Let MCA follow Muhyiddin's gag order on Allah ban: Pakatan

Let MCA follow Muhyiddin's gag order on Allah ban: Pakatan

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Under fire for bulldozing his way through the Allah ban, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has decided to put the controversial issue under wraps - he has issued a gag order to all parties in the BN and also included the Pakatan Rakyat!

“He must be joking. Let MCA follow the gag,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"We are disappointed the DPM has chosen to respond in typical BN fashion whenever they face adversity. It shows a glaring lack of imagination and we wonder how he is going to cope as the world gets smaller with globalization. Will information be censored in the Malaysia of the future and people gagged whenever he deems the information is 'sensitive."

Tried to play the race card

Although Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was the one who lit the first fire by saying he regretted the Allah ban, it was Muhyiddin who turned it into a raging inferno by trying to score points with the Malays.

He issued a ‘stern warning’ to the MCA although it was only following up on Hisham’s comments when it urged him to lift the ban. Hisham's predecessor Syed Hamid Albar had a few years ago prohibited non-Muslims from using the word Allah to describe God.

Following the uproar that broke out, Muhyiddin took a leaf from ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad, who is notorious for his selective amnesia. According to the DPM, it was unwise to publicly debate the issue as it brought no benefit and could “lead to an unhealthy situation”.

“He should be the first one to heed his own advice instead of simply shooting left and right. But I doubt he will stop playing racial card despite this,” Tian said.

Muhyiddin also said he was aware there were certain parties who were trying to play up the issue to serve their own vested interests.

“However, as a responsible government, the government’s stand is final in that whether BN components or the Opposition, they should refrain from discussing the issue publicly because it will be sub-judice,” Bernama quoted Muhyiddin as saying..

“If I say this, the other side will say something else. What will be the result? There will be chaos. The BN government as a responsible government does not want this to happen.”

Failed to consider the rights of all Malaysians

But pundits were unsurprised by his doublespeak.

Of late, there has been speculation of a serious rift between him and Prime Minister Najib Razak. Apart from warning the MCA, Muhyiddin had also criticized Najib's prized 1Malaysia plan as having failed because few understood what it meant.

“Tan Sri Muhyiddin has no one else to blame but himself for disparaging the initially noble concept of 1Malaysia by failing to take into consideration the rights and interest of all Malaysians,” said DAP information chief Tony Pua.

“The non-Umno Barisan Nasional component parties, on the other hand, perpetuate the failure by refusing to take a position in the interest of all Malaysians, by refusing to challenge Umno, even if the latter is acting against the official government policy or the interest of all Malaysians at large.

“For example, despite an initial attempt by MCA to defend the rights of Christians to use the term ‘Allah’ in their prayers, the MCA president, Datuk Seri (Dr) Chua Soi Lek wasted no time backing down from its initial position once MCA received a rebuke and warning from the deputy prime minister.”

Allah ban: Confirmation that Soi Lek is not the right man for MCA

Allah ban: Confirmation that Soi Lek is not the right man for MCA

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

The hottest talk in town – within the Chinese community anyway – was how quickly MCA president Chua Soi Lek backed off when rapped by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin over the Allah ban.

Indeed, breakfast in many of the coffee shops that dot country saw the usual groups huddled over newspapers while gulping down their food and talking at the same time. Running dog, useless fella, DVD star were the epithets they flung at Soi Lek as they discussed the latest issues.

And sad to say, he deserved their censure. His tenure at MCA is proving to be as rocky as his predecessor’s.

Ong Tee Keat had failed because his temperamental nature made him an inconsistent and volatile leader, but he still commands some respect because of his refusal to stop probing the Port Klang Free Zone financial debacle.

But Soi Lek, now that he has finally got to sit in the president’s chair, is finding out the hard way that it is not so easy to make the correct call under pressure, especially when an immediate response is required. It not only takes guts, but lots of savvy and above all unshakable commitment to proclaimed principles.

On Monday, MCA decided to take up Allah issue to score points with the Chinese community. It urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to lift the ban on non-Muslims using the word to describe God because he had expressed regret over the prohibition. Hisham had said his predecessor Syed Hamid Albar, who was responsible for the ban, should have “let sleeping dogs lie”.

On Tuesday, Muhyiddin issued a ‘stern warning’ to the MCA to stop playing up the ban. Basically, the DPM was telling the MCA not to play with Malay-Muslim rights and revive ethnic tensions that previously led to a spate of violence against churches and other places of worship.

Yet to many Muslim leaders, the Allah ban is actually an Umno ploy to show that it is the defender of the Malays and Islam. The Islamist PAS, for example, has no objection to Allah being used by non-Muslims provided there is no abuse.

But neither theology or civil rights are the issuea here. Why did Soi Lek cave in so quickly when just hours ago his own vice-president Gan Ping Sieu had defended their party against the DPM’s onslaught?

As they say, there are many ways to skin a cat, and Soi Lek could have chosen a way out that is less abrasive to his community. Why did Soi Lek ‘drop the face’ of the Chinese when there was no urgency?

After all, by now most Malaysians know Muhyiddin uses racial politics whenever he can to boost his political standing in Umno. This ‘stern warning’ on Allah is just another opportunity for him and his ilk.

Was Soi Lek trying to send his own political message even though he must have know it would be at the expense of the Chinese community?

There are major undercurrents swirling in Umno right now. A long-simmering battle has finally shaped up between Prime Minister Najib Razak and former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir has chosen his signature race-and-religion trump cards to take on Najib’s 1Malaysia. Pundits say two of Mahathir’s main grouses are Najib’s failure to push through the S-shaped bridge project linking Johor to Singapore and the sports-betting license that was supposed to be awarded to tycoon Vincent Tan.

On both controversial projects, Soi Lek has already declared MCA’s support. So is his latest rush on the Allah ban a signal that MCA under him will stand with Mahathir and Muhyiddin - not Najib and Hishammudin in the event that an all-out dogfight breaks out?

At this point, it is appropriate to ask if this is also what MCA members want - to be aligned to right rather than the center. It certainly is not what the wider Chinese community wants. They may not wish to support any particular personality, but when it comes to issues and and points of principles, they know very clearly what they do not want.

They should not allow themselves to be used by self-serving leaders then. If there are doubts, commission a survey and if the results confirm this view, it is time for members of the Malaysian Chinese Association to show Soi Lek the door.

MCA VP rebuts DPM over ‘Allah’ ruling , they didn't keep their mouth shut !

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

August 03, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — Youth and Sports deputy minister Senator Gan Ping Sieu today rebutted Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s claim that the ban on non-Muslims use of the word “Allah” was an old issue.

The MCA vice president told The Malaysian Insider that the word “Allah” only became an issue when the government decided to ban the word.

“I personally believe it that was an old issue and never a problem but then it became a new issue because of the ban. If we had gone back to the old practice then there would not have been any problem. Nothing would have arisen and this would not have become a hot topic,” he said after attending a committee meeting on youth development chaired by the deputy prime minister at Perdana Putra here.

Earlier today Muhyiddin gave a stern warning to MCA over its appeal for the government to rescind the ban on non-Muslims use of the word “Allah”, after Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein admitted that the decision was regrettable.

“The case is still in court and I am not sure if the comments made can be considered as prejudicial. I think we want to avoid politicising the issue. I hope that there is no party that will try to trigger this into a new issue because this is an old issue and we know the stand of the government,” said Muhyiddin.

