Asia Sentinel

An UMNO Selfish Plan
written by Steven Ong , May 31, 2009

Why I still see the same arguement, when it is so clear by now, that this is an UMNO selfish plan to hold on to power , as a champion of Islam and has nothing to do with the truth. As mentioned by a minister of the ruling government, by allowing its used may confused the Muslim of Malaysia . No matter how much facts you put forward, they will not change their mind because they have already make up their mind. They are not stupid or ignorant as some would like to say - they know the facts.

Let them win this time. If they are unjust, God's will punish them, revenge belongs to God alone. Not us. We are as guilty as them ( UMNO) if we behave the same way like them. In our hearts, lets pray to God the Almighty. Stop wasting time with them - let them worship their Allah alone.

It is criminal to take other faith god\'s name
written by it is so barbaric , May 04, 2008

The christians in Malaysia want to terrorise Islam. These criminals must be put to stop from using the word Allah. Why they want use the word is surprisingly well known by all Muslims around the world. They are the terrorists of the nation, the people of Malaysia, and the faith of all Muslims. They provoke the government and display stupidity to copycat the other religion to aim misguiding the people, and to terror the minds of Malaysians. Fight this terrorist b4 it is too late. People who support the terrorists also must be put in prison for life for their stupidity and lazy to seek the truth. They are the most barbaric people on earth who like to propagate and claim falsehood that fit to their corrupted minds and happily deviate the righteousness. The dont like to see Malaysia to stay harmonious and try very hard to smash down the racial harmony developed by the other good malaysians.

malaysiatoday.com
written by in the midst , April 15, 2008

the muslims in Johore will sing the anthem with lyrics "Allah pelihrakan Sultan.."

butt the malaysiatoday.com will be satisfied if he can sing the anthem with lyric written as, "tokong/jesus/?????/?????/bla bla bla/ pelihrakan Sultan.."

people was so corrupted that wish to manipulate t he issue like the tiny minds of senior citizen of Malaysia and the only 'people' in malaysia who can read the Koran and speak arabic in this country...

Hypocrisy at its best
written by senior citizen of Malaysia , February 20, 2008

How many of you have seen the film "Mohammad" made about 25 years ago in Italy and confirmed as factual by Muslim authorities in the Middle East? The film depicts how Allah become the God that Muslims worship. Allah was the only idol left when Mohamed broke all the other idols. This was destined to be the Allah, now hidden behind thick black curtains. Why must you hide it? So that no one can see it is an idol? Selected Muslim have seen it but have kept mum over it.Why? Because ordinary muslims might be disappointed to know they are worshipping an idol. Show the world what is inside the Kaaba. Why are Muslims being denied the privilege of seeing the contents of the Kaaba? To make matters worse, Muslims in Malaysia cannot read the Koran because they do not read Arabic. What they know is what is told to them. And what is told to them is Political Islam, the type to suit the ruling UMNO. All the Muslims in Malaysia can do regarding their religion is to repeat parrot-like what is taught to them. There is no way they can think for themselves, which is waht the authorities want. The Islam they know is Political Islam.

UMNO is full of racist crap
written by AAS , January 03, 2008

Not surprising to see this sort of racist crap coming out of the UMNO bigots. May they perish in hell , cock sucking bumiputeras

Banning non-muslims to sing Johor state anthem
written by Malaysiatoday.com , December 31, 2007

Kamal,

I am a Johorean and was taught to sing Johor state anthem with this lyric, "Allah pelihrakan Sultan.." since I was in standard one.

Why Johor government allows a non-muslim like me to use Allah IF Allah is strictly reserved for muslims?

I do not object Allah can only be used by Malaysian muslims (because I am not bother how you call your God), but just make sure UMNO-led government never forcing me to sing Johor anthem again. I am afraid some muslims blame me for disrespecting your God "Allah".

Human is the source of all problems
written by Malaysiatoday.com , December 31, 2007

I agree with Kamal, 100% : Fox Clane
Yes, Judaism and Christianity has been so altered across the years that what they refer to as Allah is no longer what Muslims believe is Allah. So like you, I'm greatly suspicious of the Christian missionaries' insistence on using the word. The writer malaysiatoday should not talk so proudly when he obviously knows so little about the different religions. His interests are political - and that's not what the issue here is about.



I wonder Fox Clane knows anything about Buddhism, Toasim, Shinto, Hinduism, etc. besides his own religion.

