The ALLAH Issue Again!

This time the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) has raided the Bible Society of Malaysia.  Even if there was a need for it, the reported high-handed manner in which it was carried out does not bode well for inter-ethnic, inter-religious relations in the country, and the raid itself could be illegal.

Then there is news that some political groups want to picket in front of churches.  The Police have issued a ‘stern’ warning against this, but considering the parties involved, we need to wait and see what happens and how the Police will respond.

As I have voiced out before the Islamic Authorities, both at Federal and State levels, seem to insult the intelligence of Muslims in the country.  They think that we are some sort of imbeciles who cannot think for ourselves and they have to do the thinking for us.

And just because the Christian God does not have a proper name, the Church should not be adamant in misusing words to insult other faiths, in this case Islam.  (The Arabic alphabet does not have upper and lower case letters, how is ‘allah’ written in the Arabic Bible?)

The only way forward, in my view, is for the Church to work with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) to produce a Malay version of the Bible.  (If you have a better solution, please feel free to voice it.)

This will not only resolve the issue of the ‘Allah’ word, but all the words that are ‘banned’, not because “Muslims will get confused” as the authorities seem to think, but to maintain the integrity of meaning of those words.

When we want to say ‘The Late so-and-so’ in Malay, it is AlMarhum Tengku Abdul Rahman, Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak, and Mendiang Tun Tan Siew Sin.  It is not about the person writing, it could be Johan or John, it is about the person referred to, whether Royalty, an ordinary Muslim or a non-Muslim.

Similarly, ‘Firman’ in Malay is exclusively for what Allah says in the Quran.  If it is something that the Prophet said, the word is ‘Sabda’.  The King ‘titah’ and the rest of us ‘kata’. (I hope you get where I'm going.)

If a non-Muslim is Guest of Honor at a breaking of fast ceremony, and in his/her speech, he/she decides to quote from the Quran, he/she should be able to say, “Allah berfirman dalam AlQuran…”  There is no ambiguity is what is said.

There are those who say that language is ever changing and meanings change with the times.  I am well aware of that.  A word, which, in my younger days, would have meant what a happy and jovial character I was, will only raise eyebrows if I described myself as such now.  I don’t think I want to see religious terms reduced to that level.