‘Allah’ Usage: What should they do?

There are two opposing views from within the same political party – one is passive and the other is pro-active – with regard to the word ‘Allah’.

The following are the two opposing views from the two leaders in the same Political party:-

Some have argued that it is best to reach some out-of-court compromise and others, notably Federal Cabinet member Bernard Dompok, have advised that the best policy is to do nothing and wait for the court to rule on the matter.

Dompok (left), a Sabahan and president of the United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organisation, understood that the issue could ignite religious unrest. He called for calm, asking the public to wait for the issue to be settled in court, where it is pending following a stay of the earlier ruling.

Another piece of advice coming out of Sabah is the call for Christians to compromise and stop calling God Allah when they worship in Bahasa Malaysia–their preferred language–to appease those Muslims who feel threatened.

Clarence Bongkos Malakun (above), President of the Malaysian Council of Justices of the Peace, has asked the Christian community to substitute the name Allah with Tuhan or Tuhan Yang Mahakuasa.

He said that although Sabahans might argue that they had been calling upon Allah even before Malaysia was formed, they should come to terms with the issue realistically after seeing the spate of attacks on churches.

“Why do we fight over a word? If the government decides that non-Muslims should not use the word Allah, then we should try to comply without going to the courts,” Malakun said.

LINUNUDUS says …

I would like to relate the following story taken from the Book 1 Kings 3:16-28 (New International Verson) when King Solomon made his wise ruling:

Two women lived in the same house and both had one child each. One child died. Both women argued and claimed rightful custody of the living one. The two women came before King Solomon for his ruling as to who should have the custody of the living child.

King Solomon’s Ruling:

“ ²³ The king said, "This one says, 'My son is alive and your son is dead,' while that one says, 'No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.' "

²⁴ Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword for the king. ²⁵ He then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other."

²⁶ The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!" But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!"

²⁷ Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother."

²⁸ When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.”

The Christian community should emulate the first woman who would rather have her child given to the second woman than kill her own child.

Let us have the wisdom of King Solomon to decide on this "Allah" issue for the sake of national harmony and security, and religious tolerance.

Compromise for Religious Tolerance and Peace

The North Borneo Herald wrote in its blog:

“The President of the Council of Justices of the Peace, Datuk Clarence Bongkos Malakun has urged Christians in Sabah to make a compromise for the sake of national peace.

He is urging Christians to drop the word "Allah" in Malay-language services and Malay-language Bibles. He said that though this has been the practice for so long in Sabah, for the sake of peace, Sabahan Christians should abandon it, as this has caused anger to a certain section of extremist Muslims in Malaya”.

READ MORE HERE.

LINUNDUS COMMENTS …

Our own leaders - to be more precise rather than the Sabahans - have compromised on far too many things since the formation of Malaysia. They have been compromising far too may things albeit non-sensitive issues which you have mentioned, thus, depriving us of the benefits from the formation of Malaysia as enshrined in the 20-points.

But the word "Allah" is a sensitive issue which our Muslim brothers are fighting fiercely against the Christians over the use of it. Their blood ran high when the Malaysian Court passed a judgment on 31st December 2009 in favour of the Christians newspaper – The Herald. This has led an uproar among Muslims over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians which resulted in arsonists burning three churches and a convent school early Sunday and splashed black paint on another church.

The firebombing of four churches that followed on Friday and Saturday has prompted Datuk Seri Panglima Clarence Bongkos Malakun, the President of the Malaysian Council of Justices of the Peace (MAJAPS), to suggest an amicable solution to the ‘explosive’ religious sentiments arising from the court judgment. His suggestion for a compromise should be taken in good faith, and not to be construed as coming from ‘a narrow-knowledge individuals’ as one leader has reported in the Daily Express today. His (Malakun) suggestion is for the good of both Muslim and Christian communities in order to regain religious harmony in the country.

A narrow-minded person is without alternative or compromised solution to the problem when it is already in a stale-mate situation. This is exactly the case when the Home Ministry has appealed against the decision of the High Court in allowing the use of the word “Allah” by the Herald Catholic Newspaper.

The Herald has won this round in its favour … so keep this ‘victory’ and find a compromise now (as suggested by Malakun) for the sake of reducing religious tension between Muslims and Christians before the Appeal Court overturns the decision of the High Court.

You think the Pope would insist on the word “Allah” to be used by the Christians in Malaysia when it leads to religious conflict in the country? Surely, he would like to see religious tolerance in this country whose multi-religious communities to prosper religiously, and to live in peace and harmony.