Some of my lecturers for Islamic study are bomb makers who had killed several hundred innocent people in Bali and Jakarta.

I do not blame Islam is root cause for such suicide bombings, but their fanatic followers who interpreted Koran and Hadith to suit their own political agenda. One of them is my God is real one while other Gods are corrupted Gods or "patung".

I agree with Kamal, 100%
written by Fox Clane , December 31, 2007

Yes, Judaism and Christianity has been so altered across the years that what they refer to as Allah is no longer what Muslims believe is Allah. So like you, I'm greatly suspicious of the Christian missionaries' insistence on using the word. The writer malaysiatoday should not talk so proudly when he obviously knows so little about the different religions. His interests are political - and that's not what the issue here is about.

Ignorance is bliss – Not knowing Arabic and hence the Koran i.e Malaysian Muslim!. Pt.2 : EYFF
written by EYFF , December 31, 2007

There is evidence that black stones were commonly worshipped in the Arab world. In 190 A.D. Clement of Alexandria mentioned that "the Arabs worship stone". He was alluding to the black stone of Dusares at Petra. In the 2nd century, Maximus Tyrius wrote; "The Arabians pay homage to I know not what god, which they represent by a quadrangular stone". Maximus was speaking of the Kaaba (Ka'ba) that contains the Black Stone.

The Qurash (aka: Quraish) tribe which Muhammad belonged to was in charge of idol worship at the Ka'ba Shrine. The chief god of Muhammad's tribe was one of the three sister goddesses called al-Uzza, the youngest of the three daughters of the pre-Islamic Allah and the patron goddess of Mecca. Her name means "the mighty one". The other two were named "al-Lat and "al-Manat". It was only by chance that a fortune teller counseled Muhammad's grandfather against sacrificing Muhammad's father to this al-Uzza pagan diety. The head of these pagan, animalistic deities was "Al-llah". It is believed that "al-llah" in Muhammad's time before Islam referred to a vague moon god and that Muhammad believed that al-Uzza was a daughter of this "al-llah".

The Qurash tribe's Allah corresponded to the god Bel, which is another name of the Assyrio-Babylonian gods En-lil and Marduk. It has the same meaning as Baal. The Arabic today translates the word Allah as "God". Muhammad's father's name was Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abd al-Mullalib. "Abd-Allah" means slave of Allah. When Muhammad says there is only one god - Allah - now you have an idea what his background / thinking was; and who this Allah actually is.

Ignorance is bliss – Not knowing Arabic and hence the Koran i.e Malaysian Muslim!. Pt.1
written by EYFF , December 31, 2007

Surah 29:46 Muslims are told by Allah, not to question the authority of the scriptures of the Christians, saying, "And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one;

Although the Koran stated that Allah is the one God worshiped by Jews and Christians beside Muslims HOWEVER Muslims DO NOT pray to the same God (Yahweh) as Christians and Jews! Yahweh is transliterated from the Hebrew YHVH.

Before Muhammad the Arabs had 365 gods - one for each day of the year. Muhammad picked Allah (Al-Iahi), who was the Arab moon god, their war god, and their sword god.

WHO IS ALLAH?

Allah has pagan beginnings

The Black Meteor inside the Kaba
aka: Ka'bah aka: kabah

The stone has been attacked many times and is now composed of several pieces and fragments, bound together by a silver ligature.

Pre-Islamic history tells us that many Arabian tribes were stone worshippers. This is also mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol 5, #661. The Old Testament also talks about Mideast pagan groups that worshipped stones.

When Muhammad was born in Mecca, each Arab tribe in Mecca had their own deity. There was a large black meteor found in the desert which many Arabs believed was sent to them by astral deities. This rock was placed in the southeast corner of the cube-shaped structure in Mecca. The arabs knew this rock as the Ka'ba, which means stone. The black rock's diameter is about 12 inches. It is reddish black in color, and has red and yellow particles. During this time before Islam this stone was part of the shrine to worship of a chief male god (among over 350 other gods) who was known as Hubal. The black meteor stone was said to symbolize a nature god known as al-Hajar al-Aswad. Hubal was an oracular deity whose statue -- in human form and made of red carneol -- stood in the Ka'ba until Muhammad destroyed it. The Kaba is about 50 feet high, and the walls are about 40 feet long. The facade contains the door, which starts at 7 feet off the ground, and faces N.E.. To enter the Kaba, a ladder must be used. Also built in the eastern corner, is another stone called "lucky". This stone is only touched, not kissed. Pagans called out the names of their pagan gods as they circled the Kaba the same as Muslims do today, calling out Allah's name. Early Meccan Pagans also ran between the nearby hills. Muhammad authorized Muslims to do that in the Quran, and Muhammad probably ran between the hills himself. So, even before Muhammad pagans were worshipping this black stone in the Kaba. Are we surprised that although Muhammad proclaimed only one God, he continued to participate in idol worship at this pagan shrine (Kaba); and Muslims still do idol worship there today? The black stone of Ka'aba is nothing but a holdover within Islam, from pre-Islamic paganism.

