Kate Mayberry
September 10, 2013.Government appeals Christians' right to describe their god as 'Allah' as religious animosity grows.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Every Monday, Father Lawrence Andrew, the founding editor of Malaysia's Catholic Herald, goes over his newspaper a final time before it's despatched to the printers.Read the rest here.
As well as checking for spelling and grammar, the weekly is published in the country's four main languages - Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English - Father Lawrence also needs to be sure the word “Allah" is in quotation marks amid a long-running dispute over whether it is the "exclusive" domain of Malaysia's Malay Muslims.
Christians in the Middle East and Indonesia have long used Allah to refer to the Christian God. So have Malaysia's one million Christians, 60 percent who speak the Malay language and live mostly in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak. But in 2008, the government threatened to revoke the Herald's publishing licence if it continued to use the word, triggering a legal battle that has yet to be resolved.
“It's almost like a life and death situation," said Father Lawrence, at his office behind St. Antony's Church in Kuala Lumpur, which this month marks its centenary. “[It means] we cannot quote from the Bible. If the word is Allah [they say] we have to change to Tuhan, so we are rendering the Bible inaccurate. They are attacking our creed."
Although the High Court found in the Herald's favour in 2009, affirming Christians' constitutional right to use Allah, the government appealed the decision. On Tuesday, the Appeal Court finally began hearing the case, as scores of Christians and Muslims held vigils outside.
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Comment: This is an idiotic case made up of misplaced religious bigotry that has more to do with Malay nationalism than anything else - certainly not Islam.To prohibit Christians or anyone else from using the Arabic word for God is absolute political buffoonery.
I sincerely hope the Appeal Court affirms the previous decision and turns this nonsense on its head.
If you read this article it appears that the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) would like to prohibit other Arabic words from being used by Christians and other non-Muslims.
These include: solat (prayer), Haji (holy pilgrimage), tauhid (oneness of God), Rasul (messenger of God), among others.
Words belong to everybody be they Malay or Arabic. Allah is God and the other way around.
The Malaysian government should get used to this reality.
This kind of nonsense is why Islam is ridiculed by those who think all Muslims are unthinking zealots.
Onward!
Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM)
the Malaysian
Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) - See more at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/as-allah-appeal-nears-jakim-calls-for-holy-struggle-among-muslims#sthash.NLqWC67f.dpuf
the Malaysian
Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) - See more at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/as-allah-appeal-nears-jakim-calls-for-holy-struggle-among-muslims#sthash.NLqWC67f.dpuf
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