Last week, Hishammuddin said his predecessor in the Home Ministry should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church and added that the decision will continue to haunt his ministry “for a very long time.”

“In this Ministry, it is a zero-sum game. We are [now] in an uncharted landscape which will haunt us for a very long time. “We should have let the sleeping dogs lie. It was triggered by those that believe that the word ‘Allah’ should not be used in Sabah and Sarawak,” Hishammuddin said during the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit.

The Barisan Nasional deputy chairman also said that MCA must accept the decision of the government and questioned the party’s intention in sharing the same platform with DAP.

Gan explained that his party was only expressing its views on the matter.

“There is no such thing that MCA is working together with DAP. We are actually talking about the issues affecting the non-Muslims at large and we are conveying our party’s view and stand on this matter,” he said.

Yesterday, MCA urged Hishammuddin to use his authority to rescind the ban on the non-Muslims use of the word “Allah” and said that Barisan Nasional (BN) must stop the “Allah” ruling from further polarising the public.

MCA added that that nobody can claim monopoly over the word “Allah” and added that “no confusion arises when one’s spiritual conviction is strong.”

The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang also called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to end the long-drawn out court dispute and said that dropping the appeal would “demonstrate the government’s seriousness and commitment to resolve the issue through inter-religious dialogue.”

Hishammuddin says regrets ‘Allah’ ban

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

August 01, 2010

Hishammuddin said his predecessor’s decision will have long-lasting repercussions. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today that his predecessor should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church.

The decision, he added, will continue to haunt his ministry “for a very long time.”

“In this ministry, it is a zero-sum game. We are [now] in an uncharted landscape which will haunt us for a very long time.

“We should have let the sleeping dogs lie. It was triggered by those that believed that the word ‘Allah’ should not be used in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said during the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit here.

Former home minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar had imposed the word ban on the Church’s newspaper, The Herald, two years ago.

Syed Hamid had temporary allowed the conditional use of the word “Allah”, only to rescind the government gazette later.

He had then cited fears that the use of word outside an Islamic context would cause confusion to Muslims.

Today, Hishammudin stressed that the Church appreciated the circumstances surrounding the ban.

“Church leaders understood fully that there are different levels of maturity and understanding in our constituents. The issue required wisdom and a decision but it is not as easy as you think.

“When you become a minister then you would find that it is difficult in finding a balance between the majority and minority,” he said.

The Catholic Church has since won a court ruling upholding its constitutional right to print the word “Allah” in its newspaper on December 31, 2009 but a government application to stay the ruling has dragged the case out longer.

The Court of Appeal has yet to indicate when it will move the case along. Several retired jurists said it cannot take very long, while one lawyer said it could take up to two years before the first hearing.

“We are looking at it and there is a court case and we are waiting for the outcome. There is [a] difference between acceptance and customs that have been used in the past in Sabah and Sarawak. The reaction from Muslims in the peninsular and Sabah and Sarawak will not be the same,” Hishammuddin said.

Supporters of the Church have argued that Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have used the word “Allah” for generations and it has become part of their cultural norms.

Ku Li: Even Malays leaving Tanah Melayu

An honest opinion from an elder . Its not about UMNO as an organisation but of Hawks , Fundamentalists , Zealous Racists , Little Napoleons and Warlords who thinks this country owes them and belongs to them . The rot started during Mahathir's watch , when that fella with the janggut from ABIM came in and started building his empire by giving titbits and later on to big time incentives to his cronies and to the civil servants to serve his apirations of becoming prime minister . When he was the education minister he was the one who abolished the use of English from the civil service and from the courts . Those circulars were issued during his tenure as the Ed Minister in 1989 - with Dr M's unofficial sanction and approval . By then most of the subjects in schools were all converted and taught in Bahasa . That was why our standard of education dropped . University of Malaya used to be the top university in the region , but now wa tak tau , tanya Anwar. Ya he's the one who started all this mess from racial integration to racial disintegration . When he was Finance Minister almost all his family members , father , mother became directors of listed companies , not one but many many. During the Financial breakdown in 1996 had he followed the IMF recommendations (overturned by TDM to peg our Ringgit at $3.80)our ringgit would have traded at 5.00ringgit to a USD . That would have been the guillotine for all the Chinese Businesess in Malaysia . They would all have become bankrupt. Ahmad Ismail , Ahmad Zahidi , the current defense minister were some of his cronies who made it rich .

Umno veteran and Gua Musang MP, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah laments the state of affairs in the country. - Picture by Choo Choy May

By Neville Spykerman

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is concerned that even Malays are getting disillusioned with the state of the nation and leaving the country.

“Something must be wrong in this so-called Malay Land (Tanah Melayu) when they (Malays) are leaving.” said the Kelantan prince during an interview with The Malaysian Insider.

The Umno veteran and Gua Musang MP said people, especially the young, are feeling uneasy over developments in the country and didn’t mince his words when he pointed out that there are signs of decline everywhere.

“There are many Malays in London who are professionals, making good money, who will not return because the environment is not right in Malaysia.”

He added that the negative publicity generated by the caning of three Muslim women and controversy surrounding the use of the word “Allah” is not helping the country.

While the caning may have been in accordance to Syariah laws, Razaleigh said it still negatively impacts the country when it makes headlines around the world for the wrong reasons.

“Investors and tourists are wondering what’s happening in Malaysia, at a time when we need investments, capital and jobs for our young who are also increasingly finding it difficult...”

He said even the non-Muslims are being hauled up for holding hands and cited a case where Islamic authorities barged into a room where a foreign couple was staying.

Razaleigh also decried that race relations are getting increasingly strained because of divisive policies.

He said the government can stage as many open houses as they like but there’s no warmth.

“Of course people will come if there’s free food but it’s not genuine.”

He pointed out that despite the recent assurances on the crime rate coming down, people are still insecure about their safety.

“Even my wife is afraid to go out. Why should we be afraid in our own country?”

He lamented the corruption in the country and how Air Force jet engines that weigh a ton can go “missing” or how the nation’s first submarine, which cost billions, could not initially dive.

“Now that it can dive, we’re not sure if it can come up again.” he said, adding that it may sound comical but it is alarming.

On the streets, he said, corruption have allowed drugs to flow in.

“Malaysia is only a small market compared to New York, but because people are corrupt they allow drugs to flow in.” he said, adding that young minds and lives are lost because of it.

“These are signs of decline which were never here before,” he concluded.

Non-Muslims can use ‘Allah’ in three states, FTs

UPDATED

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz today said that non-Muslims are allowed to use the word “Allah” in three states — Penang, Sabah and Sarawak — and the Federal Territories.

He said this is because other states have enactments on Islam which prohibit the use of the term by non-Muslims.

Nazri (picture) had last week proposed that East Malaysian Christians be allowed to use the term, though maintained that it should remain prohibited to West Malaysians.

“In my opinion, the court decision is only effective for Sabah, Sarawak and Penang, not the other states where it is the law,” the minister in charge of law and parliamentary affairs told reporters after launching a public transport awareness campaign here today.

The federal lawmaker related that he had once gone “incognito” to a church in Sarawak where the word “Allah” was used during service. He added that the Muslims there also had no problems with the word being used by Christians because they understood it was due to “custom and culture”.

“I don’t think they should pass the law in Sabah and Sarawak. I think it’s been the culture there but it’s different here,” he said, referring to the peninsula.

