1.The Malay Mail Online (http://www.themalaymailonline.com)
(1) Christians using ‘Allah’ strategy to convert Muslims, Islamic group alleges, 5 September 2013
by Zurairi AR
Muslims take a group photograph while waiting for the Court of Appeal decision on the Catholic Church’s ‘Allah’ appeal in Putrajaya on August 22, 2013. — Picture by Choo Choy May KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — The Catholic Church's fight to use "Allah" is part of a failed colonial-era strategy by Christians here to proselytise Muslims, an international Muslim NGO alleged today ahead of the impending legal dispute that will hit the courts again next week.
In an open letter addressed to "Malaysian church bodies and Christians", the International Muslim Consumer Association (IMCA) said that by using "Allah", the church was attempting to package Christianity into "more palatable terms and concepts" for non-Christians in the country.
"IMCA views that the Malaysian Christian churches demand to use the name "Allah" is part and parcel of this contextualisation strategy long used, a strategy used to influence Malay Muslims to convert," IMCA said in its letter here.
The NGO also accused the churches of condoning acts of brutality and oppression by recognising that "Allah" had been used in the Malay bible published by their colonial masters 272 years ago.
As an apparent disclaimer, however, the IMCA said it was not its intention to belittle the Christian belief.
"This argument is an affirmation of the acts of an oppressing colonial power who did not consult or respect the local Muslims, who as colonisers, did as they pleased including raping the country pillaging Malayan national treasures and literary works and artifacts," said the NGO.
By insisting to use "Allah" to refer to their God, Malaysian Christians are being "disrespectful" and are allegedly polluting the word, IMCA said.
"To use this name without qualification, when the usage carries another meaning is tantamount to pollution to the name itself and disrespect to the Almighty Lord of all beings, for it is His Name that one is polluting," it said.
"It is also disrespect [sic] to the adherents of those who subscribe to the sanctity of that Name. To our mind, how everybody calls their Lord, is based upon what is divinely instructed and not what they choose."
The NGO claimed that Muslims would not have objected if Christians had used "Allah" to refer to the same monotheistic god worshipped by Muslims mentioned in the Book of Deuteronomy, instead of the Trinity.
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of Torah, or the Hebrew Bible, which is widely accepted by Muslims as one of their holy books besides the Quran, Zabur (the Psalms), and Injil (the Gospels).
In the Christian faith, the Trinity refers to the three divine personifications of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
"We are sure that if the Christians revert back to this original concept that God is One, He begets not, nor is He begotten, and this is consistently held in the Christian faith, no Muslims would object, as it is a Reality," ICMA explained.
It then asked Malaysian Christians to "walk the path of Christian righteousness" and retract their request to use the word "Allah" to prevent any conflicts.
"We are confident that Christians believe in the strength of their faith, and the righteousness of their faith, they should present it as it is, without packaging it into more palatable terms and concepts for non Christians," said IMCA.
Last month, Muslim activists had alleged a global Christian evangelical conspiracy behind the “Allah” row, as they described a clandestine agenda to colonise Islamic souls and countries.
In a feature run in Malay daily Utusan Malaysia’s weekend edition, Mingguan Malaysia, they claimed the Christian insistence on using the Arabic word “Allah” was out of a desire to proselytise to Muslims, even challenge the Federal Constitution and the Malay rulers.
Religious tensions have been long been simmering in Malaysia in recent years, with the latest controversy surrounding a proposed law on child conversions to Islam deepening divisions between the Muslim majority and religious minorities.
The “Allah” row erupted in 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit for its reference to God as “Allah”, prompting the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.
Christians subsequently argued that the word predates Islam and that their right to use “Allah” in a non-Muslim context was affirmed by the government’s own 10-point solution issued in 2011.
The 2009 High Court decision upholding the Catholic Church’s constitutional right to use the word “Allah” had shocked many Muslims that consider the word to only refer to the Islamic God.
The local Catholic Church however failed in August to strike out Putrajaya’s appeal against the 2009 landmark High Court ruling that upheld Christians’ right to refer to God as “Allah”.
With the decision last month, the church will have to duke it out in the courtroom with Putrajaya again this month, prolonging the over four-year-long legal tussle over the Arabic word.
