Thank you, HF, for highlighting o­ne of the most misunderstood terms in Malaysia's religious discourse.

HF correctly pointed out that the terms "Allah" and "Allah Taala" are Arabic in origin. What HF may not realise is that these terms are used both by Arab Christians and Arab Muslims in their respective liturgies, i.e. neither Islam nor Christianity has a monopoly o­n the the word "Allah" - it is an Arabic word simply meaning "God". It does not refer to the "Islamic God" or the "Christian God". It refers to "God". Period.

Don't take my word for it. Ask Hanan Ashrawi (the former PLO spokeswoman) or Tariq Aziz (ex-Iraqi deputy prime minister), both of whom are Arab Christians - in case you didn't know already. I wouldn't blame any Malaysian who believed these two were Muslims just because they had Arab names - and that's exactly the point: As with "Allah", these are Arabic names, not religious names.

We share the name "Allah" in both Islamic and Christian traditions just as we share parts of the scriptures and prophets: "Musa" is "Moses", "Ibrahim" is "Abraham" and "Daud" is "David".

There is no hidden agenda to convert Muslims to Christianity or vice-versa. Besides, it is an insult to the intelligence of the average Muslim that we can be so easily duped into changing our religion by the usage of words.