In a worst scenario, the Court of Appeal might overturn the High Court ruling. Who looses in this case? Are we going to continue with the religious conflict? Before it is too late, it is therefore advisable to keep that court decision status quo and come up with a compromise NOW as what Malakun has suggested in the local paper. Don’t wait for the Court of Appeal to make a decision that might not favour to the Christian communities. Do we still want to appeal against the Appeal Court’s decision? This action might further jeopardize our religious tolerance with our Muslim brothers and hence religious conflicts may take the center stage. What is next? You can guess and make your own judgment.

I would also like to update the author of the North Borneo Herald that we did not compromise on having our time changed. Our local time in Sabah and Sarawak did not actually change, but West Malaysia time was synchronized with our time, that is, their time was pushed backward in tandem with that of East Malaysia time. Our civil servants working hours in Sabah and Sarawak remain unchanged, while those working in West Malaysia had to reschedule their working hours due to time-synchronization to that of East Malaysian time. This is “1Time 1Malaysia Concept” promulgated by our past leaders.

Meanwhile, Malakun has reminded the Archbishop to be careful not to be used or prodded from the back.

“If anything goes bad, the Catholics in Malaysia would be blamed but if there is any good coming out of the situation, the silent ones might also claim the same benefits for their own group," he said.

If the Christians could agree to forgo the use of the word "Allah", Malakun believed there would be a lasting peace and understanding between the various faiths in Malaysia.

Malakun should therefore be applauded for his far-sightedness on this issue and his suggestion of an alternative solution to the problem caused by the High Court’s decision, and it comes from the President of the Malaysian Council of Justices of the Peace (MAJAPS) himself whose duty is to help in keeping peace and harmony in this country.

"Once a Catholic, always a Catholic"

There’s an old saying that goes, “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” Maybe you have been away from the Church for a little while or quite some time, but somehow you now feel a tug at your heart calling you back home to the Catholic Church. That’s why we need some soul-searching to find out.

No matter how long you have been away from the Catholic Church, you can always come home. You can start going to Mass again (find a parish) and become a part of a parish community that is ready to welcome you with open arms. God is inviting you to dive into your faith in a deeper way than you ever have before.

You may already be feeling a strange inner pull to look into the Church again. That spiritual longing you feel is God drawing you back to Himself. God never forces; He only invites. He leaves the decision to return to the Catholic Church up to you.

There are numerous reasons for coming back to the Church. Though Christ is at the heart of the many reasons to come home to the Church, each individual’s experience in returning can be unique, depending upon whatever speaks to his or her heart..

Whether or not you know you want to return to the Catholic Church, there are Top 10 Reasons to Come Back.

Call to maintain peace and security

By Christian Federation of Malaysia

THE Christian Federation of Malaysia strongly and unreservedly condemns the violent attacks and attempted fire-bombing of several churches in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in the early hours of 8 Jan 2010.

We are against such actions that seek to intimidate people and also to rend the country's peace and fabric of goodwill.

Thus far this afternoon, we have been informed that there were two torchings and another attempted torching of churches. The administrative office of Metro Tabernacle in Desa Melawati was completely gutted. The Molotov cocktail thrown at the Church of the Assumption along Jalan Templer in Petaling Jaya did not explode. But The Life Chapel in Section 17, Petaling Jaya suffered some damage to the church's front porch area.

We call on the government and all peace-loving Malaysians to stand against such violence and not to give way to extremists in our midst who want to throw our country into chaos.

We call on the police to continue to maintain peace and security in this land we all cherish and love. May the police bring to justice quickly those who have been involved in such acts of torching churches which is a violation of the houses of God.

Christians are a peace-loving people and so we will remain calm and rely on our police officers to investigate and arrest the criminals involved and to protect all Malaysians against violence and criminal intimidation. We are concerned that the hacking of the judiciary website is an act of criminal intimidation against the judiciary and this shameful act along with the acts of violence against churches must not be condoned.

Let us as Christians and with our fellow Malaysians pray that despite such atrocious acts perpetrated upon the churches, good sense will prevail. Let us not allow those who want to foment animosity among peoples and the religious communities to triumph in their plans. May we stand together against the tide of violent people and their evil plans.

We will continue to pray for peace in Malaysia.

Bishop Ng Moon Hing

Christian Federation of Malaysia

8 Jan 2010

Linundus says ...