(2) As ‘Allah’ appeal nears, JAKIM calls for ‘holy struggle’ among Muslims, 6 September 2013
by Zurairi AR
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Just days before the "Allah" row returns to court, Islamic authorities today slammed their opponents for deigning to challenge for the use of the term, and called upon Muslims to unite in a "holy struggle" against enemies of the faith.
In today's Friday sermon read out at mosques nationwide, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) also laid claim to a list of words asides from "Allah" that it purports to be exclusive to Muslims and prohibited to non-Muslims.
"It is only natural in life, something which is renowned and staunch will always suffer from threats and attempts to shake its superiority," said the sermon uploaded online.
"Such as the position of Islam and its adherents today, threatened from every corner whether in social, jurisprudence or faith, including the use of the word Allah."
Last month, the local Catholic Church failed to strike out Putrajaya’s appeal against the 2009 landmark High Court ruling that upheld Christians’ right to refer to God as “Allah”.
The appeal will be heard on Tuesday next week.
JAKIM stressed today that the ultimate goal of the group, which it failed to name, is to confuse Muslims and put every religion on equal terms, which will then lead to a "sea of apostasy".
"The words Allah, solat (prayer), tauhid (oneness of God), Rasul (messenger), Kaabah, Haji (holy pilgrimage) are the rights of Muslims which cannot be invaded by any quarters as it will affect the thoughts and belief of Muslims," it added.
Non-Muslims are barred from using up to 35 other Arabic terms, besides "Allah", in every state except for Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory.
Malacca has reportedly banned the most number of Arabic words and phrases compared to the other states.
In Selangor, the Non-Islamic Religion Enactment 1988 (Control of Propagations Among Muslims) listed 25 words that cannot be uttered by non-Muslims either orally or in writing, including "Allah", "firman Allah" (God’s decree), "solat" (daily prayers), "Rasul", "mubaligh" (missionary), "mufti" (cleric), "iman" (faith), "Kaabah", "Qiblat" (the direction in which Muslims pray), and "Haji".
Non-Muslims are also banned in Selangor from using 10 other phrases such as "subhan-Allah" (Glory be to God), "insha-Allah" (God-willing), "astaghfirullah" (forgive me God), "masha-Allah" (God has willed it) and "Allahu Akbar" (God is great).
Non-Muslims found guilty of using the words may be fined up to RM3,000 or jailed for up to two years, or both.
These phrases are commonly used by Christian Arabs, and also by Christians in the Balkan nations which were previously ruled by the Ottoman Empire.
Yesterday, an international Muslim NGO had alleged that the Catholic Church's fight to use "Allah" is part of a failed colonial-era strategy by Christians here to proselytise Muslims.
In an open letter addressed to "Malaysian church bodies and Christians", the International Muslim Consumer Association (IMCA) said that by using "Allah", the church was attempting to package Christianity into "more palatable terms and concepts" for non-Christians in the country.
It then asked Malaysian Christians to "walk the path of Christian righteousness" and retract their request to use the word "Allah" to prevent any conflicts.
Last month, Muslim activists had alleged a global Christian evangelical conspiracy behind the “Allah” row, as they described a clandestine agenda to colonise Islamic souls and countries.
In a feature run in Malay daily Utusan Malaysia’s weekend edition, Mingguan Malaysia, they claimed the Christian insistence on using the Arabic word “Allah” was out of a desire to proselytise to Muslims, even challenge the Federal Constitution and the Malay rulers.
Religious tensions have been long been simmering in Malaysia in recent years, with the latest controversy surrounding a proposed law on child conversions to Islam deepening divisions between the Muslim majority and religious minorities.
The “Allah” row erupted in 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit for its reference to God as “Allah”, prompting the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.
Christians subsequently argued that the word predates Islam and that their right to use “Allah” in a non-Muslim context was affirmed by the government’s own 10-point solution issued in 2011.
The 2009 High Court decision upholding the Catholic Church’s constitutional right to use the word “Allah” had shocked many Muslims that consider the word to only refer to the Islamic God.
It also led to Malaysia’s worst religious strife, with houses of worship throughout the country coming under attack.
Muslims are Malaysia's largest religious group, followed by Buddhists. Christians are the third-largest at 2.6 million, according to statistics from the 2010 consensus.