The controversy over the word started after a Dec 31, 2009 ruling by the High Court allowing a Catholic newspaper to use the term “Allah” to refer to the Christian God in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

The ruling sparked off Muslim anger across the country, and has seen attacks on 10 churches, a mosque, a Sikh temple, and a convent school.

So JAKIM you are over ruled .

Nazri says too late for dialogue on ‘Allah’

UPDATED

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Contrary to public opinion, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (picture) thinks the court is the only way to bring an end to the “Allah” debate.

While his Cabinet colleagues, including fellow Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom, have been pushing to bring religious leaders to the table to settle the simmering stew, Nazri says it is too late for a dialogue.

“It’s too late. I’ve mentioned it many times,” the minister in charge of law and parliamentary affairs said when asked his opinion on the best way to resolve dilemma, which appears to be pitting the Malaysian Muslim community against the non-Muslims.

“It was the failure of the rundingan that resulted in the matter being brought to court,” he pointed out.

“It’s not the fault of the government. Let it be known that it was Tan Sri Pakiam, not the government, who brought the matter to court,” Nazri stressed.

The Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam representing the Roman Catholic Church had taken the federal government to court after the home minister banned the church newspaper from publishing the word “Allah” three years ago.

The High Court, had on December 31 last year, ruled that Herald had the constitutional right to publish the word in the Christian publication,to cater to its Bahasa Malaysia-speaking followers.

If there was to be any out-of-court settlement over the “Allah” row, Pakiam, as the official publisher of Herald — the Catholic Weekly, must make the first move, the government minister added.

“I got no choice as the minister in charge of law. Because of Tan Sri Pakiam, I must be the person to advise the government that we must use the courts-lah,” Nazri, who is also Padang Renggas MP said.

He said if he did not take that stand, the public would also lose their confidence in the country’s judiciary system.

“If I don’t do that, people may say, ‘Apa ini, menteri undang-undang tak konfiden dengan mahkamah ke? (What is this, the law minister is not confident with the court?)” Nazri added, half-jokingly.

“We must respect the system. So I’m using the court system to appeal the court decision,” he said.

Nazri did not reply when asked if he had read for himself the written grounds of judgment by High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan which was released last week.

Instead, he noted that the judge is not a Muslim, and had ruled over a matter that concerned the “akidah” (faith) of the Muslim community.

“You must study the psyche of the Malays. The Chinese can be Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, no problem, but the Malays, the race itself is defined in the Constitution,” he said.

“Who is a Malay? In the Constitution, a Malay is one: a Muslim; two: speaks Malay and three: practises Malay culture. In the Constitution, there can’t be a Malay who is not a Muslim. Anything at all, any suspicion will confuse the ordinary Malays. They become so protective because Malay and Islam cannot be separate,” Nazri pointed out.

The Umno man said in the Borneo states the people had embraced the “1 Malaysia” concept a long time ago, unlike in the west where racial lines are still very apparent.

“I’m very liberal, I’m very confident, but if I try to explain to them... no way,” Nazri disclosed, referring to his contituents when asked how real the worry was that Christians would try and convert Muslims if the High Court ruling was upheld.

“For us,” he said, signalling to the reporters surrounding him at a post-launch press conference for consumer awareness on public transportation at the inter-city bus hub, a five-minute walk from Masjid Jamek, “it’s only a word. But for a Malay, it’s not. It’s their psyche.”

“Those people not in politics, they can say anything. But people like me, I depend on my voters,” the federal lawmaker said.

“I may look liberal but my constituents are not,” he added.

“Actually, in my opinion, I prefer to let it be,” Nazri continued.

“If everyone prays to Allah, they’ll all be Muslim. It’s a good ploy for Muslims to convert non-Muslims,” he quipped.

Let the Courts decide ! as provided under our Federal Constitution . Let's wait for the good news

Let's hope the rulers and DYMM YDP Agong rule in favour of allowing the word being used in West Malaysia also .

Four reasons for controversial ‘Allah’ ruling

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan’s controversial ‘Allah’ ruling that rocked the nation over who had rights to the term cited that the Home Minister and government’s actions had been illegal, unconstitutional, irrational and had failed to satisfy that it was a threat to national security.

She also wrote about the apparent conflict in the matter between the Federal Constitution and the various state enactments apart from claims by Muslim groups that the matter cannot be taken to a civil court.

The judge released the written grounds of her Dec 31 judgment late on Friday while the increasingly acrimonious public debate over who has the right to use the word “Allah” continues to rage on.

The Malaysian Insider obtained a copy of her 57-page judgment where the judge lays out the reasons and the laws behind her oral pronouncement.

In laying out her judgment, Justice Lau ruled that the Home Minister and the Government of Malaysia, who were named as 1st and 2nd Respondents respectively, has the discretion under Section 12 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act to issue or revoke a permit to the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam (the Applicant) to publish the Church’s newspaper, Herald — The Catholic Weekly.

But, she stressed, the respondents had made decisions that were illegal, unconstitutional and irrational when they barred the Catholic newspaper from publishing the word “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

The case was brought by the Roman Catholic Church, represented by the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam on February 16 last year when he filed for a judicial review against the Home Minister for barring it from using the word “Allah” as part of conditions for getting a publishing permit.

Pakiam is officially the Herald’s publisher.

The Home Ministry has successfully applied for a stay of execution in the ruling pending an appeal.

Below are excerpts highlighting the main disputes.

read the full article here

Now, govt says East Malaysian Christians can worship ‘Allah’

My prediction : OK to use Allah in East Malaysia but not in West Malaysia .

On Allah issue .This is what I posted on Tuesday, January 12, 2010

By Adib Zalkapli

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 – The government today said that it allows the use of the word “Allah” by East Malaysian Christians when referring to God in the Malay language.

The apparent concession is seen as a damage control move as Christians in the states of Sabah and Sarawak primarily conduct church services in the Malay language.

In an interview with a Kuching-based daily, The Borneo Post, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz (picture) said the word has been used traditionally in the two states and that the local Muslims are used to the practice.

The daily is circulated widely in the two Christian-majority states.

“Christians in Sarawak and Sabah need not worry over this issue because it is a common tradition there. I have been to an Iban church service and I heard the word “Allah” used there,” he reportedly said.

The “Allah” row started in 2007 after the Home Ministry invoked a 1986 Cabinet directive banning non-Muslims from using certain Arabic words when it refused to renew the publication permit of the Catholic tabloid, Herald.

The Catholic church later challenged the government’s decision and on Dec 31 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the Herald has the right to use the word “Allah” for its Malay edition.

Another legal battle over the word “Allah” is also expected, as a Sarawakian Christian, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill had earlier this week challenged the seizure of religious compact discs containing the word “Allah”, which took place in 2008 at the Sepang airport’s low cost carrier terminal.

Nazri’s pledge, which was front-paged by The Borneo Post today, comes just about one year before Sarawak is scheduled to have its state election.

The current state assembly’s term expires in mid-2011.

“Muslims here in Semenanjung cannot accept it as ‘Allah’ was never used in Christian preaching until recently and they questioned the motive behind the substitution of ‘Tuhan’ for ‘Allah’,” said Nazri in justifying the ban in the Peninsula.

“It is clearly stated in our constitution that no other religions can be propagated to Malay Muslims and this article has been enacted in all the states in Malaysia where the Sultan is the Head of State … so this excludes Federal Territory, Penang, Malacca, Sarawak and Sabah,” he added.

