry for being so blunt.

I will not reply to all the statements you have made in your article because I've already dealt with them elsewhere in Malaysiakini . However I will deal with your most unpleasant final statement and that is conversion.

My question to you is have you been to Indonesia or East Malaysia? Have you attended a church service in Bahasa Malaysia? Have you read the Alkitab?

Why is it that Muslims there do not have suspicion long before this nation was founded and most certainly long before your ancestors came from China? Because it is an Arabic word that is now integrated into the local language.

3rdEye: It is not a complex issue. The politicians, royalties, religious bodies and media are making it a big issue.

This issue has been around for umpteenth years and the rakyat have been 'giving and taking'. Because these people want to win votes and to become popular, they played it up to turn it into a major religious issue.

They are fault finders instead of consensus builders. These people live on the rakyat fighting one another so that they can retain their power and position.

SteveOh*: Who cares what anyone thinks or what the religious authorities dictate. What matters is what God says. Can anyone show me where God says no one else is allowed to call him ‘Allah' except Muslims?

Until then those who stop others had better be careful lest they end up offending God by their misplaced zeal. Why is it a problem now when not in the past and outside Malaysia?

Appum: A very simple and good analysis, Oon Yeoh. The only sad thing is a solution that can please all parties will be hard to find.

Pl3gm4tic: This is one analysis that the East Malaysians will laugh at. A random survey in Sabah and Sarawak, especially the interior, will give you a different story altogether.

RAW: The matter is only complex for some people because they like it to be so. The writer of the article seems to suggest that Christians have an agenda in converting Muslims.

Christianity may be evangelical in nature, but I believe Christian Malaysians in general do not intend to break the laws of the country they live in.

Even if there are some Christian Malaysians who harbour the wishful thinking that the word ‘Allah' in the BM Bible may convert a few Muslims who are weak in their faith, so what?

There is already a national law that forbids Muslims from changing their religion. So what is so complex about the issue?

Southpaw: Oon, if you intend to write about this issue, then you need to do more research on these two great religions and the varying views on this issue.

A couple of interviews with some friends shows you treat this issue too lightly.

Wira: Oon, if we go to Sabah and Sarawak, we'll find that Christians there had been using ‘Allah' to call their God long before they had any association with Umno and Malaya.

To deny them of this identity to their God for political expediency is wrong. I hope the bigots in Umno will stay out of the religious affairs of our East Malaysian brothers.


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