It’s all a political game in Allah row

By Stephen Ng. 30 June 2014.

Although the Christian community in the country has been made the scapegoat, things have to be put into perspective for the sake of unity and harmony. Both the Alkitab and the Sikh scriptures use Allah as a name referring to God, but only the Christian scripture is being targeted, ridiculed and confiscated.

Despite having only the flimsiest argument against the use of the name Allah by non-Muslims, the religious bigots calling themselves “champions of Islam” continue to victimise the Christians in this country. They say that when the name Allah is used in the Alkitab, it confuses the Muslim community.

Exactly who are these Muslims being referred to? Why is that Muslims in Malaysia can be easily confused when Muslims around the world have no problem with the name being used by other religious communities?No one, including the man behind the 1Malaysia slogan, who promised Muslim NGOs that he would defend the exclusive use of “Allah” by Muslims, has ever quoted any part of the Quran that prohibits non-Muslims from using the name Allah.

Instead, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and former Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat who, disagreeing with Umno ministers, quoted the Prophet as saying: “Our Allah and your Allah is one.”

Tracing back the Allah controversy, Mahathir, who was then Home Minister, was the first to ban the Indonesian Alkitab in 1982, barely one year after he became the fourth Prime Minister. This has helped him achieve his objectives. In his early years, Mahathir had initially faced resistance from within Umno, especially those who were Malays and pro-Tunku (Abdul Rahman). By making it illegal to possess or distribute the Alkitab, Mahathir managed to consolidate his power with the support of the Malays by championing Islam.

Different scenario

In 1986, when Mahathir was again challenged by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from Team B, he saw another opportunity to use the same tactic to unite the Muslims to defend his position. Within the next few years, one state enactment after another was passed. The rest is history.

Today, the scenario is different. In 2007, when Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar slapped a prohibition order on the Herald, it kick-started a lengthy and painful litigation, which ended in the controversial Federal Court ruling.

Although the Catholic Herald was never intended for proselytisation of Muslims, it earned the ire of authorities because of the Bahasa Malaysia section that is supposed to cater to the Catholic congregation in East Malaysia. Most of us who are not Catholics have never even heard of the Catholic Herald until the High Court ruling in 2008.

How could the publication be used to proselytise the Muslims? It’s all an Umno game. The same observation is made by Shah Alam MP, Khalid Abdul Samad, who openly said that Umno is using the same strategy to attack the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government.

There you go! The same reason is what motivated the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) to raid the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and a Hindu wedding. Apart from Perkasa, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has been very vocal. Along with Mais, it was involved in a Christian-bashing seminar held at UiTM.

Government script

We cannot blame the BN government for everything that is happening today. Our fellow citizens in East Malaysia have voted the present regime into power. Although it was Syed Hamid who first prohibited the Catholic Herald from using the name Allah, now, the East Malaysian churches cannot blame the Federal Court decision for ruling that Allah is now a banned word as far as all non-Muslims are concerned, since its decision is binding on a lower court and the Federal Court is the supreme authority in this country.

No state, including Sabah and Sarawak, can cushion itself against the ruling of the Federal Court. The moment a group of Muslim extremists in Sabah or Sarawak complain against the church for using the name Allah, or choose to bring this matter to the court, the decision by the apex court will be binding.

As usual, after the apex court ruling, the government read out its part of the script: “Christians can still use the term ‘Allah’ in their churches and (we are still) committed to the 10-point solution.” Let it be known that no amount of balm from Putrajaya will be able to comfort the non-Muslim community, unless the Federal Court’s decision is overturned.

For our Muslim brethren, Ramadan is a good time to get close to God. Our God is a great God, who will forgive when we turn to Him. I would not risk using the name Allah here, but you know I am referring to the One and Almighty God.

Link: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2014/06/30/its-all-a-political-game-in-allah-row/

Najib’s praise for Isis an assault to humanity, civilisation

Published by The Malaysian Insider on 25 June 2014.

Bersih 2.0 condemns in the strongest language Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s call upon Umno members to emulate the “bravery” of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isis, also known as Isil) terrorists and views this as a grave threat to parliamentary democracy.

Isis has been committing gruesome crimes against humanity of beheading and indiscriminate killing of civilians and prisoners of war.

The group is turning Iraq and Syria into another killing field of ethno-religious hatred after the former Yugoslavia and Burundi-Rwanda.