The daily also quoted Nazri to have said that the series of attacks against the houses of worship has proven that the government was right in its decision to restrict the use of the word.

“Banning the use of ‘Allah’ by Christians was a pre-emptive move to stop outbreaks of religious violence in the nation,” he reportedly said.

Nazri also drew a parallel between the “Allah” dispute and the ‘cow head protest’ in Shah Alam last year, against the relocation of a temple in the Selangor capital.

“Take for example, there is no law in the country that states stepping on a severed cow head is wrong but when a group of Malays did that in their protests against the building of a Hindu temple we hauled them up and charged them because that act was disrespectful to the Hindus,” he reportedly said.

Do you (really) believe in Allah?

Md Asham Ahmad
Jan 14, 10
10:51am

Everybody knows 'Allah' is not a Malay word, but nobody would question a Malay using the word to refer to the god that he or she worships because Malays are Muslims, and all Muslims of all nations call Him by this name because He says in the Quran that that is His name, and He is to be addressed with that name.

We are talking about 'naming' god; we cannot afford to have it wrong. Even ordinary people would feel offended (let alone people like the royalties, politicians or film stars) if their names are not pronounced correctly. Just imagine what would they feel if wrong names or titles were attributed to them!

Why must there be a need to 'name' Him in the first place? Should not He, if He ever revealed anything, have revealed His own name? And if there is anything worthy of being called the word of god, His name should not be unknown because how can one ever find god if even His name is not known to him?

Muslims do not create names for god or borrow names from whatever language to refer to god. They are not used to that kind of practice because even the name of their religion, i.e. Islam, and the name of those who submit to god by following that religion, i.e. Muslim (pl. Muslimun) are given by Allah Himself, not their own creation, let alone the outsiders.

Hence, they do not accept when the Christians called them Mohammedans, and their religion Mohammedanism. Firstly, Muhammad to the Muslims is not what Jesus Christ is to the Christians; Muslims do not worship Muhammad.

Secondly, Islam is not an ideology created by Muhammad for it to be called Mohammedanism.

And thirdly, Muslims were conscious of their own identity from the very beginning, they do not call themselves Muslims because people have been calling them by that name, unlike the Christians who took their name from their enemies, the Romans.

Shameful for a religion to borrow the name of god

From a Muslim's perspective, it is not proper for a religion which claims to be a truly revealed religion not to know the name of god whom it calls all mankind to worship.

It is even shameful, to say the least, for a religion to borrow the name of god of other religion, and even more so if the religion from which the name is borrowed is considered a false or deviant religion!

When the Christians, whose conception of the nature of god is diametrically opposed to that of Islam, insist on their right to use the term 'Allah' to denote the Christian god, of course the Muslims would oppose it.

It is not that they want to 'monopolise' the term as some people claimed it to be the case. On the contrary, the Muslims are demanding the Christians to be precise in their employment of terms that could confuse the public.

Practically they cannot prevent the Christians from using whatever term they like for their god including the term 'Allah' or even Mickey Mouse for that matter.

Still, they have to oppose because as far as they are concerned the word 'Allah' as used and understood in Malay language is not the god of Christianity.

The Christians argue that 'Allah' also means the god of Christianity in Malay language because they claim the term was used in an old Malay bible and Christian prayer books. They also argue that the word Allah had been used by the Christian Arabs long before Islam.

Suppose that they can prove the existence of the above mentioned documents in which the term Allah can be found. We can argue that it does not grant the conclusion that Allah also means the Christian god in Malay.

It simply means the attempt by Christian missionaries to impose Christian meaning on the term is not something new. Whether the document is old or new is not what matters because our contention is still the same: The Malays never used the term Allah to mean a Christian god, it is the Christians, now and then, who have been trying very hard to make them accept that.

Furthermore, if Allah also means a Christian god in Malay there is no point of attempting to Christianise the Malays because they were already Christians!

Muslims and Christians claim that their religions respectively are based on the scriptures, the revealed words of god. Muslims' scripture, the Quran, which was revealed in Arabic, clearly mentions Allah as the name of god that every Muslim, regardless of race and nation, worship.

What we know is that the word 'Allah' never occurred in the Hebrew, Greek, or Latin versions of the Old and New Testament, and there is no reliable evidence of the existence of any pre-Islamic Arabic translation of the bible.

The first and most important Arabic version, which became the standard version for all Jews in Muslim countries was made by Sa'adia ben Joseph (892-942).

When the Malays use the word Allah

Several modern Arabic translations by both Protestants and Catholics were made in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is possible that the term 'Allah' is used to refer to Christian god in these translations. But why is 'Allah' not the terms used in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin versions?

Obviously the term Allah is only used in bibles translated into the languages of the Muslim peoples, including Malay, where the term exists as the result of the Islamisation of the language and mind of the Malays.

One would not find the term 'Allah' in the Algonquin Bible which was translated for the American Indians in 1663, let alone in English versions like Wycliffe's, Tyndale, Douay, King James or Confraternity.

There is no reason to use the term Allah to refer to the Christian god because Allah had never been the god of American Indians or the English people, hence the word do not exist in their languages.

It is thus very interesting to know why some Christians in this country are so adamant in demanding what they call their right to use the term 'Allah' citing the usage of the term by Christian Arabs long before Islam.

Since when the Christian Arabs and their language (Arabic) became very important to Christianity and the Christian community as a whole? Arabic is not at all important compared to Hebrew, Greek and Latin when it comes to understanding Christianity from its original sources.

But nobody can understand the Quran and the religion of Islam without the knowledge of Arabic, and by Arabic here, we mean the Islamised Arabic, the language that was thoroughly transformed with the revelation of the Quran.

The importance of (Quranic) Arabic with regard to the making of the worldview of the Muslim peoples cannot at all be compared with the importance of Arabic in Christianity.

When the Christians here tell the government to let them use the word Allah because pre-Islam Christian Arabs had used the word, the assumption is that the Malays are automatons who will comply with anything that comes from Arabia.

They are utterly mistaken. When the Malays use the word Allah in their language they mean Allah of the Quran, not Allah of the pagan or Christian Arabs. The Malays had no cultural or religious relation with the pagan or Christian Arabs, before or after Islam.

Their special connection with the Arabs and Arabic language is founded upon something that they commonly share, namely Islam and the Quran.

All the key terms (together with their meanings and significations) that make up the worldview of the Malays are derived from the Quran. As a matter of fact these key terms are shared by all Islamic languages, not just Malay language.

Clearly what the Christians are trying to do is to deislamise Malay language for missionary purpose. And if they say it is their right to do mission to the Malays (which is not a secret) then shouldn't we, the Malays, also claim our right to repel any effort to undermine our religious and cultural identity?

Unfortunately it was the Malays themselves who had sabotaged their own culture and religion. They did that first of all by allowing 'Bahasa Melayu' to be named 'Bahasa Malaysia'.

MD ASHAM AHMAD is a fellow at the Centre for Syariah, Law and Political Studies, Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim)

My prediction : OK to use Allah in East Malaysia but not in West Malaysia .

East Malaysian Christians say will continue using ‘Allah’

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

(Left to right) Pastors Danil Raut, Simon Petraus, and Alfred Tias at the High Court today. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 — Church leaders representing the East Malaysian Christian community said today they hoped the government would come up with a solution which enables them to continue to use the word “Allah” in their daily worship.