TEST
written by Kamal , December 31, 2007

Test: ********n **t Nest

Allah is for all muslim irrespective of ethnic
written by Kamal , December 31, 2007

Let be objective with the discussion and **t digress from the issue in question. I had never live in the Kampung (village), but I do hope to have the privilege of contributing as a village champio***ne day, small in the eye of some, but big in the eye of the needy.

**thing in my comment suggest that the Malay ********n, including me, are making claim that Allah is for Malays only. I STRESS, ALLAH IS FOR ALL MUSLIM irrespective of ethnicity. Allah is god's specific name as described in the Quran, which also clearly state that Islam is a global religion, meant for any believer of the Muhammads teaching irrespective of ethnic. Hence, we are **t here to discuss whether the Arab has more right to the name Allah, but the fact that some group of **n muslim (mainly christian missionaries) is trying to define the name Allah as a general termi**logy equating to god.

Allah is the god of Moses and Jesus. However, Judaism and Christianity that exist todays had been completely altered from the original teaching of Allah, so much so that whatever exist in the Bible and Torah today had nothing to do with Allah. Hence, I see no valid reason for the Christian Missionaries to insist on using the word Allah in their Bible.

...
written by Liang1a , December 31, 2007

There is no supernatural things. All religions are fallacies. Therefore, it is possible to have world peace if and only if all religions are eradicated.

Malaysia is not the whole world
written by malaysiatoday.com , December 30, 2007

Kamal,

You are behaving like a "jaguh kampung". Malays in Malaysia cannot and powerless to dictate other people including Malays in Indonesia and Philippine to use Allah in their bible.

I think Arab people are more qualified to claim Allah as their IP than Malay Malaysians.

I also wonder Malaysia constitution prohibiting anyone to use "Allah" in the bible.

Malaysia constitution says Islam is an official religion and Malay must be Muslim, but non-Malays have freedom to embrace any religions.

Go read the federation agreement with Sabah and Sarawak, Federal government cannot intervene in religiois matter in both states. Banning usage of Allah itself is an unconstitutional move against Christians and Catholics in East Malaysia.

May be there is little good reason to ban Buddhists and Hindus to use "Allah" because they are not praying same Abraham God as Muslim, Christians, Catholics and Jews.

\"Allah\" wording is just another politicized issue to bait Malay support
written by malaysiatoday.com admin , December 30, 2007

UMNO scare tactics are repetitive simple, internally they are creating religious threat against Islam (like the Allah wording incident) to warn Malay folks that Islam is in danger or insulted by non-Muslims.

Many of us should still remembered Tengku Razaki’s cross in his headgear gifted by Pairin was manipulated by UMNO to incite hatred and fear against Christians.

Externally they will threaten Chinese with another 513 bloodshed.

This is a fail-proof formula to win elections in Malaysia used by UMNO for last 50 years.

Bravo Muslim Malay
written by Cinta , December 29, 2007

Muslim Malay, what a good comment!! You know what, those who make noise about this issue only have politics in their minds and not really about the religion itself. After reading your comment, I was thinking myself, yeah why the hypocrisy.

Obvious attempt to denigrate Islam
written by Kamal , December 29, 2007

For the **n muslim, please stick to the word god or whatever existing word that mean god, but **t Allah, which is strictly for the muslim. Irrespective of whatever history that you are trying to bring up to support your ideas.

There appears to be a very aggressive and combative battle, particularly among the Christian missionaries, to define "Allah" as a general termi**logy meaning god. The only valid reason that I could think off is because they wanted to continue using the word "Allah" in their religious writing, purely to confuse the younger muslim who might possibly come across their writing.