2.My Sin Chew (http://www.mysinchew.com)
The 'Allah' case at a glance: Part 1, 6 September 2013
by Bob Teoh
Following a High Court decision on 31 Dec 2009 to allow Herald, the Catholic weekly, to refer to God as Allah in its Malay language edition, ten churches and a Catholic school were attacked. So too were a few suraus, a Sikh temple and a Catholic girls' school. Only one of the churches firebombed or attacked was extensively damaged and rendered unusable. The rest suffered just superficial damage. But the fact remains they were attacked mindlessly.
The attacks sent shock waves through the nation and set race relations back by a few generations. All because of one word -- Allah.
In 1980, the Umno-led Terengganu government became the first state to enact laws to control or restrict the propagation of other religions among Muslims. It decreed a list of 25 Arabic words and 10 phrases that are deemed exclusive only to Islam. One of these words is 'Allah'. Other states followed suit.
The following year, the Alkitab or the Malay language Bible which uses the word 'Allah' was banned under the old Internal Security Act 1960 (now known as SOSMA 2012) on the basis that it is a threat to national security. This ban came five months after Dr Mahathir Mohamad became Prime Minister on 16 July 1981.
Subsequently, the Alkitab was allowed restricted use in churches only, but otherwise, the ban remains in force even till today. But the Customs and Home Ministry continued to confiscate not only the Alkitab but also other Malay language Christian publications at entry points at ports and airports as well as from general bookshops. This caused considerable losses to importers as well as an acute shortage of the Alkitab and other Bahasa Christian publications.
The confiscations were not made under the ISA nor the respective state Islamic enactments but under the Publications and Printing Presses Act 1984. One gazette or cabinet decree after another continued to be issued to prohibit use of the Allah word by non-Muslims. All of them serve only to reinforce the prohibition on usage of the Allah word for the past three decades.
Such gazettes actually contradict the Cabinet decision of 1982 where the Alkitab, or the Malay Bible, containing the word 'Allah' itself is not banned but restricted to Christians.
Things came to a head a few years ago, when the Home Ministry imposed a condition on the annual printing permit for Herald -- The Catholic Weekly -- in its Malay edition where it is now prohibited from using the Allah word.
After prolonged disputes over its printing permit, the Titular Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur as publisher of the Herald took the matter to court for a ruling on the constitutionality of the prohibition.
As soon as the High Court allowed the Herald to proceed with its case, seven state Islamic authorities decided to intervene on the basis that the matter involved Islam and the Malay rulers, therefore, the civil court has no authority to hear it.
The court rejected this intervention on the basis that the hearing had nothing to do with Islam or the Malay rulers. It was all about whether the government made a bad decision in law or was acting unreasonably when it imposed a condition on the printing permit of the Herald to prohibit it from using the Allah word in its Malay edition. The case involved Federal law and not state legislations.
When the court ruled against the government on 31 Dec 2009, it sent shock waves through the nation. The attack on churches followed but died down as quickly as it had started, leading some to observe that the outrage was either stage-managed or not as threatening to public order as initially presumed.
In any case, there was no unanimity among Malays and Muslims. PAS as well as Keadilan supported the right of Christians to use the Allah word. Even Umno Youth favoured allowing Christians to use the Allah word.
Meanwhile, the government immediately filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court judgement. Two similar cases are also in the courts over the use of the word Allah. One is brought by Sidang Injil Borneo (Borneo Evangelical Church) Sabah over confiscation of their Bahasa Christian education publications from Indonesia while it was on transit to Sabah in 2007. The other is brought by Sarawakian Melanau Bumiputera Christian, Jill Ireland, for confiscation of her audio CDs containing the Allah word also in 2007 at the Sepang LCCT airport. Both cases are part-heard.
Out of the two million Christians in Malaysia, the majority are Malay speaking pribumis or indigenous peoples from Sabah and Sarawak who use the Alkitab as their Holy Bible. They would continue to refer to God as Allah no doubt. They know of no other word for God than Allah. In addition, history, liturgy, etymology and theology favour the use of the Allah word as there is no substitute available.
This is an extract from 'Allah' – more than a word (2010 Zomiky Media) used with permission.
(End)