Speaking to reporters after the High Court here set a date to hear the case of Jill Lawrence, a Melanau who is suing the government for confiscating CDs containing the word “Allah”, the church representatives stated that the word “Allah” would still be used during Sunday services.

“Before this, there was no problem with using the word for our daily worship. Of course, the Christians in East Malaysia are not happy with the tussle, but we will wait and see what the court decides,” said Pastor Danil Raut, who is the president of the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church in Peninsular Malaysia.

An SIB church in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan was the latest to have been hit by the spate of attacks on churches throughout the peninsula, where firebombs were thrown at some churches.

The latest lawsuit involving the use of “Allah” has set the stage for another court battle over the word.

The country has been gripped by a raging debate over the word since the High Court ruled on Dec 31, 2010 that the Catholic weekly Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia edition had a constitutional right to use the word “Allah” in the Christian sense.

Read more here

Another ‘Allah’ court battle looms

(left to right) Pastor Danil Raut,Pastor Simon Petraus,Pastor Alfred Tias from Sidang Injil Borneo(SIB) and Lawyer Annou Xavier before they enter court. - Picture by Choo Choy May

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 — The High Court here fixed March 15 for the mention of an application by a Melanau woman to challenge the Home Ministry’s decision in confiscating eight compact discs of Christian religious teachings containing the word “Allah”.

The date was fixed by deputy registrar Nik Mohd Fadli Nik Azlan, setting the stage for another court battle over the word “Allah”.

The country has been gripped by a raging debate over the word since the High Court ruled on December 31 that the Catholic weekly Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia edition had a constitutional right to use the word “Allah” in its Christian sense.

The ruling sparked protests from Muslim groups and has been linked to a series of firebombing and arson attacks against at least eight churches in the past few days.

In the latest case, the applicant has claimed that the compact discs which were confiscated was for her own personal use.

The said publications were in audio visual form and had the words “Allah” printed on them. Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, 27, was granted leave on May 4 last year to initiate the judicial review proceedings against the ministry and the government, as respondents.

She wants an order of certiorari to quash the ministry’s decision to confiscate the CDs, an order of mandamus to direct the ministry to return the CDs to her and a declaration that she has the legitimate expectation to exercise her right to possess, use and import publications containing the word “Allah”.

Read more here

Herald row: Anwar holds Utusan responsible

PKR de facto leader accused Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia for inciting the Muslims over the court decision to allow Catholic weekly The Herald to use the term 'Allah' in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

He said that the newspaper had for “weeks and months” whipped the Malay community into a frenzy over the controversy, which erupted into several protests after Friday prayers yesterday.

“(They were) supported by the ruling establishment. Now you can organise demonstrations, without permits for the first time, but only for that particular occasion by the keris minister (Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein).

“What happened? They actually encouraged people to resort to extremism and even become perpetrators of violence,” he said during a public forum in Petaling Jaya today.

Early yesterday morning, three churches in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur were hit with petrol bombs hours before the protests were scheduled to start.

Prominent scholar disagrees

One of the church was set ablaze in the brazen attack, believed to be the first of its kind in Malaysia.

Anwar called for calm and said that the reactions to the 'Allah' controversy was an “insult not only Malaysians but Muslims and Islam”.

Earlier, Anwar recounted his meeting with renowned Egyptian Muslim scholar Yusof Al-Qardawi, who expressed surprise that some Malaysian Muslims objected to non-Muslims using the term 'Allah'.

“I said no, not me (who objected), but some 'born-again' Muslims in Umno,” said Anwar, to the laughter of some 100 people in attendance.

Anwar said Yusof responded by saying that such a position was unjustifiable.

“There is nothing in the Quran and our historical legacy that can justify the banning (of non-Muslims from using) the word 'Allah',” he said.

'Selangor anthem quandary'

Anwar explained that it would make life extremely difficult in Arab countries if there was such a ban as the word is commonly used by both Muslims and non-Muslims there.

“In Arab countries, it is very usual for people to respond to questions (in this manner): Can you come to my house tomorrow for supper? Well, I'll have to think about it, insha'allah (God willing).

“Charge him in court!” cried Anwar mockingly, prompting another round of giggles from the audience.

Anwar also quipped that in Selangor, Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim is worried because non-Muslims may now be banned from singing the state anthem - 'Allah pelihara Sultan (God save the Sultan)'.

Anwar was speaking at the Global Issues Forum III on corruption at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre, organised by the PKR International Bureau.

Attacks on places of worship a cowardly act

By Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat

I am deeply shocked and saddened to learn about acts of terror and intimidation when explosives were thrown at 2 churches in the Klang Valley. Whilst there is relief from initial reports that no lives were lost nor were there injuries, I have directed MCA leaders to go to the sites where the events took place to render any possible assistance to the churches and worshippers.

I condemn such cowardly show of brute force and intimidation, and there is neither excuse nor justification for them.

All religions teaches peace and tolerance of others. Rather, it is the cowardly actions of an irresponsible group of individuals who are out to sow the seeds of hatred.

I understand that the atmosphere may be tense and therefore appeal for calm among all concerned Malaysians.

On the issue of the usage of the word “Allah”, it is best for the proper due process and the Rule of Law to take its place. We should also approach this sensitive matter through discussion and consultation under the light of reason and civility.

Destructive actions and words fuelled by the fires of hate and prejudice have no place in this country for they are inconsistent with the spirit of One Malaysia, and runs counter to the spirit of democracy and freedom preserved by our Federal Constitution.

We cannot allow anyone to create an impression that Malaysia condones or promotes fanaticism as it would affect foreign investment and tourism. The police should also act swiftly and effectively to catch those responsible for the attacks, and bring them to the face of justice.

The MCA has also rented Dewan San Choon in Wisma MCA to enable the Metro Tabernacle A/G Church to conduct their prayer service there this Sunday. They are grateful for the offer and MCA would assist the church in any way it could.

Friday protests tame affair

Despite widespread concerns, the simultaneous protest at three mosques in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam turned out to be a tame affair.

The biggest number of protesters were at Masjid Negara, where several hundreds vented their frustration over the court ruling on the 'Allah' issue under the watchful eyes of some 50 police personnel while a police helicopter hovered above.

Armed with banners and placards, the crowd dispersed after about 10 minutes.

During the protest, one of the leaders read out a declaration, which among others, urged Christians to use the word 'Tuhan' instead of 'Allah'.

They also wanted the issue to be decided by the Syariah court and not through civil proceedings.

More than a dozen banners were strung up around the compound of the iconic building. Among others, the banners read 'Do not belittle Islam' and 'We vow to defend Islam and the Malay rulers'.

Earlier, scores of people inked a memorandum at the entrance of the mosque.

At the Kampung Baru mosque, there were only a handful of protesters who gathered briefly. A signature campaign was carried out here as well.

In Shah Alam, things took a political twist with the protesters targetting Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and PAS MP Khalid Samad.

Some of the protesters were seen stomping on the menteri besar's poster while a banner accused PAS' Khalid of 'sodomising' the religion.

Khairy: 'A sad day for Malaysia'

Barisan Nasional Youth has strongly condemned arson attacks on the Metro Tabernacle church, Desa Melawati this morning as outrage continue to pour over a court decision to allow a Catholic magazine to use the word 'Allah'.