It is the constitutional right of the muslim to express unhappiness with the obvious attempt to meddle in our religious affair. This certainly doesn't equate to dark ages. They exist people who has been loudly shouting for openness, but make a complete reverse when it comes to the freedom of the muslim to uphold their religion. What a hipocrite.

Is God really exist?
written by Hari , December 29, 2007

I think it is no point for us to argue whether who has the rights to use the term 'ALLAH'. If Allah or God or Tuhan or whatever is so 'powerful' as believed or claimed by the followers, then HE sure won't allowed this issue to crop up.

If you believe there exist a God or Allah or whatever, believe in 'good faith'. No point arguing who has the rights to use an Arabic word.

Malaysis is not just Tanah Melayu aka Malaya Peninsula
written by MalaysiaToday.com Admin , December 29, 2007

why the fuss : ahmad
let's all take this in the malaysian context. who cares about indonesia, or other arab countries for that matter. Allah has always accepted as the muslim god. so why the fuss about it now. "Ada udang disebalik batu?". Others just use "tuhan" or maybe the iban translation for god.

December 29, 2007

====================================================

Malaysia is just Malay-dominated West Malaysia. Many Malay Malaysians ignore Sabah and Sarawak as a part of Malaysia.

Did UMNO bigots ever consider the feeling of Christians in East Malaysia?

The answer is NO.

Some Malay Muslims assume Allah is their own property is another classical example of total ignorance and arrogance about historical events occured outside the Tanah Melayu.

Probably UMNO bigots get used to bully Chinese and Indian in Malaya Peninsula for too long, now they wanted to exert "ketuanan melayu" on Iban and Kadazan in East Malaysia.

Resend: Another UMNO trained bigot
written by MalaysiaToday.com Admin , December 29, 2007

Another UMNO trained bigot : MalaysiaToday.com admin
malaysiatoday argues like a child : fox clane
To the admin of malaysiatoday, your comments are so childish! Tit for tat, is it? For one, there already IS a term for God in the Malay language ... and that is Tuhan, so why don't Christians living in Malaysia just use that? You are talking as if Christians owned the English language!

To all ye Christians who are fighting tooth and nail to use the name Allah to mean God, I would like to know why you are so bent on doing that. Because I smell a rat. Might you, oh big hearted men of God, be trying to spread the word of your Lord Jesus to unsuspecting muslims by confusing them with semantic crap? Because i think the writers of The Herald is really THAT noble ...

December 28, 2007

===============================================

This writer is not just a bigot, he/she is trying to impose "ketuanan melayu" by exercising Malay political power on the faith of bumiputeras in East Malaysia.

Christians in East Malaysia use "Allah" for God long before Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaysia.

Another UMNO trained bigot
written by MalaysiaToday.com admin , December 29, 2007

malaysiatoday argues like a child : fox clane
To the admin of malaysiatoday, your comments are so childish! Tit for tat, is it? For one, there already IS a term for God in the Malay language ... and that is Tuhan, so why don't Christians living in Malaysia just use that? You are talking as if Christians owned the English language!

To all ye Christians who are fighting tooth and nail to use the name Allah to mean God, I would like to know why you are so bent on doing that. Because I smell a rat. Might you, oh big hearted men of God, be trying to spread the word of your Lord Jesus to unsuspecting muslims by confusing them with semantic crap? Because i think the writers of The Herald is really THAT noble ...

December 28, 2007

===============================================

This writer is not just a bigot, he/she is trying to impose "ketuanan melayu" by exercising Malay political power on the faith on bumiputeras in East Malaysia.

Christians in East Malay use "Allah" for God long before Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaysia.

Some Malays are ignorant on their own language and religion in East Malaysia
written by MalaysiaToday.com Admin , December 29, 2007

Quote from Malaysiakini.com

Otto Steinmayer, PhD: Actually, the original ‘Malay’ word for God is ‘Hyang’ or ‘Sang Hyang’. The word for ‘pray’ - sembayang - comes from the combination ‘sembah Hyang’. I have put ‘Malay’ in quotation marks because the word ‘Hyang’ can be traced back to at least 1,500 years ago before the Malay language, as it is now, existed.

Lina J: Here we go again debating the use of the word ‘Allah’.

