Pakatan Rakyat (PR) today said that it will not support the call for a ban on the use of the word "Allah" if it is used with good intentions, properly and not in a degrading manner. PR de facto head Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said PR and Christians in general had been unreasonably attacked over the matter. "We should not let it (the Allah issue) be exploited by Umno or its media," he told a press conference today.
Although the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday prohibiting the use of the word "Allah" was limited to the Bahasa Malaysia section of the Catholic weekly The Herald, the implications on the grounds are far-reaching with some Malay rights groups calling for the ban to be extended to churches in Sabah and Sarawak.
Anwar said PR had referred the matter to religious experts, including PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, even before the ruling, and international Islamic scholars. PR will issue a statement today on the opposition coalition's joint stand on the word.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) secretary-general Nicholas Mujah said calls for the ban to be extended to Sabah and Sarawak are uncalled for. "Unlike in Peninsular Malaysia, the Sarawak Muslims are not confused and the Christians are also not confused with the usage of the word," he said when asked to respond to a call by Perkasa to extend the ban to the two states. He said the call is against the spirit of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and the Cobbold Commission Report on the formation of Malaysia.
Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) issued a statement that any ruling to stop Dayaks from using the word is tantamount to infringing Christians' constitutional rights. Its president, Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom, who is state social development minister, said it is also against the fundamental right to freedom of worship.
Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) president Dr Dusit Jaul said he agreed with state Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing's stand that any ban on the use of the word is an infringement of the rights of Christians in Sarawak.
Constitutional lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the Court of Appeal's decision has set a precedent that may be used in the future to ban similar words or publications. He said in The Herald case, the home minister was acting under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA). "That is a federal law, which is also in relation to national security. That is why in the future, they may use PPPA to perhaps ban words in the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Gurdwara Council president Jagir Singh said the ruling will affect Sikhs in the country who also use the word in their prayers. "Since the (judgment) is wide, it will affect us. If you go by the ruling of the court, there is no exemption for anybody. It is blanket and will affect every publication (which uses the word Allah)," said Jagir.
International media reports:
By Jennifer Pak. Published by BBC News, Kuala Lumpur on 14 October 2013.
The verdict does not come as a surprise to the two million Christians in Malaysia. Many of them believe that the case stems from a tight race between the governing Malay-Muslim party, UMNO, and the opposition Islamic party, PAS.
The Allah ban is seen as an attempt by UMNO to boost its Islamic credentials and win back votes. It's an issue that crops up in the government-linked media ahead of an election and promptly dwindles after the vote.
Christians are so convinced that this issue is about political posturing that most followers say they will continue to use the offending Bibles and use the word Allah in their worship.
Not all Muslims back the ban. But one of the most outspoken supporters is an influential group called Perkasa, which is backed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad - a champion of Malay-Muslim rights.
Published by the National Editorial on 14 October 2013.
Like the history of most religions, the history of Islam is complex and much debated. But there are a few elements that are not in dispute, chief among them that the God of the Quran is the same as the God of the Bible and of the Torah before it. The mission of Islam, as expressed in the Quran, is not to bring a new faith, but to update the messages of the monotheistic faiths before it.
It is therefore surprising to see, as The National reports today, that a Malaysian court has ruled that a Christian newspaper may not use the word “Allah” to refer to God. The court overturned a previous decision by a lower court, ruling that “Allah” as a term is not exclusive to Islam. This causes a problem for the country’s substantial Christian minority, who have used the word “Allah” to refer to God for decades.
In a fellow Muslim country with substantial Christian and Hindu populations, this feels like the wrong decision. The UAE is rightly proud of its society that allows people from all over the world to practise their faiths openly and without discrimination. Indeed, that inclusiveness is inherent in Islam. One of the reasons Islam was able to spread so far, so rapidly, was the inclusive nature of the faith: for at least two centuries after the coming of Islam, the Arabs ruled vast regions where the majority were not Muslims. The word “Allah” is never exclusive to Islam – indeed, both Christians and Jews used the word “Allah” to refer to God even before the coming of Islam.
That remains the case today. When Christians across the Middle East pray to God, they use the term “Allah”. Walk into a church in Cairo, Baghdad or Beirut this coming Sunday and you will hear the name of “Allah” invoked. That also applies to the Jews of the Arab world, who for centuries have prayed to “Allah”. The Quran itself is explicit on this subject, declaring, in Surah Al Ankabut, that Muslims should tell People of the Book (Christians and Jews) that “our God and your God is one”.
The Malaysian decision overlooks not merely the theology, but also the etymology of the word. The word “Allah” is derived from the Arabic “al-ilah”, the god. It’s found its way across the world and entered Malay from Arabic.
Arabic as a language is a vehicle for faith, be that Christianity, Judaism or Islam. The God of the three monotheistic religions is the same god. It is unsurprising, therefore, that all three faiths in the Arabic-speaking world (and beyond) refer to God as “Allah”. And if they have the same God, they should have the right to call their deity by the same name.
Link:
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/word-allah-is-not-exclusive-to-islam?fb_action_ids=10151976505061974&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151976505061974%22%3A1427094640843412%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151976505061974%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
By Endy M. Bayuni, published by The Jakarta Post on 16 October 2013.