"Regardless of what anyone feels about the (issue), destroying a place of worship like what happened last night is indefensible," said BN Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today.

"If Muslims are responsible for the incident, they should be ashamed and repent over their actions, because Islam requires its adherents to respect the religious freedoms of non-Muslims".

Khairy said Malaysia was a plural society and misunderstandings are bound to occur in racial and religious matters.

"What is important is that the public must be mature and resolve any problems in a proper way and always be respectful of the rights of others," he said.

Khairy urged everyone to be cautious in the statements and actions following the arson incident. He also urged the police to take stern action against those behind the arson attacks.

At about midnight this morning, the administrative floor of the three-story Metro Tabernacle church was torched by several people on motorcycles.

Khairy was among several notable Muslim personalities who visited the church this morning.

He said that his visit to the church was to show his anger against the despicable and irrational act.

"This is a sad day for Malaysia. This is not Malaysia," he told reporters.

He also urged Malaysians to contribute towards the rebuilding of the torched church.

Losing the moral high ground

Meanwhile popular blogger Marina Mahathir, daughter of the former premier, urged fellow Muslims to condemn the act.

"This is not Islamic. The Quran does not preach us to burn down places of worship," she said after visiting the Metro Tabernacle church.

She also urged on national leaders to play a pivotal role in bringing calm to the tense situation.

"The NGO's who want to protest today are merely NGOs and are not Islamic," she said.

"This is not how Muslims should behave. We have lost the moral high ground."

Police have refused to link the incident with numerous protest planned for today after Friday prayers to protest the court decision.

Wee: Test for 1Malaysia concept

Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong, who also visited the church, reiterated Khairy's stand by saying that this was a sad day for all Malaysians.

He also said that this was a test for the 1Malaysia concept espoused by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"The prime minister must ensure that there is no recurrence.

"I called on everyone not to take reprisal actions. All places of worship must be protected," he said.

He further added that the arson attacks on churches were "not a racial attack but a crime".

Attacks are against Islamic teaching

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said that the attacks against the churches were against the teachings of Islam.

"This could only be done by people who do not understanding their religion," he said in a statement.

He reminded Muslims that Islam upholds non-Muslims' rights and freedom to embrace other religion.

"Many verses in the Al Quran and Hadith forbid Muslims to disrupt the religious practices, priests and places of worship of other religion," he said.

In another statement Selangor PAS also condemned the attacks on churches and urged all party members to remain calm.

"We also don't want any parties to create tensions and exploit the tense situation in Selangor which is ruled by us (Pakatan Rakyat)," said Selangor PAS information chief Roslan Shahir.

ISA can be used against 'Allah' protesters

S Pathmawathy
Jan 8, 10
1:42pm

The government today warned that it will not hesitate to use the Internal Security Act against demonstrators who plan to protest today against a court ruling which allowed a Catholic publication to use the word 'Allah'.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the government will use every means necessary, including the ISA, to ensure the national security.

"I will use everything that is necessary to make sure that the country is safe," he said during a press conference.

"ISA is not personal and political, but it is for security," said Hishammuddin.

He also stressed that neither he nor Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had given the go ahead for the protesters to rally today.

"We never said demonstrations can go on. Don't put words in my mouth," he said.

Several NGOs are planning to stage a nationwide protest at mosques after Friday prayers today to protest over the Allah issue.

Don't take part, says IGP

Speaking to reporters at the same press conference, police chief Musa Hassan reiterated that the demonstrations will be listed as illegal assemblies as no permits have been issued.

"If they take any action that will affect the security, the police will take action," he said.

He also added that the police have been instructed to monitor all the mosques, particularly those scheduled to host the demonstrations.

Quizzed if any drastic measures will be taken if any protest takes place, Musa said:

"We cannot reveal what action will be taken. Within the compound of the places of worship, we cannot take any action," he said.

The inspector general of police added the police were also monitoring blogs and and social networking website such as Facebook.

"We will be checking all the blogs as some are inflaming sentiments and instigate people to break the law," said Musa.

The police will investigate these comments under the Sedition Act.

Why is your Allah not my Allah?

comment As an East Malaysian, I am neither surprised nor angry about Malay/Muslims being up in arms over the 'Allah' High Court ruling.

It was to be expected, really.

What does anger me is getting comments from West Malaysian Christians that it is 'silly' for Christians to lobby to use the word 'Allah'.

One rather un-enlightened Christian said that "Allah is also a word used to describe one particular god in a pagan religion...so for Christians to use 'Allah' is strange and silly."

The whole 'Allah' debacle highlights a bigger, more endemic problem in the Malaysian, or should I say West Malaysian mentality: General ignorance of how the 'others' or 'lain-lain' live.

It seems very hard for most West Malaysians to understand that:

• Not all bumiputeras are Malay.

• Not all bumiputeras are Muslim.

It isn't just West Malaysian Muslims who have a very limited worldview but Christians as well.

They don't understand that in East Malaysia, with its high population of indigenous Christians, Bahasa Malaysia is used in services.

Most of these Sabahan and Sarawakian Christians have spent their whole lives thinking, praying and referring to their God as Allah Bapa (Father God).

And now the government says they can't. That only Muslims can use the word 'Allah' when that isn't true in other countries.

Look at Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, which allows the printing and dissemination of bibles in Bahasa Indonesia that refer to God not as 'Tuhan' but as 'Allah'.

The Indonesian Muslims don't worry that their brethren will be 'confused' by these bibles. So why is our Home Ministry and all these religious groups up in arms?

The answer to that is politics. Religion is, unfortunately, something as mixed up with politics as is race. Political parties unabashedly use religion as a tool to win debates, with Umno often accused of trying to 'out-Islam' PAS.

Religion is not a private matter in this country and is, instead, aired like so much dirty laundry. What other Southeast Asian country has officially sanctioned civilian peeping Toms who consider it their civic duty to weed out fornication?

Malay is our language, too

Despite the many varied ethnicities in Sabah, they have managed to get along without bloodshed or May 13-like incidents.

How have we managed it when West Malaysia's three main races mostly give each other a wide berth? It's called tolerance, people.

All Sabahans speak a slightly modified version of Malay with the funny little suffix 'bah' tagged behind a lot of words or sentences.

In rural areas, this heavily-accented version of Malay is the only means for most people to communicate with each other. They speak, think, dream and yes, even pray in the language.

Sabahan Michelle Quek asks: "Is it more important to recognise that some Muslims lay claim to the word as being exclusive to their faith, or recognise that a practical need for the word exists for East Malaysian Christians?"

Her question embodies the difficult balancing act that Malaysia has in attempting to address the needs of its varied peoples as well as the gulf between East and West Malaysia.

Kavin Ch'ng, who is married to a Sabahan says that locally, for many generations, Malay-speaking Christians have always referred to Allah and Tuhan in the same breath.

"Why only now does the government kick up such a fuss?" he asks. What is important, Ch'ng says, is mutual respect.

"I think there is a way to co-exist - if only our government can actually wrap its head around the concept of context."

Sarawakian El'Bornean finds it disturbing that West Malaysians now want to dictate how one's personal faith is practiced.

"The true Malaysians are here in Sabah and Sarawak," he says, citing examples of his Muslim friends who have no qualms sitting with friends in non-halal stores and visiting churches.

Despite being surrounded by Christians, East Malaysian Muslims do not consider their faith easily shaken, he asserts.