Growing up in a Christian longhouse in the 60s and 70s, the name ‘God the Father’ that I came to know was ‘Allah Bapa’ or simply ‘Tuhan Allah’ or ‘Allah’. I had no idea that Muslims also called their God ‘Allah’.

It is preposterous for people to suggest that Christians' use of the word ‘Allah’ is a new phenomenon meant to confuse Muslims. We use the word ‘Allah’ because we use Bahasa Indonesia in our church services and the Indonesian bible which refers to God the as Allah, having been translated from the Arabic bible. As some of our esteemed readers have enlightened us, Allah is simply the Arabic term for God. As the Indonesian bible was translated into many Borneo and Orang Asli languages, ‘Allah’ is the term used to refer to God in our churches.

Many of our older folks only know of God as Allah because they are uneducated in other languages. For the government to tell us that we can no longer use the term is indeed to confuse them. Look who is confusing who.

As for us, younger and educated Christians, we could not care less. God is God no matter what language you use and no matter what name he is called. We find it very insulting for others to tell us what we can call our God. It is oppressive and it violates our human rights. At the end of the day, God is bigger than all creation. His name does not need to be "protected" by a bunch of narrow-minded bigots.

Hypocrites of Self-Righteousness
written by Les , December 29, 2007

It takes Total Faith or Complete Confidence in your own religion to overcome any adversities

Allah/God is Almighty & Merciful, as claimed by all major religions!

But all the mortals have no faith in the Almighty to dispense His Justice & Mercy as He sees fit!

Why? What gives you the right to give judgment(s)?

THE HYPOCRISY as practised by all Religious Mortals!

...
written by Goddog , December 29, 2007

f**k Allah. f**k God

why the fuss
written by ahmad , December 29, 2007

let's all take this in the malaysian context. who cares about indonesia, or other arab countries for that matter. Allah has always accepted as the muslim god. so why the fuss about it now. "Ada udang disebalik batu?". Others just use "tuhan" or maybe the iban translation for god.

Let the Koran Decide!
written by EYFF , December 28, 2007

Surah 5:68 - Say: "O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law (Torah), the Gospel (Injeel), and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord."


Surah 29:46 Muslims are told by Allah, not to question the authority of the scriptures of the Christians, saying, "And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one;

Much ado over nothing
written by The east is great , December 28, 2007

The world is in great stress and you guys are arguing over a name. What a waste of time.

malaysiatoday argues like a child
written by fox clane , December 28, 2007

To the admin of malaysiatoday, your comments are so childish! Tit for tat, is it? For one, there already IS a term for God in the Malay language ... and that is Tuhan, so why don't Christians living in Malaysia just use that? You are talking as if Christians owned the English language!

To all ye Christians who are fighting tooth and nail to use the name Allah to mean God, I would like to know why you are so bent on doing that. Because I smell a rat. Might you, oh big hearted men of God, be trying to spread the word of your Lord Jesus to unsuspecting muslims by confusing them with semantic crap? Because i think the writers of The Herald is really THAT noble ...

Finally, a Muslim who understands what the whole issue is about.
written by Anis Ong , December 28, 2007

Thank you, Another Malay Muslim.

Muslims don\'t worship to The Holy Trinity, so no, we don\'t worship the same God. Tapi kita sembah Tuhan yang satu... Confused?
written by Another Malay Muslim , December 28, 2007

Allah dah mati, Jesus is dead, Jehovah is dead, Tuhan dah mati, Krishna dah mati... this means differently to different people. But all meaning God (to different understanding of the people) I remember one Christian said to me Allah is dead only because he believes Muslim is not practising Islam anymore, does he mean he's saying his
(trinity) God is also dead?
It's like a christians calling jesus christ, Nabi Isa (isa the prophet, isa being the arabic Jesu, Yahweh) but then Jesus is God isn't he? Should he be Isa-Al Masih (Jesus the Saviour) Or terms doesnt apply when you think you don't want it...
I understand that Allah is from arabic LANGUAGE and the language predates the actual Muhammad revelation itself, but Allah started being used by Malays when it was introduced by Arab Muslim missionaries and Malays UNDERSTANDS it to be One true monotheist God ( As opposed to One true monotheist God - the holy trinity). So the UNDERSTANDING is different. It took a whole new meaning.

