Disclaimer:
This is a sole and private opinion of the owner of this blog. This posting is not influenced nor affiliated with any other movements whatsoever. No malicious and slandering intended. World Peace?
A local daily yesterday, The Sun, reported that a Melanau woman has submitted an application on Jan 12th this year to challenge the Home Ministry for confiscating eight CDs of Christian religious teaching containing the word “Allah” while she was disembarking at the LCCT in Sepang last year. The woman, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, 27, brought the CDs with titles such as “Cara Menggunakan Kunci Kerajaan Allah, Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah and Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah “ from Indonesia. Now, following the "hijacking" of her CDs, she then received a letter on July last year from the ministry claiming that the reasons for the confiscation were:
1. It was a threat to security
2. It was using the prohibited words. Therefore, it was a breach of Jakim guidelines
A threat to security? How in the world is that possible? What security? Is the word “Allah” reserved exclusively only to Muslims? As far as I'm concerned, Allah is an Arabic word for God.
According to Wikipedia: Allah is the standard arabic word for GOD. While the term is best known in the west for its use by muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all abrahamic faiths, including christians and jews, in reference to "God". The term was also used by pagan meccans as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity in pre-islamic arabia.
The concepts associated with the term Allah (as a deity) differ among the traditions. In pre-Islamic Arabia amongst pagan Arabs, Allah was not considered the sole divinity, having associates and companions, sons and daughters - a concept which Islam thoroughly and resolutely abrogated. In Islam, the name Allah is the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name. All other divine names are believed to refer back to Allah. Allah is unique, the only Deity, creator of the universe and omnipotent. Arab Christians today use terms such as Allah al-ab ( "God the Father") to distinguish their usage from Muslim usage. There are both similarities and differences between the concept of God as portrayed in the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible.
In pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was used by Meccans as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity.
Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God". The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah'. (Even the Arabic-descended maltese language of malta, whose population is almost entirely roman catholic, uses Alla for 'God'.) Arab Christians for example use terms Allāh al-ʼab meaning god of father, Allāh al-ibn mean God the son, and Allāh al-rūḥ al-quds meaning God the holly spirit.
arab christians have used two forms of invocations that were affixed to the beginning of their written works. They adopted the Muslim basm-Allah, and also created their own Trinitized basm-Allah as early as the eight century CE. The Muslim basm-Allah reads: "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." The Trinitized basm-Allah reads: "In the name of Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God." The syriac, latin and greek invocations do not have the words "One God" at the end. This addition was made to emphasize the monotheistic aspect of Trinitian belief and also to make it more palatable to Muslims.
another article findings: GODALLAH.COM
The word "Allah" is the perfect description of the "One God" of monotheism for Jews, Christians and Muslims!
Is "Allah" only for Islam and Muslims?
[No! It is for All Three Abrahamic Faiths.]
"Allah" is the same word used by Christian Arabs and Jewish Arabs in their Bible, centuries before Islam came.
On page one [1] of Genesis in the Old Testament, we find the word "Allah" seventeen [17] times
"For God so loved the world..."
- and the word the translators used in Arabic for "God" is the very same word used by Muslims around the planet, "Allah."
Where Does the word "Allah" Come From?
"Allah" comes from the Arabic word "elah"a god' or something worshiped. - (Arabic) means '
so, Jakim is declaring that the use of the word Allah by non-muslim is prohibited and it's a breach of Jakim guidelines? funny, why the Muslim/Christian Arab communities use the same word in their faith exercise then? guess, only in malaysia eh? wow...
This Ms. Ireland hit it right when she demanded the return of her CDs and a declaration that she has the legitimate expectation to exercise her right to possess, use and import publications containing the word "Allah"
i am still puzzled with that "a threat to security" part! bravo...cheer to malaysian made 'exclusive rights' by..... i leave it at that!
it appears that Malaysia is more Arabic than the Arab nations themselves. another cheer to to that.
i better stop here before i get hauled up to jail for malicious intent and slandering charge!
the ahem... "threat to security" part is their interpretation that ms. Jill will influence and twist the minds of society through the use of the mediums they confiscated from her.
ReplyDeletethe same thing happened last year (if im not wrong) following a bible publication for a christian church containing the word "allah"...
So in short... "God" is universal that even Islams can publish in their religious publications, while "Allah" is only for Islam publications to use and is off-limits to other religious parties. But to a person who knows the difference between these two words, it's basically the same! The only difference is that of language.
hmmmm....
ReplyDeleteindonesia doesn't have a problem with the use of Allah word by non-muslims. only in malaysia we can find absurd laws!
well, comparing to our culture with them(indonesia), sure its going to create hell a lot of problem here.
ReplyDeletei can't comment much about this "absurd laws", we did such ridiculous laws going but, we did have something that most country did not
a freedom and peace. just take a look our neighbor, thailand, indonesia with the exception of singpore, which is lead by chinese.
"allah" mean god from arabic, that's true. in quran, the real quran in arabic, you won't find word "god". for me, god is a universal. allah, quran itself, 100% in arabic. if you read the translation, sure you'll word god, but don't forget, if translate to malay, "tuhan" will be used.
iamgine this conversation between friends going :
muslim to christian - thanks to allah for helping you.
isn't it sounds so ridiculous? how about changing that word "allah" to "god", nobody gonna have any hurt feeling.
and let's flipping back.
christian to muslim - dear jesus, save my friend.
see the odd? ;)
why you wants to differentiate the word Allah and god and ??? there is no books or wiki can explain the word Allah...