Najib’s praise for Isis is an assault to humanity and civilisation. His call for its emulation is a covert call for the politics of blood.

It is an international embarrassment to Malaysia and the people of Malaysia that their prime minister has lauded a terrorist group for its criminal actions.

Glorifying the terrorism of Isis signals a readiness of Umno to replace electoral and parliamentary competition with military and violent domination.

This statement is extremely alarming given the growing number and intensity of hate speech under Najib’s premiership since 2009.

Bersih 2.0 calls upon the prime minister to immediately retract and his terrorism-glorifying statement and apologise to all Malaysians as well as the people of Iraq and Syria.

Najib's outrageous statement is both an insult to the thousands of victims in Iraq and Syria, making Malaysia a terrorism-friendly country, and a betrayal to Malaysia’s parliamentary democracy, which he has taken an oath to defend when he was sworn in as a parliamentarian.

Bersih 2.0 urges all Malaysians including Najib’s colleagues in Umno and Barisan Nasional to condemn Najib's statement and demand his retraction and apologies – unless they agree with the call for Umno to emulate Isis.

This is a critical juncture that all Malaysians must stand together and put the interest of nation and humanity before that of parties and factions. – June 25, 2014.

* Issued by the Steering Committee of Bersih 2.0.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Link: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/najibs-praise-for-isis-an-assault-to-humanity-civilisation-bersih-2.0?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24, 2014 — Umno must emulate the bravery of a Middle Eastern militant group that defeated an Iraqi force outnumbering it nearly 30 to one if the Malay nationalist party is to survive, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday. The Umno president and prime minister was listing virtues that were needed to allow the Malay nationalist party to continue in power, during a dinner to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its Cheras branch yesterday. “For example, when someone dares to fight to their death, they can even defeat a much bigger team. “As proof — whether we agree or not is another matter — the group ISIL with the strength of just 1,300 people, can defeat an Iraqi army of 30,000 soldiers, until four, five generals with three, four stars run for their lives, jump out the window at night. Why? Because they are afraid of those who are brave,” he told more than 1,000 Umno members in attendance.

Read more here: http://m.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/be-brave-like-isil-fighters-najib-tells-umno

Mais has refused to comply with instruction of AG & state government

By Md Izwan. Published by The Malaysian Insider on 25 June 2014.

The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) today insisted it will continue to seize Bibles that contained the word Allah in the state, adding that it had every right to destroy the holy books it had already seized earlier this year from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM).

Its chairman Datuk Mohamad Adzib Mohd Isa (pic) said operations to counter the distribution of such Bibles in Selangor will continue and warned that it will not hesitate to arrest those distributing it. "This process will go on and we will also make arrests," he said in his speech at an event in the Tabung Haji Complex in Kuala Lumpur today.

Adzib also stressed that Mais will not accept the decision of Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail in the seizure of the BSM Bibles, adding that it will not return them to the BSM. Gani decided to close the case against BSM after finding the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had erred in the seizure of the Bibles, which he said were not a threat to national security as alleged. However, Mais has refused to comply with instruction from the A-G and the state government but instead said that it would be getting a court order to dispose of the holy books.

The religious council said that it will not close the case as was ordered by Gani and insisted that there is a provision in the 1988 state enactment to charge BSM. Adzib today said that although the council would accept the A-G's decision not to prosecute BSM but it maintained that the reason given not to take action against the society was not valid. "We accept the decision not to prosecute as it is under the purview of the A-G. But we do not agree with the reasons he gave," he added.

"On the seized Bibles, actually Jais could dispose it themselves. But because we care about harmony and justice, we leave it to the prosecutor to decide."

On January 2 this year, Jais seized the 321 AlKitab (Bahasa Malaysia Bible) and Bup Kudus (Iban-language Bible) from the then BSM office in Damansara Kim, sparking an outcry and criticisms aimed at the religious authority.

Read more here: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/we-will-continue-to-seize-bibles-with-banned-words-says-muslim-body

Published by The Malay Mail Online on 23 June 2014.

Malaysian Christians are free to call their God “Allah” in churches, a government official said today, reiterating the Najib administration’s commitment to its 10-point solution from 2011... The official stressed that the Federal Court’s decision only upheld a ban on the Catholic Church from publishing the word in its newspaper, Herald. “Malaysia is a multi-faith country and it is important that we manage our differences peacefully, in accordance with the rule of law and through dialogue, mutual respect and compromise,” the statement added.