It's not like Malays are angry at Arab Christians who use Allah in their language in their country. If the word in Allah in Malay represents a God that 'does not beget or is begotten' wouldn't it be blasphemous if Christian used the same term? As a true malaysian, why not use Tuhan which literaly means God in English or Allah in Arabic.
No? In Garatanbuta Island, the people there worship the Teletubbies which is represented by 4 strange coloured looking creatures and adopt the word Teletubbies as a substitute to God, would The christians use the same word even though they know it's a different meaning? No?

I say it again - the Christian God and the word Allah AREN\'T interchangeable
written by Anis Ong , December 28, 2007

To all Muslims who disagree with me and say that the Christian God and the Islamic God is one and the same, let me ask you a question - does this mean you believe in the Holy Trinity? Because that's what God means to the Christians. So I dare you to say it again that you believe Muslims and Christians believe in the one same thing!

from a Muslim Malay
written by Muslim Malay , December 28, 2007

Remember in the 90s there was a time in Malaysia when the Islamic party, Pas suggested that the first constitution, Believe in God (in Malay, “Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan” be changed to “Believe in Allah” (“Kepercayan kepada Allah”?

That caused a stir. There was talk of Muslims 'losing their marbles' and that it violated the rights of every non-Muslim in the country. Christians, Buddhist, Hindus and even atheists, condemned this act to be trying to force Islamisation on non-Muslims.

There was no talk about Allah being the omnipresent being and quite surprisingly, a lot of Muslims knew that Allah is a pre-islamic term. The funny thing is, it was the ruling Malay party who declined Pas’ suggestion and said because we're in a multiracial country, trying to even suggest this thing means trying to disharmonise ethnic & religious relationships. So when Pas’ idea was shot down, the condemning parties thanked the Malay ruling party and all was well.

Now these condemning parties have taken a step backwards. Now, I see the tables are really, I mean really, turned. I wonder why?

A rose by any name??
written by EYFF , December 28, 2007

Well Anis Ong_ A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

Who is Allah really? The Qur'an (Koran) says that Allah desires to lead people astray (Qur'an Sura 6:39, 126). He does not help those who are led astray by him (Sura 30:29), and Allah desires to use them to populate hell (Sura 32:13).

If you do not practise Islam in the Arabic language you are not a true Muslim - so said the Prophet!

So how many Malays (so called Muslims) in Malaysia know the Arabic language except reciting the Koran blindly!!

However the issue is not about God but UMNO who is playing a gangster game with the Malaysian people and the other races. They are pretending to be more islamic than the opposition party, PAS, to get votes in the next GE.

If 20% of the Indians (Muslim)is defined as Malays then what is the point of reasoning with those UMNO idiots who would us the name of God for their shoddy ends?

...
written by Another Arab , December 27, 2007

Dear Members of this Forum

Allah is a word that Bahasa Melayu has adopted from Arabic. Despite the fact that Malaysia is a Muslim country, Malaysia refused to embrace Arabic as one of its official languages.

Therefore, no Malaysian authority has the right to determine/restrict the usage of any word that is purely Arabic in origin. That right belongs to the Arab League and its 22 member countries.

I would suggest that a request be made to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to state that ALLAH is Arabic in origin. Give them two weeks to respond failing which we can get the Arab League to issue a statement that ALLAH is an Arabic word. That statement from the Arab League will end all these stupidity gushing from idiots at UMNO.

All Malays please remember this - embracing Islam and being a Muslim does not make you a native speaker of the Arabic Language. Likewise, not all native speakers of the Arabic language are Muslims - there are Christians, Druzes and Jews amongst us.

The word ALLAH had been in existence before Islam. So, do not forget that ALLAH in English is simply God. If you insist that ALLAH is a Muslim God, you should also explain that TUHAN is a pagan deity for the Malays.

Dear Malays, please stop making fools of yourselves!

