This is in response to Why not use Iban word for 'Allah' in Bible translation? by HF.

HF said: "It is therefore an insult to the Muslim community when Christians equate the Muslim Allah to the Christian God(s)."

The Quran again and again refers to the God of the Christians and Jews as "Allah". The Quran never says that Christians and Jews worship a different God. I try to read a passage from the Quran each morning, and this morning, hours before I read HF's letter in malaysiakini , I read in surah al-Imran ayat 84:

"We believe in Allah (God), and in what has been revealed to us, and in what has been sent down to Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ismail (Ishmael) and Ishak (Isaac) and Yakub (Jacob) and their offspring, and what has been revealed to Musa (Moses) and to Isa (Jesus) and to all the other prophets by their Lord. We make no distinction between them, and we submit to Him and obey."

HF also said: "Of all the Iban words available, why in the world did they (the translators) feel the urge to use Arab words?" and "The solution: use another term, preferably in Iban, to replace the words 'Allah Taala'."

An ustaz friend of mine is a graduate in Syariah from Al-Azhar in Egypt, and he has told me that he is appalled at the ignorance of the average Malay about Islamic stuff. In Arab, everyone - Muslims, Christians, and Jews - refer to God as Allah. Arabs don't argue about whether it is legitimate for a Christian or a Jew to refer to God as Allah.

"Allah Taala" is indeed o­ne of the terms for God in Iban, just like it is in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia (I have verified this with two different Iban friends). It is indeed a borrowed word from Arabic, but so are many other words.

Go to the Internet and do a search of the dakwah (missionary) websites set up by Muslims all over the world, and you will see many of them point out that Allah is the name of God in Arabic for all ahli kitab (people of the Book). In particular, there are several Muslim web pages which point out that the Arabic translation of the Bible uses the word "Allah" for God throughout.

It seems hard to remember here in West Malaysia, but the fact is that Arabic is not the same as Islam, and Islam is not the same as Arabic. Islam is submission to God - and people of all races and languages can choose to submit to God, regardless of whether they speak Arabic or not.