The controversy in Malaysia started when Muslims raised objections to the use of the word Allah by the Roman Catholic Church in its publications. Although the lower court already ruled in favor of the church in 2009, the Malaysian government decided to take up the issue on behalf of Muslims and appealed. Not surprisingly, this week it won the case, ironically on the eve of the Muslim’s Sacrifice Day.
The controversy on the use of the word “Allah” goes beyond semantics, or else it would not have provoked such emotional reactions from all sides concerned.
And it is a debate that sooner or later will come to Indonesia, for the seeds of exclusivity have already been deeply planted among Muslims in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population. Like their Malay Muslim brothers, Indonesian Muslims who share the same Malay root language, translate the phrase Lailaha Illallah to Tiada tuhan selain Allah (in English: No God but Allah), instead of the literal translation “No god but God”.
Something quite fundamental is lost in the translation when Indonesians make a distinction between “God” and “Allah”, two words that essentially mean the same thing. But this erroneous translation may have become the basis that put Muslims in much of Southeast Asia to claim exclusivity to God.
I am no historian, so I do not profess to know the reason for the translation, but since this part of the world was predominantly Hindus and Buddhists before Islam came in the 14th century, the distinction between Allah and God may have been important in helping to convert people who then believed in many deities.
The late Islamist scholar Nurcholish Madjid drew sharp rebukes when he suggested that Indonesians should translate the term to “No god but God”, so the idea was dropped prematurely. Exclusivity to the claim of God is equally strong in Indonesia, if not stronger, than in Malaysia.
Indonesia has had its share of debates on Islam’s claim to exclusivity, including whether non-Muslims should be allowed to say the traditional Islamic greeting assalamu’alaikum (which means peace be upon you) and other popular Islamic expressions such as Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) and Insya Allah (God willing).
It’s only a matter of time before someone takes the cue from Malaysia and starts raising objections to non-Muslims using the word Allah. The problem with religious exclusivism is that it breeds intolerance, which leads to prejudices against the others.
Indonesia and Malaysia may rightfully claim to have developed a more moderate strand of Islam, and history has actually proven that Muslims in this part of the world to be more tolerant when compared to their brothers and sisters in Islam’s place of origin in the Middle East or in South Asia.
But there is only a thin line dividing tolerance and intolerance, so we should not take this moderation for granted. With the rising exclusivism that the Muslim majorities in these two countries are pushing, we may be witnessing the Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia becoming less and less tolerant. In fact, it may already be happening.
Which begs the question: Is there anyone in this country that is pushing for more religious inclusivism? Insya Allah.
Read more here:
http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/10/16/no-one-has-monopoly-claim-god-on-use-allah-malaysia.html
By Endy M. Bayuni, published by The Jakarta Post on 16 October 2013.
The controversy in Malaysia started when Muslims raised objections to the use of the word Allah by the Roman Catholic Church in its publications. Although the lower court already ruled in favor of the church in 2009, the Malaysian government decided to take up the issue on behalf of Muslims and appealed. Not surprisingly, this week it won the case, ironically on the eve of the Muslim’s Sacrifice Day.
The controversy on the use of the word “Allah” goes beyond semantics, or else it would not have provoked such emotional reactions from all sides concerned.
And it is a debate that sooner or later will come to Indonesia, for the seeds of exclusivity have already been deeply planted among Muslims in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population. Like their Malay Muslim brothers, Indonesian Muslims who share the same Malay root language, translate the phrase Lailaha Illallah to Tiada tuhan selain Allah (in English: No God but Allah), instead of the literal translation “No god but God”.
Something quite fundamental is lost in the translation when Indonesians make a distinction between “God” and “Allah”, two words that essentially mean the same thing. But this erroneous translation may have become the basis that put Muslims in much of Southeast Asia to claim exclusivity to God.
I am no historian, so I do not profess to know the reason for the translation, but since this part of the world was predominantly Hindus and Buddhists before Islam came in the 14th century, the distinction between Allah and God may have been important in helping to convert people who then believed in many deities.
The late Islamist scholar Nurcholish Madjid drew sharp rebukes when he suggested that Indonesians should translate the term to “No god but God”, so the idea was dropped prematurely. Exclusivity to the claim of God is equally strong in Indonesia, if not stronger, than in Malaysia.
Indonesia has had its share of debates on Islam’s claim to exclusivity, including whether non-Muslims should be allowed to say the traditional Islamic greeting assalamu’alaikum (which means peace be upon you) and other popular Islamic expressions such as Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) and Insya Allah (God willing).
It’s only a matter of time before someone takes the cue from Malaysia and starts raising objections to non-Muslims using the word Allah. The problem with religious exclusivism is that it breeds intolerance, which leads to prejudices against the others.
Indonesia and Malaysia may rightfully claim to have developed a more moderate strand of Islam, and history has actually proven that Muslims in this part of the world to be more tolerant when compared to their brothers and sisters in Islam’s place of origin in the Middle East or in South Asia.
But there is only a thin line dividing tolerance and intolerance, so we should not take this moderation for granted. With the rising exclusivism that the Muslim majorities in these two countries are pushing, we may be witnessing the Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia becoming less and less tolerant. In fact, it may already be happening.
Which begs the question: Is there anyone in this country that is pushing for more religious inclusivism? Insya Allah.
Read more here:
http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/10/16/no-one-has-monopoly-claim-god-on-use-allah-malaysia.html
No comments:
Post a Comment