As a Catholic-Christian, I am sad but surprisingly am not angry over the burning and bombing of Christian churches in West Malaysia. I am reminded by what Jesus has said to his prosecutors: 'Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' Luke 23:34

However, "the cowardly and utterly senseless act of a group of misguided, chauvinistic bigots in torching at least three churches in the Klang Valley this morning must be condemned in no uncertain terms by all peace-loving Malaysians" - The Nut Graph.

The story about woodpeckers......

Linundus received the following story from one of its ardent readers, which might explain why we have poor tourist arrivals to our country as compared to many other neighboring counties.

A Mexican woodpecker and a Canadian woodpecker were in Mexico arguing about which country had the toughest trees. The Mexican woodpecker claimed Mexico had a tree that no woodpecker could peck.

The Canadian woodpecker accepted his challenge and promptly pecked a hole in the tree with no problem. The Mexican woodpecker was amazed.

The Canadian woodpecker then challenged the Mexican woodpecker to peck a tree in Canada that was absolutely 'impeckable' (a term frequently used by all woodpeckers worldwide.) The Mexican woodpecker expressed confidence that he could do it and accepted the challenge.

The two of them flew to Canada where the Mexican woodpecker successfully pecked the so-called 'impeckable' tree almost without breaking a sweat.

Both woodpeckers were now terribly confused. How is it that the Canadian woodpecker was able to peck the Mexican tree, and the Mexican woodpecker was able to peck the Canadian tree, yet neither was able to peck the trees in their own country?

After much woodpecker pondering, they both came to the same conclusion that apparentlyTiger Woods was right when he said, "your pecker gets harder when you're away from home."

Comments by the reader …

Now you know why tourism is big big business nowadays. It's all about getting your pecker away from home isn't it? By the same token, the country that can make the pecker harder draws more tourists to it than the others. That is why tourist arrivals to our country is abysmal as compared to many other countries, even though our government tried to delude us by claiming tourists are coming here in large numbers.

Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians

I find the following article written by Marina Mahathir, which I reproduce hereunder, very convincing in her articulation with regard to Muslim-Christian relationship and her appeal to her Muslim community who are “mourning over the 'loss' of the word 'Allah' and therefore basically telling the world that they are people easily confused by nomenclature, and others are predicting riots over what is basically a 'copyright' issue …”. - LINUNDUS

by MarinaM

I found by chance this article the other day:

Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians

The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person, says Muqtedar Khan*.

Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.

In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.

In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.

The Promise to St. Catherine:

"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.

Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.

No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.

Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.

No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.

No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)." The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They make the promise eternal and universal. Muh ammed asserts that Muslims are with Christians near and far straight away rejecting any future attempts to limit the promise to St. Catherine alone. By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s covenant.

A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This is a charter of rights without any duties!

The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person.

I know most readers, must be thinking so what? Well the answer is simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians are invoked and highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above communal intolerance and engenders good will in Christians who might be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims.

When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples.

Dr. Muqtedar Khan* is Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, when that delegation from St Catherine's monastery came to meet with Prophet Mohamad (pbuh), I suppose it's fair to assume that they spoke Arabic to one another. And when they were conversing, surely the word 'God' must have come up. As in "May God Be With You" and such like. What word did the Prophet (pbuh) use for 'God' I wonder? And what did the St Catherinians use in return? For monotheists like them, was there a 'your God' and 'my God' type of situation, or did they understand that they were both talking about the same One?

While some idiots are mourning over the 'loss' of the word 'Allah' and therefore basically telling the world that they are people easily confused by nomenclature, and others are predicting riots over what is basically a 'copyright' issue, let me define what I think a confident Muslim should be:

1. A confident Muslim is unfazed by the issue of God's name. God speaks to all of humankind in the Quran and never said that only Muslims could call him by the name Allah.

2. A confident Muslim has 99 names to choose from to describe that One God. My favourites are Ar-Rahman (The All-Compassionate) and Ar-Rahim (The All-Merciful).

3. A confident Muslim never gets confused over which is his/her religion and which is other people's. For instance, a confident Muslim knows exactly what the first chapter of the Quran is. And it's not the Lord's Prayer.

4. A confident Muslim will not walk into a church, hear a liturgy in Malay or Arabic where they use the word 'Allah' and then think that he or she is in a mosque. A confident Muslim knows the difference.

5. A confident Muslim is generous, inclusive and doesn't think that his or her brethren is made exclusive through the use of a single language. The confident Muslim is well aware that in the Middle East, all services of ANY religion are in Arabic because that's what they all speak.