Sabahan Dusun Zara Kahan has a humorous, if facetious, solution.

"If (some) Muslims insist on ownership of the term 'Allah' then Christians must do the same with the term 'Tuhan'. Do you know how many Hari Raya songs will be in jeopardy? End of issue!"

No, we don't want to convert you

In West Malaysia, technically Christian worship services in Malay are illegal. But Sabahan and Sarawakian students ask for them anyway.

Many of these Malay-speaking East Malaysians feel uncomfortable attending worship services in English because the terms are unfamiliar. Muslims often cite the 99 names of Allah and for Christians in East Malaysia as well as Lebanon and Syria, Allah is their name for God.

All this talk about 'confusion' is really the product of West Malaysians not mixing with their East Malaysian brethren.

If you visit the Dusuns in Ranau, you could well meet locals as fair as highland Chinese with slanted eyes who would greet you with the traditional Muslim salam.

Wander into an East Malaysian Chinese coffee shop and you would see tanned, Malay-looking locals happily digging into char siew or other pork dishes

In East Malaysia, you can't easily tell what faith someone professes or what race his forefathers were just by looking.

This is very disturbing to the West Malaysian psyche. I have met West Malaysians who get very agitated when I refuse to tell them either what religion I profess or what race I am.

They don't know what to do with me because they can't categorise me. I don't fit into their safe little boxes which decide how they will treat me.

What annoys me as well is this West Malaysian paranoia that Christians have a secret ongoing campaign to convert Muslims on the sly.

Let us be honest. If converting Muslims to Christianity was as easy as pouring holy water into your drinking water or putting the word 'Allah' in all available religious literature, the Pope would have sanctioned it years ago.

Christians don't get 'brownie points' by forcibly converting unwilling Muslims.

I suppose all the Malay-looking Christian East Malaysians really confuse the locals to the point they rabidly proclaim that churches are succeeding in their nefarious campaign to take over Muslim souls.

In East Malaysia, Christians and Muslims come in various sizes, shapes and colours. Even huge extended families often have different religions, sometimes staying under one roof.

It is not unusual for an East Malaysian to have not just Christian, but Buddhist, Muslim and animist relatives. A friend of mine says it is a convenient excuse to celebrate the many public holidays with more gusto.

When told that someone is marrying a person of another race, the common reaction is: "Oh, your kids will be cute!" No heated discussion about traditions or religious differences because the unspoken assumption is that the couple will work them out.

Because they do.

Be Malaysia, not 1Malaysia

A well-known comedian talked about the recent Al-Islam undercover foray into churches. Its so-called investigative journalists entered churches on false premises and desecrated the communion wafer.

Did the Christians protest? asked the comedian. Did they declare bloody war? Did they have angry sermons and plan noisy demonstrations outside churches on Sunday?

No. What did the Christians say? "Forgive them-lor. Pray for them-lor."

The comedian mused that the incident was actually excellent public relations for the church.

Despite our annoyance with West Malaysian intolerance, do you see East Malaysians picketing?

We gripe, we grumble, we send politely worded statements. Yet we still believe in the Malaysia that our Tourism Ministry tries to sell, but which seems to be a myth in West Malaysia.

Do you want to know why? Deep in the heart of most East Malaysians, we truly believe in tolerance. We believe in the ideals of Malaysia.

We don't have to give 'muhibbah' a name because we live it. Since 1963, we have lived as Malaysians, believing in true tolerance and that race or religion matters little.

We truly do believe that West Malaysians can and should get over us using 'Allah' to worship God. Isn't Allah the God of all mankind? Isn't your Malaysia our Malaysia too?

Malay Muslim Groups and UMNO in Mourning: May Run Amok for "Loss" of Monopoly of ALLAH to Catholics in Malaysia
Saturday, January 02, 2010 from Malaysians Unplugged Uncensored
Read here for more

Related News:

Khir Toyo said that he is now in mourning, as a Muslim, for the loss of "Allah" to the Catholics. Read here for more

MUSLIM groups in Malaysia have voiced opposition to a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper the right to use the word 'Allah". They said on Saturday they plan to demonstrate.

Malaysian version of Islam vs the Malaysian Federal Constitution

"The court decision is not right and we are planning to hold a major demonstration to protest this,"Syed Hassan Syed Ali, secretary general of Malay rights group Pribumi Perkasa told AFP.

He and 50 other Malay activists held a small protest over the ruling outside a central mosque Friday.

Malaysia's high court ruled on Thursday that the Caltholic Herald weekly had the right to use the word 'Allah' after a long-running dispute between the government and the paper in the Muslim-majority nation.

"Allah is a MUSLIM God" According to Mamak Reezal Merican

Federation of MALAY Students' Association Advisor, "Mamak" Reezal Merican said although the court decision had to be respected, the government needed to appeal it.

'We want to live in peace with all religions here but the word Allah has traditionally in Malaysia been used to represent the Muslim God, which is different from Christianity, and this must be addressed,' he told AFP.

Northern Perak state mufti Harussani Zakaria was also critical of the verdict, calling it 'an insult to Muslims in this country,' according to the influential Malay-language Utusan Malaysia newspaper.

But renowned constitution law expert Abdul Aziz Bari joined the chorus of voices applauding High Court judge Lau Bee Lan's decision to overturn the Home Ministry's ban on the use of the word 'Allah' in the Malay language version of Catholic weekly The Herald last Thursday. Read here for more in Malaysiakini

The High Court's decision allowing a Catholic weekly publication to use the term 'Allah' must be governed by strict conditions, said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Read here for more

Umno Wanita chief/Minister of Family, Women and Community Development, Shahrizat added that Wanita Umno has sought a meeting with Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Jamil Khir to discuss the matter.She stressed that the movement will champion and ensure that the place and position of Islam was not tarnished. "If need be, we will apply to meet the King," she said. Read here for more

The Prime Minister's Department, with the cooperation of the Home Ministry, will appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision in allowing the Catholic weekly magazine The Herald, to use the word 'Allah' in its publication. Read here for more

Malaysiakini Readers' Comments

• The Christian citizens in Sarawak have been using the word 'Allah' in their worship for ages as the local natives are all schooled in Bahasa Malaysia, thus the churches have to conduct their worship in BM, and the words, 'Allah', 'Maha Esa', etc, are often used. Even the name of the church is in BM - the Sidang Injil Borneo. Please be reminded that the Dayak natives are the majority and Malay Muslims constitute only about 20 percent of the population of Sarawak. I believe it is the same in Sabah. Also East Malaysians provide you 50 percent parliamentary seats, so don't bully us!
  
  
• Umno has only one choice to make: Either they pursue the case in the Appeal Court and which we know they will win, and stand to lose an almost one million votes in the coming 13GE (general election), and most likely the two states in East Malaysia as well, or let the case be and move forward. Put your '1Malaysia' sloganeering where your mouth is. No more no less.

The MCA has spoken , the stand taken by Gan reflects on the stand taken by the party as a whole . Why the need to ask Tee Keat again for his stand ?

Tee Keat is doing the right thing , stay mum for the time being , and see the developments before commenting . The court's have ruled .

Tee Keat mum on ‘Allah’ controversy

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

Oblivious. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has refused to comment on the “Allah” issue in what looks like an attempt to distant himself from the raging controversy.