Christians make up about 10 per cent of the Malaysian population of 30 million. Almost two-thirds of the Christians are Bumiputera and live in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, which include describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.

Christian groups and churches nationwide voiced concern today over the validity of the government’s 10-point solution allowing the distribution of Christian bibles containing the word “Allah” in the select states in the wake of the Federal Court’s refusal to hear an appeal on the usage of the word.

Bishop Datuk Dr Thomas Tsen, president of the Sabah Council of Churches, said the Federal Court’s decision in dismissing the Catholic church’s application to appeal the government ban on the word “Allah” in its weekly was a “huge disappointment”.

“People will bring this decision of the highest court and say no, even though the prime minister has the 10-point solution, the highest court still says you cannot freely use the term ‘Allah’ to address your God,” Tsen told The Malay Mail Online today.

“Even though the prime minister did say this will not affect East Malaysia, it’s no guarantee because this is the law. And we wanted the guarantee from the legal side,” he said. Tsen said Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have for centuries worshipped in the Malay language and have been using the Al-Kitab replete with the word Allah to refer to God. “Our freedom of religion is being restricted,” he said. “Since we were born, we have been using the term. That is our language,” Tsen added.

He also expressed concern that the Selangor Islamic authorities might use the Federal Court ruling to justify their seizure of 321 copies of the Malay and Iban-language bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) last January.

A seven-member bench at the country’s highest court decided by a 4-to-3 majority this morning to deny the Catholic Church the right to appeal a lower court decision preventing it from using the word ‘Allah’.

Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar had rejected the Catholic Church’s application.

The dissenting judges were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, and Federal Court judges Datuk Zainun Ali and Tan Sri Jeffrey Tan.

Last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that “Allah” was not integral to the Christian faith and that the home minister was justified in banning the Herald from using the Arabic word on grounds of national security and public order... The Cabinet, through Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala, stated in the resolution that the large Bumiputera Christian population in Sabah and Sarawak could use their holy books in the Malay, Indonesian, and indigenous languages.

Read more here: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/malaysian-christians-can-use-allah-in-church-putrajaya-says

周慧敏的公公、香港多产作家倪匡：我为何弃佛信耶稣？

2014-06-15 邮报 阿摩司的训诲.

“我本来信佛教，但佛经太艰深，我太懒，受不了，”科幻小说作家倪匡在香港书展“卫斯理五十周年座谈会”上与书迷见面时，被问到为何弃佛信耶稣，他回答说，“基督教的《圣经》简单，只有一个字──便是‘信’，你信他就得！”

       倪匡这位与金庸、梁羽生并称“香港武侠三大家”的创作者所塑造的人物“卫斯理”早已深入许多武侠迷的心中。然而谈到信仰，倪匡确实毫无虚构，他坦诚地告诉书迷们：“你只要真的很虔诚地信，很由衷地信，没有半分勉强地信，必可以得到回应。”

       据香港基督教媒体报道，早年信佛的倪匡归信基督的经历也颇具传奇色彩。思考人生的意义未果，而借着基督徒梁上元向他传福音，他的心结逐渐解开最终受洗归入基督。而且，因着牧师祷告医治他多年的酒瘾后，他的信心更加坚定，多次在港台做见证。

       这位在武侠小说中把人物写活的“才子”曾经也遇过人生的低谷，因想不通人活着的目的甚至有过轻生的念头。“只知道不快乐，人生没有了活下去的意义，每一个明天都是今天的翻版，后天又是明天的翻版，”据福音站报道，倪匡曾经如是分享，“一眼可以看到底了，作为一个人，生活和昆虫一样，那有什么趣味？”

       然而，神听到了他的心声，藉着梁上元的基督教资料和开导，他慢慢地从迷茫和挣扎中看到“这真是真理”，心中的一个个疑问也渐渐解开，1986年复活节，他在台北一间教会受洗归入基督。

       不仅如此，神还以戒烟戒酒的奇迹祝福了他在主内的新生。倪匡在视频中见证说，一次跟牧师交流时，牧师鼓励还不怎么会祷告的他，想向神说什么大声念出来就可以；他说他真的很诚心地祷告说，“我酒瘾很痛苦，我又不想这样被酒控制一生……”就在当晚，他就不再恋酒了，他说这一神迹连自己都难以相信。

       年近八十的倪匡，家庭也十分蒙福。儿子倪震与其艺人妻子周慧敏在2010年也一同受洗归于基督。

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