6. A confident Muslim knows the basis of his/her faith are the five pillars of Islam and will not be shaken just because other people call God by the same name.

7. A Muslim believes in only One God. Therefore it makes sense that other people should call God by the same name because there is no other God.

ART THOU NOT aware that it is God whose limit less glory all [creatures] that are in the heavens and on earth extol, even the birds as they spread out their wings? Each [of them] knows indeed how to pray unto Him and to glorify Him; and God has full knowledge of all that they do:(Surah Nour, Verse 41) (Asad)

So I would ask those people demonstrating against the Court decision, have you no pride? Are you saying you're easily confused?

And before anyone says I have no qualifications to say these things, read what Dr Asri Zainal Abidin (who does have qualifications no matter what JAIS says) has written about this very subject here.

And here's something interesting. In 2007, the Majlis Agama Negeri Perlis, which is a large majlis filled with people very learned in Islamic religious knowledge, discussed the question of the use of 'Allah' by non-Muslims. Their unanimous decision? They issued a fatwa to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with non-Muslims using the word at all.(This was told to me by Dr. Asri but I cannot find the fatwa anywhere online because all the religious departments' websites are so useless.)

Are we now going to excommunicate the whole of Perlis?

Should Govt continue to subsidise sugar price?

Malaysians can adopt the habit of consuming less sugar if there is a strong will on their part, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

Citing himself as an example, Najib said he no longer uses any sugar in his teh tarik.

“To me, it is illogical for the Government to fork out almost RM1bil yearly in subsidy for a commodity which is detrimental to public health,” he told reporters after presenting incentives to pupils in the Pekan constituency who excelled in the UPSR examinations last year.

Najib, who is also Pekan MP, said Malaysia had one of the highest number of diabetes cases in the world due to high intake of sugar.

He said the decision to raise the prices of sugar by 20 sen per kg was implemented for the good of the people.

Najib said the people should also view the sugar price increase positively, that is, by changing their dietary habit for their own good health.

LINUNDUS SAYS ...

I certainly agree with the Prime Minister to discontinue the Government subsidy on sugar price which amounts to a staggering RM1bil a year. By continuing the subsidy, it is tantamount to encouraging the rakyat to get into a habit of excessive sugar intake that is detrimental to one's health if not controlled.

The Prime Minister said that to him, "it is illogical for the Government to fork out almost RM1bil yearly in subsidy for a commodity which is detrimental to public health.”

I applaud the PM's concern about the health of his Rakyat, and I personally support his decision to discontinue the subsidy so that, by discontinuing the subsidy, the Government's noble intention to reduce the intake of sugar by the public is achieved.

Wait a minute. The Government gains from the subsidy (almost RM1billion per annum) while the Rakyat has to bear the cost of the price increase. Is it fair? Why cant the Government transfer a portion of the subsidy to subsidise the cost of rice which is more important to public health and for the good of the people? I believe the Rakyat is more appreciative to the Government if the cost of rice is being lowered further.

High Court grants Catholic publication Herald the right to use ‘Allah’ word again

KUALA LUMPUR: The Catholic weekly Herald is now free to use the word “Allah” in its publication after the High Court quashed the Home Minister’s prohibition against it using the word, declaring the order as “illegal, null and void.”

In her decision, Justice Lau Bee Lan also declared that under Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution, applicant Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam had the constitutional right to use “Allah” in theHerald in the exercise of his right that religions other than Islam might be practised in peace and harmony in the country.

She further ruled that the Constitution, which states Islam as the country’s religion, did not empower the minister to make such a prohibition.

READ MORE HERE

LINUNDUS says,

As a Catholic, I am personally happy that the long-legal-standing on the issue of 'Allah' is finally resolved. This is the best New Year gift that the Christian community in Malaysia could have ever expected. Kudos to Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam who steadfastly and successfully argued the 'Allah' issue which is now being allowed by the High Court that the Catholic weekly Herald is now free to use the word “Allah” in its publication.

Is the person concerned purposely misinterpreted the Constitution in Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution that embolden him to prohibit the use of the word "Allah"? It would appear so since Justice Lau Bee Lan has 'ruled that the Constitution, which states Islam as the country’s religion, did not empower the minister to make such a prohibition'.

Please also read:

Cautious celebrations over 'Allah' judgment

Malaysian court rules Christians can use 'Allah'