Yesterday, MCA spokesperson Gan Ping Sieu in a statement lauded the landmark High Court ruling that allowed Catholic weekly The Herald to use “Allah” in their publication.

Gan also hit out at those who said the ruling would confuse Muslims.

But Ong appeared oblivious to the statement issued by his fellow party member. The MCA president also did not clarify if the statement issued by Gan reflects the party’s stand on the matter.

“Who issued the statement? If the statement was issued by the bureau then you should refer to him,” he said at a press conference held after inspecting Rapid KL’s newly purchased four-car trains at the KL Sentral train terminal here.

Where is DAP Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng's stand on this ? What is Anwar's stand on this ?

PAS MP and PKR MP lock horns

'Allah' controversy: PAS MP vs PKR MP

PAS parliamentarian Khalid Samad and his PKR counterpart Zulkifli Noordin have locked horns over the high court ruling on the 'Allah' issue.

Speaking to Malaysiakini today, Khalid (right), who is the Shah Alam MP, accused the Kulim Bandar Baru MP of possessing an "Umno-like mentality".

He said Zulkifli, a practicing syariah lawyer, should streamline his opinion with the stand of his party, which has welcomed the decision.

"He has to decide what party he is in," stressed the PAS leader.

"If he is an Umno leader, he should follow Umno's stand as clarified by (its president) Najib Abdul Razak. If he's in PKR, then he should follow the party's stand," he added.

Zulkifli (left) could not be reached for comment.

Khalid was responding to a posting in Zulkifli's blog yesterday which called on the former to quit the Islamic-based PAS and join the Chinese-dominated DAP for backing the court decision.

Defending himself, the PAS MP said the term 'Allah' was widely used by non-Muslims during the era of Prophet Muhammad and therefore this should not be an issue now.

"What differentiates the term is the trinity concept (in Christianity) and the singular nature of Allah in Islam," he added.

PKR: An excellent development

Meanwhile, PKR has expressed support for the court decision to allow the Christian publication Herald Weekly to use 'Allah' to describe God in its Malay-language section.

According to the party's religious affairs division head Muhd Nur Manuty, the decision was made after a careful study of the matter.

"We are of the view that the wish of non-Muslims to use Allah to describe God is an excellent development and should be accepted with an open heart.

"Therefore, there is no need for the Muslim community in Malaysia to overreact or fear that their religion is under threat," he was quoted as saying in a report.

Najib yesterday also urged Muslims to remain calm and not "heat up" the situation by holding demonstrations and so forth.

The prime minister added that the Home Ministry will file an appeal over the decision.

The Herald, which is printed in four languages, has been using the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its Malay-language section, but the government argued that 'Allah' should be used only by Muslims.

The term 'Allah' is widely used among indigenous Christian tribes in Sabah and Sarawak, many of whom speak Bahasa Malaysia.

The high court decision had also sparked outrage among several Muslim groups, who had threatened to hold a major protest against the ruling.

In a related development, PAS will call a special meeting tonight at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the court ruling.

The party is expected to give its final say on the issue after the meeting.

According to PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali, the party's central committee members will also be invited.

MCA Lauds ' Allah ' Ruling by the High Court

MCA lauds ‘Allah’ ruling, says no confusion

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — The MCA has come out to support the controversial High Court ruling on the usage of the word ‘Allah’ despite the Barisan Nasional federal government appealing the decision that has caused an uproar among the majority Muslim population.

The party said it was taken aback by demonstrations against the ruling as it was “grave cause for alarm as to whether worshippers of other faiths may profess their religion freely in accordance with Article 11, peacefully and harmoniously (Article 3), and to educate their children in their own religion (Article 12(2)) of the Federal Constitution”.

“The police reports lodged also suggest questioning and asserting pressure on the independence of the judiciary should one disagree with any judgement made,” MCA spokesman Gan Ping Sieu said in a statement released here.

MCA is the first Barisan Nasional component party to laud the ruling, adding it also welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s call for all quarters to remain calm and not resort to demonstrations, petitions and memoranda on the matter.

Gan also hit out at those who said the Dec 31 ruling that allowed Catholic weekly Herald to use ‘Allah’ to describe the Christian God in its national language edition would confuse Muslims.

“Deploying “confusion” as grounds for insistence on the ban by detractors is a poor attempt to throw a red herring i.e. deliberate attempt to divert attention from the real issue of law and constitutional rights of Malaysians to freedom of religion and to profess their faith peacefully and harmoniously.

“Any individual imbued with an iron will on his faith yet is open-minded to respecting, reading and learning clinically the creeds and practices of other religions in the world will remain true to his original religious conviction without any consideration of renunciation,” he added.

The party spokesman also said no group should claim exclusive ownership of “Allah” as it is not a patented copyright by any ethnic group.

“‘Allah’ is used by different believers throughout the world. For time immemorial, Sikhs refer to their God as “Allah.” Renowned 19th century Malay Muslim scholar and linguist, Munshi Abdullah who translated “God” as “Allah” into the Malay language remained a pious Muslim and was never confused,” he noted.

Gan said an individual’s definition of ‘God’ should not be used as justification to declare others’ usage of ‘Allah’ as inappropriate and thus deprive and deny the rights of followers of a separate religion to continue using ‘Allah’ to practise his/her faith be it in publications, scriptures, in church/gurdwara services and oral references during personal prayers.

“To do so contravenes the Federal Constitution and serves to create confusion, and this is where the confusion really lays — the confusion as to the application of law and rights as enshrined therein, and not a confusion of faiths.

“If “Allah” is to remain exclusive to one section of society, are other segments of society to be deprived of the right to pledge allegiance to the royalty and sing state anthems which contain the word “Allah”?” he asked.

Gan also pointed out that it was an historical fact that ‘Allah’ predates Islam and is commonly used by Arabic speakers of the Abrahamic faiths including Muslims, Christians and Jews, pointedly refuting and viewing “flawed any interpretation that Arab Christians refer to God as ‘Tuhan’ and not 1Allah1 as claimed by a prominent Malaysian who has retired from public office”.

“Since all Arab, Middle Eastern and Indonesian Christians are able to refer to God as ‘Allah’ freely, harmoniously without threat of punitive action, should not we in Malaysia follow suit in accordance with Article 3 of the Federal Constitution which allows “other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in the Federation?”

Such exemplary practices would live up to the 1Malaysia concept of mutual respect and understanding besides forging closer ties amongst all Malaysians.

“Does it make sense to take punitive action against the hundreds and thousands of Bahasa Malaysia speaking Christians and Sikhs and who for centuries have referred to God as “Allah” in their personal prayers?” he also asked.

On the court judgment, he said it was a matter of law in upholding the rights of Malaysians under the Federal Constitution and should be seen as just that.

“Conditions for the renewal of The Herald’s permit clearly state that the word “Terhad” must be affixed at the top of the masthead and the publication must only be sold within church grounds. These conditions are already being met.

“The court’s decision should not be stirred into a religious debate nor politicised as a racial/religious issue. MCA lauds the High Court for its bold and rational judgement. Our party calls upon all groups to respect the way of life of Bumiputera Christians and Sikh Malaysians, and not remove their constitutional rights,” Gan said.

Well said MCA , the points are very well written , You have our fullest support on this issue .

Can also read it here at SinChew

I hope this would put to rest those who have been asking me " what is MCA stand on this " I would now like to ask these people " what is DAP and PKR stand on this " since LKS and LGE has been very silent on this .