1. My Sin Chew.com (http://www.mysinchew.com)
Mystery of a new ‘Bible’ without “Allah”, 26 April 2009
by FR LAWRENCE ANDREW, SJ, (www.heraldmalaysia.com - Used with permission)
A ‘bible’ in Indonesian Malay but without the word “Allah” used in it was promoted during the International Book Fair held recently at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. The promoters had the book on display among other Islamic books on the first days of the Book Fair.
They also had leaflets for the whole period of the same Book Fair from April 17 - 26, among other Islamic leaflets, announcing that the “KITAB SUCI” has been printed.
Though they did not have any ‘Kitab Suci’ for sale, they instead suggested that the book be purchased on an online order using the website address they provided. We are reminded of an earlier incident when a “Gospel of Barnabas” was on sale in a number of Muslim bookshops but not in any Christian bookshop. That ‘Gospel’, we know, is a false ‘gospel’ written by a Muslim.
On hearing of the publication — “Kitab Suci”, we wrote to the publishers in Indonesia to enquire if this edition of the “Kitab Suci” was approved by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference or the Bible Society of Indonesia (BSI). Our email returned with the tag ‘delivery failure’.
We then wrote to the two Authorities that approve the publication of the Bible in Indonesia. Their reply was in the negative. We were informed by a member of the Indonesian Bible Society that this “Kitab Suci” was done on the basis of J.P. Green’s literal translation. He wrote that “to some extent it differs from the earlier plagiaristic (sic) version.”
What this means is that there was an earlier version in which the word “Allah”, or God, was replaced with “Elohim” and “Tuhan”, or “Lord”, with “Yahweh.” This is crass plagiarism! Faced with this situation, we read the first chapter of the Gospel of St John in English, and took note that there were only two words, namely GOD and LORD used in this chapter.
Then we turned to the ORIGINAL VERSION IN GREEK of the same first chapter of the Gospel according to John and we found that the terms “Elohim” and “Yahweh” were NOT used but instead “Theos” for God and “Kurios” for Lord.
Therefore, how can the publishers of “Kitab Suci” mention in the flyer distributed at PWTC that “it was not to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one but to make a good one better”? It is obvious that the original Greek version did not have ELOHIM and YAHWEH. Are these publishers, who have no authority to publish the Bible, saying that the original Greek version is wrong? What is their evidence for such an assumption?
What is certain, however, is that the publishers have cheated in the first instance by their manipulation of the words ELOHIM and YAHWEH, had second thoughts about their plagiarized version, and therefore have amended the current version of their “Kitab Suci”. This version varies from the earlier plagiaristic version. But the BSI pointed out to us that “anybody familiar with the Indonesian Standard Version (Alkitab Terjemahan Baru, 1974) would be able to detect their more covert plagiarism of the publishers of the “Kitab Suci.”
We as Christians are naturally disturbed by the fact that such a publication has been allowed to be promoted in Malaysia — one which does not have the approval of the authorities that give recognition to the credibility and trustworthiness of the translation of a bible. Are we, through this publication, condoning the stealing of another’s intellectual property without any qualms about this theft? This is outrageous, to say the least.
2. Malaysiakini.com (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Catholics oppose new non-'Allah' Bible, 26 April 2009
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — A Malay-language Bible that does not use the word "Allah" has caused controversy among Malaysian Catholics, as the church here fights a court case to guarantee its right to use the word.
The Catholic Herald newspaper, in its Sunday edition, criticised the release this week at an international bookfair of the new Bible, which uses the Hebrew word "Elohim" instead of "Allah" for God.
"The Catholic bible that the church uses has the word 'Allah' for God whereas in comparison, this one does not," the paper's editor Father Lawrence Andrew told AFP.
"The new Malay bible weakens the argument for using the word Allah because some groups are trying to substitute God with a foreign name, whereas Allah is the Malay word for God and has been the accepted translation for centuries," he said.
"The publishers have copied substantially from the Indonesian bible which was approved by the Indonesian Bible Society and the Catholic Church but this new version has not been approved by the society or the church in Indonesia or here."
The publishers of the bible could not be reached for comment.
The Catholic Church has taken legal action against the government after it was ordered not to use the disputed word under threat of having its paper's publishing permit revoked.
Malaysian authorities argue the word should be used only by Muslims, who form the bulk of the country's multicultural population.
Andrew said Malaysian Christians have been using the word "Allah" for centuries in translations of the Bible, and in popular prayers. The opposition has also called for the ban to be revoked.
"The term 'Allah' has been used in Indonesia and the Middle East by Christians without prosecution or controversy, despite both being overwhelmingly Muslim-majority regions," opposition lawmaker Tony Pua said.
"It has been proven beyond doubt that it is not a term specifically monopolised only by Muslims," he said in a statement Saturday.
A court is expected to decide on May 28 whether the Church has the right to use the word.
Around 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Muslim Malays. The rest includes indigenous tribes, as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, variously practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.
・Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
3．Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
Church wins right to challenge ‘Allah’ ban , 24 April 2009
By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR — The Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia finally won the right to challenge the government’s ban on the right to use the word “Allah” to mean “God” outside of Islam.
The High Court today granted leave to the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, as the publisher of Catholic newspaper The Herald, in his application for a judicial review.
The Catholic Church claims the word “Allah” is not exclusive to Islam and wants the court to overturn the home minister’s order declaring it as such.
A lawyer for the Catholic Church, Derek Fernandez, said it was supposed to be a “simple, straightforward matter” but became complicated as more and more parties got involved in the suit.
Several state Islamic councils including from Penang as well as certain Sikh religious groups had sought and were granted permission by the court early this year to intervene in the Catholic Church’s suit.
The archbishop had originally filed the suit early last year and made a new application two months ago, on Feb 16, following the home minister’s renewal of the newspaper’s annual publishing permit for 2009.
Justice Lau Bee Lan from the Appellate and Special Powers division made her decision on the matter in chambers this morning.
She also set May 28 to hear the Catholic Church’s application to stay the home minister’s directive and to allow it to use the word “Allah” until the court rules conclusively that it cannot.
The leading lawyer for the Catholic Church, Porres Royan, explained to The Malaysian Insider that until the court approves the stay, the “status quo is preserved”.
Editor of The Herald, Rev Father Lawrence Andrew verified that the weekly had stopped using the word “Allah” to refer to the Christian God in both its English and Malay-language sections.
“At the moment we’re not using the word ‘Allah’. We’re using the word ‘Tuhan’ in the Malay section, which is not the correct word,” he told The Malaysian Insider, adding it had received letters from concerned Catholics who were confused by the sudden change in the theological terms used to tell apart the different aspects of God.
“When do we say ‘God’ and when do we say ‘Lord’?” Fr Lawrence highlighted, pointing out that “Allah” was used to differentiate God the Father from His incarnation as Jesus, the “Christ” which also means “the Lord”.
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