by Another Arab

hmmmmmmm
written by montan , December 27, 2007

Language is universal. Its origin is fantastic and unbelievable. I am a Muslim. I called my late father "abah", so do my kids now. You know what? "Abah" is originated from "primitive Jews Language" meaning Father or ayah or daddy etc and that’s make me proud. If somebody made mistake, we should forgive him or her, if he or she doing the same mistakes, repeatedly and those mistakes is dangerous especially to the people at large, then we pray many times as we could, then we say as much as we should and then we take an action peacefully and if required we do it again and again, we just do it nicely without affecting the harmony and peace. Tapi kalau degil juga, kita masukkanlah dia dalam penjara ISA, kalau semua dah melampau sangat, bising dan memekak je, kita masukan semuanya yang tak faham2 tu .... I think people and the world will understand that we need to do is what we need to do. And it is for the benefit of people and to the world. Don’t worry; our kids will understand that our steps should be the best way. Just be patient, because patient is what the principal of Abraham, Ishmael, Jacobs, Moses, Jesus, Mohamed. To be fair, patient is also is inside the heart of Gandhi, Confucius, and Abraham Lincoln etc. May ALLAH or GOD or Tuhan or KAU YANG SATU bless on their soul, amin or “amen” or perkenankan lah. Again, I believe the language is universal for everybody to enjoy it and it is just a media language to communicate, nothing more and nothing less. Selamat, SALAM and Regards.

The use of Allah by Muslims
written by Ace Lim , December 27, 2007

1) To the Malaysian Muslims have the sole rights to use the word Allah?

Now I mention Malaysian muslims, because there is no such problems in other muslim countries.
The origin and meaning of the word Allah was from the Aramaic language long before the religion of Islam. This means that the Aramaic language holds the rights not the religion of Islam.
In copyright law it clearly states that the creator of the works holds the rights to it and no one else shall claim the rights to it. Clearly the Aramaic language holds the rights to the word Allah not the Islamic religion.

2) The use of the word Allah by the Christians would confuse the Malaysian muslims.

This means that the Malaysian muslims are so uneducated that they can not think for themselves and unable to make any decicion for themselves thereby needing the government to think on their behalf.

Now Muslims, Jews and Christians believe in the God of Abraham (Ibrahim). Dis-allowing the Christians to use the word Allah is acutally saying that the Christian do not believe in the God of Abraham.

3) Why are we arguing about this small matter, when the earth is dying because of Global warming, causing flood and drought. Should not we better spend our time effort and energy on something more fruitful.

Solving if only Malaysian muslims can use the word Allah, will not make the world a better place for our children.

Sorry- God and Allah are not interchangeable-Anis Ong
written by Allah Worshipper , December 27, 2007

Dear Malaysian Chinese Muslim,
Racial issue or not (I hope not), it is an issue of stupidity.
Try telling the rest of God's people, ex-Malaysia, that only muslims can use the word Allah to when referring to the God of Ibrahim.

Allah Monopoly
written by Ravi Shastry , December 26, 2007

Not satisfied with opressing the minorities, Bhumiputras (word of sanskrit/ indian origin!) are hell bent on claiming the word "Allah" exclusively as theirs. This bunch of pseudo-Arab ruling elite won't rest until Malaysia is torn apart and fed to swines.
Malaysian culture is a mixture of diffrent cultures and they have no right to lay claim to their own langauge (have you heard Bhasa (language is Sanskrit) in Indonesia), forget about this Arabic word. Yes, we needed a new set of Islamists join other dysfunctional islamist regimes.

Is God really exist?
written by Hari , December 26, 2007

My question is, 'Is God really exist?'. If there is God, so what, since the world still is a messy place, still have rich and poor, sickness, suffering and so on. This really make me think that God does not exist at all.

For me, if God / Allah is in existence and powerful, then the world will not be a messy one, no rich and poor, no sickness and no suffering.

At another point of view, if there is God / Allah, then this God / Allah is a 'POWERLESS' one.

Is God really exist?
written by Hari , December 26, 2007

My question is, 'Is God really exist?'. If there is God, so what, since the world still is a messy place, still have rich and poor, sickness, suffering and so on. This really make me think that God does not exist at all.

For me, if God / Allah is in existence and powerful, then the world will not be a messy one, no rich and poor, no sickness and no suffering.

At another point of view, if there is God / Allah, then this God / Allah is a 'POWERLESS' one.

God in Islam and Christian is same one
written by malaysiatoday.com Admin , December 26, 2007

I refer to Anis Ong's posting and would like to point out that no Muslims (may be except Anis) deny God in Islam and Christian is a SAME entity. I wonder Anis Ong may believe that there are two Gods in her/his belief.

The Quran is inheretied from a same God shared by Christian to Prophet Muhammed as per Islamic teaching.

Allah is a proper noun for God in Islam for Malaysian Malays ONLY, but not for Indonesian muslims and other parts of the world.

