'As a Christian, I urge the Catholic Church to drop the word ‘Allah'. Drop it, not because you are afraid. Drop it because our God teaches us to be humble...'

Minister asks Christians to drop 'Allah' claim

Maggie Lim: As a Christian, I urge the Catholic Church to drop the word ‘Allah'. Drop it, not because you are afraid. Drop it because our God teaches us to be humble, to be compromising, to be good, to turn the other cheek. Turning the other cheek does not mean you are a coward.

Turning the other check shows you are better because while they are willing to resort to violence to destroy people and country, you are willing to sacrifice for peace, the people and the country. They might think they have won. Win they might have on earth, but they have to answer to their Maker later. The whole world is looking at those oppressors, so it is okay. Let them win here.

Dood: It makes way more sense to me for the minister to ask Muslims not go overboard in demanding exclusive use of the word ‘Allah'.

Brij Jayaram Kathiravelu: I would appreciate it if ministers who are in the cabinet by virtue of being appointed as senator just do the job they are appointed to and not make unnecessary comments, especially on important issues concerning our country.

Although Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom is the minister in charge of matters concerning Islam and a scholar in Islamic studies, in my opinion, we ought to have an elected member of parliament to address arising issues involving the official religion of our country giving Islam the due recognition as enshrined in our Federal Constitution in order to be accountable to the rakyat who profess to Islam as their religion as well as the rakyat who profess other religions.

This is for the sake of better understanding of the situation we are currently facing as stakeholders in our country. Can I have a 'real minister' addressing the rakyat?

Suhakam: Jamil Khir Baharom is suggesting that we reward those church-burners by dropping the claim to use the name ‘Allah'. Just think of the precedent that would make. Who needs enemies when we can have ‘wakil rakyat' like this?

Jstom: As some commentators have said, today it's 'Allah', tomorrow the 'cross'. Then what? That's why we must recognise that the real issue is the order issued by the Home Ministry which is ultra-virus the Federal Constitution. One religion cannot control another religion using illegal laws.

Ann Teoh: Will the Muslims celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday without any mention of the Prophet? Where does it end if you allow someone else to tell you how to call your God? Did Jesus tell you to deny Him when you turn the other cheek? What you propose (dropping ‘Allah' claim) is false humility.

Thomas Foo: What's rightfully yours is yours. Why should the Church drop the word Allah which they have used for hundreds of years? Does that mean that the Sikh community has to drop the usage, too? For the sake of common sense, please ask the Home Ministry to stop bugging this issue. Just drop it.

Perak Boleh: This is typical of Umnoputras. They get what they want, by hook or by crook. Well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Malaysia, give what Umno want. If you can afford it, just migrate to another country. This is the concept of 1Malaysia: one party dictates all.

Hibiscus: Malay-speaking Christians address God as ‘Allah' as a mark of reverence, somewhat like how one would use ‘Papa' or ‘Mama' when one addresses one's parents. The first sentence of ‘Al-Kitab', the Indonesian Bible used by Malay-speaking Christians, is as follows: " Pada mulanya Allah menciptakan langit dan bumi. " (‘In the beginning, Allah created the sky and the earth.')

Is there anything so disagreeable in this sentence? How would you feel if your neighbour suddenly tells you not to call your father ‘Papa' or your mother ‘Mama' because he is using the same words, the reason being that he might get confused as to who his parents are?

Surely, he could not be confused if he knows who his parents are. Neither should he feel threatened that his parents might not recognise his voice. Instead of forbidding Christians from using the term ‘Allah', Muslim teachers should exhort Muslims to pursue goodwill with other faiths, and explain that because Muslims and Christians revere God, both use term ‘Allah'.

BTN: Encik Jamil, maybe it's time for the country to weed out all the bad elements that are shredding this country apart, instead of just shifting the goal posts every time we have some shallow-minded individuals who misuse the name of race and religion to further their selfish and evil actions.

By submitting to this small group of extremists, we will create Osamas in Malaysia, which will not be a good for this country. Look at Pakistan, which, in many ways, permitted extremists to thrive. They've ended up growing monstrous and are now fighting government forces.

We strongly believe that the majority of Malaysians do not and will not permit such insolence to threaten the foundations of this country. The forces of evil will manifest themselves in many ways. But as history proves it well, it will be destroyed the same way it was formed.

Cala: We are the characters in the book ‘Animal Farm' by HG Wells. In the book, Squealer managed to change the rule from ‘all animals are equal' to ‘all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others'.