ReplyDeletefurthermore..there is no blog that differentiate god and Allah..so why must u want to find the differents????.....
why you want to find the similarity? ;) different religion, different believing.
ReplyDeletewiki and blog are based of people. anybody can edit it. its the present.
the whole point here is, must they confiscate that woman's possesions? and yes, it's still absurd. indonesia is the largest muslim populated country in asia but the usage of 'allah' word by non-muslims is fine. whichever way you point it, it's still ABSURD!
ReplyDeletevon dupltori,
about that "conversation" do you think malaysians are that insensitive? do you honestly believe that that 'conversation' will take into effect?? do you honestly think that muslims parents will teach their children the word "Jesus"? i sincerely doubt that. even we, malaysian christians, we never utter the word 'prophet mohammad' in our religious teaching. we only use that arabic word allah and sometimes prounance it as 'TUHAN ALLAH'
at the end of the day, it all goes back to how well the parents play their roles in their children's lives concerning religion issues.
in malaysia, a matter will become a big issue just because of some over-zealous so-called whatsoever leaders. and, that's the real fact!
hye sumandak :)
ReplyDeletefor sure i didn't believe most parents in malaysia won't teach their children about that word "jesus" unless, for education purpose ;) but let's say if word "allah" will be widely use in here, for sure, we gonna have a very "mixed up" religion because something big always starts small ;)
i don't really get what are you tried to say in your comment, except main point = confiscate that woman's stuff. i got nothing to against, except like this - if you're going to visitting somebody's place, learn to respect the owner ;) after all, we got our own culture and that's what make us different.
sure parents play the big role, but that kids going to be a parents someday later ;) or perhaps, a leader. there's an integrity that must be protect, and it should be protected because it keeps our country, in peace and one piece ;)
cheers. merry christmas.
VD,
ReplyDeleteunfortunately, that woman wasn't merely visiting somebody's place. she's a malaysian, a sarawakian to be precised.
maybe there should be guidelines on what we non-muslims can/can't do in our own country and every christians homes should keep at least a copy of that guidelines perhaps? ok, that's a 'tongue-in-cheek comment *loooong sigh*
agreed with you on keeping our country in peace and one piece.
*mentally trying to recall what was written in the national constitutions. maybe it should be amended??*
Definition from Encyclopaedia Britannica (www.britannica.com/) ---- (Arabic: “God”), the one and only God in the religion of Islam. Etymologically, the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilah, “the God.” The name’s origin can be traced back to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for god was Il or El, the latter being an Old Testament synonym for Yahweh. Allah is the standard Arabic word for “God” and is used by Arab Christians as well as by Muslims. Allah is the pivot of the Muslim faith. The Muslim holy scripture, the Qur?an, constantly preaches Allah’s reality, his inaccessible mystery, his various names, and his actions on behalf of his creatures. Three themes preponderate: (1) Allah is creator, judge, and rewarder; (2) he is unique (wa?id) and inherently one (a?ad); and (3) he is omnipotent and all-merciful. God is the “Lord of the Worlds,” the most high, “nothing is like unto him,” and this in itself is to the believer a request to adore Allah as protector and to glorify his powers of compassion and forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteGod, says the Qur?an, “loves those who do good,” and two passages in the Qur?an express a mutual love between God and man, but the Judeo-Christian precept to “love God with all thy heart” is nowhere formulated in Islam. The emphasis is rather on God’s inscrutable sovereignty, to which one must abandon oneself. In essence, the “surrender to Allah” (islam) is the religion itself. Muslim piety has collected, in the Qur?an and in the ?adith (the sayings of the Prophet Mu?ammad), the 99 “most beautiful names” (al-asma? al-?usna) of God, and these names have become objects of devoted recitation and meditation. Among the names of Allah are the One and Only, the Living One, the Subsisting (al-?ayy al-Qayyum), the Real Truth (al-?aqq), the Sublime (al-?A?im), the Wise (al-?akim), the Omnipotent (al-?Aziz), the Hearer (as-Sami?), the Seer (al-Ba?ir), the Omniscient (al-?Alim), the Witness (Shahid), the Protector (al-Wakil), the Benefactor (ar-Ra?man), the Merciful (ar-Ra?im), and the Constant Forgiver (Ghafur, Ghaffar).
At all times there have been freethinkers in Islam, but rare indeed has been the Muslim thinker who has denied the very existence of God. Indeed, the profession of faith (shahadah) by which a person is introduced into the Muslim community consists of the affirmation that there is no god but Allah and that Mu?ammad is his prophet. For pious Muslims, every action is opened by an invocation of the divine name (basmalah). The formula insha?a Allah, “if God wills,” appears frequently in daily speech. This formula is the reminder of an ever-present divine intervention in the order of the world and the actions of human beings. Muslims believe that nothing happens and nothing is performed unless it is by the will or commandment of Allah.
The personal attitude of a Muslim believer, therefore, is a complete submission to God, “whom one does not question” but whom one knows according to his (Qur?anic) word to be a fair judge, at once formidable and benevolent, and the supreme help.
May God Bless You.