If Malaysian government wanted to use Allah exclusively for God in Islam, they have to enact new law to prohibit Chrisitans or other people to use the term for God in Bahasa Melayu.

Regards,
A Malaysian Chinese non-Muslim

...
written by hamzah , December 26, 2007

no one has the right to dictate others belief, as long as they can find peace in whatever religion they practise, more power to them.

so Johari, stop giving Islam a bad name in Malaysia and let others pray in peace :-)

Prof
written by Boulos Habash , December 26, 2007

I think humans can do better if they all shut up and don't try to speak for God. The angry ones are usually the most ignorant and their anger is a natural reaction betraying their insecurity. That is why I speak in a soft tone. If God is upset he would have zapped any who talks nonsense about him. Since God is more tolerant shouldn't we all be? There is only one God and many religions explaining him. That is the crux. God is one and religions are many. Fighting over who has the right to use God's name is like saying the Sun belongs to someone. Grow up guys! Try living for God instead of quarrelling over words. There is no compulsion in religion yet some muslims are among the most compulsive people in the world.They say one thing and do the opposite. Osama be laden and the Taliban are the worst but when decent ordinary folks think like them it is frightening. Banning the word 'Allah' for Christians is wrong. Anyway I am happy that the Christian God is more friendly than the Muslim God and once people get to know the differences between the Ismalic idea of God and the Christian teachings they will know who is the better God. Of course God is still God but the explanations make all the difference. I am an Arab Christian and we have always used the word 'Allah' but our 'Allah' is different from the Muslim 'Allah.' Frankly I won't want to trade my God for anyone else's. I have lived in many different countries and I find the Malaysian attitude very backward. My Muslim friends all laugh and say they try too hard. They should learn from us. I agree.

Oh well...
written by Huang , December 25, 2007

The Koran was originally written in Arabic so therefore, some of you have a point.
However, if the Arabs came before Islam, then the God in Arabic is Allah.
I think the Malaysian Chinese Muslim have lost his marbles to a certain extend although I agree that UMNO is not to be blamed in general.
I would say that the Deputy Minister is the one losing most of his 'marbles'!
I'm a free thinker and I do believe that in Malaysia, Islam is wrongly interpretered in many ways.
I hop that this will stop 1 day.
thank you.

Bro
written by Salak , December 25, 2007

If I'm not mistaken, the essence of the word "Allah" is to denote spirituality, no wood, no stone, no bones, or bones with flesh but a spiritual divine being - so the declaration "La illaha il Allah" (No god/gods but Allah {Spiritual Divine Being}).

If the Christians, Hindus, Muslims want to profess the spirituality, that's great. They can use the term and mankind will be blessed. The ruling Malaysian Party isn't happy only on one thing --- for 50 years they've been kidding on religious and general education so much so that Malay Muslims or the general Muslim population might be "confused"!

Nothing to do with the people of Malaysia or Malaysian Muslims who obviously or otherwise do not need the ruling party to patron1ze them!!!

Allah
written by Davor , December 25, 2007

The word "Allah" has been used in the Arab world well before the appearance of Islam. I didn't know the following : "As the Arab Christians today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah', they for example use terms Allāh al-ab (الله الآب meaning God the father, Allāh al-ibn (الله الابن mean God the son, and Allāh al-ruh al koudous (الله الروح القدس meaning God the Holy Spirit. " (source wikipedia.org).

Encik
written by Salak , December 25, 2007

{"...Ignorance is more on the writer : DrHussein

It’s from (the Arabic language). We cannot let other religions use it because it will confuse people..."}

DrHussein, why should it confuse people? Who Malay Muslims? If so, then the issue of education in or of the religion is lacking. The task in Malaysia is undertaken by the Government of the day and just about anybody "officially" related to the religion is paid by the government.

If what the Government Minister wants is to eliminate confusion amongst non-Muslims it's a non-issue; if it is not to confuse Malay Muslims, then you have not done very much in scholarship, that the situation of ignorance among Malays Muslims is that deplorable.

Why do I sense bad intentions in this article?
written by Aput , December 25, 2007

The article above seems to have been written with bad intentions. First and foremost, if this is a lingual manner, why would they use the word 'Allah', which is Arabic, instead of the word 'Tuhan', which is the rightful translation for the word 'God' in the Malay language?

I disagree with both points in this article, being

1. Johari Baharum's unintelligent babble about how only Muslims can use Allah.

It's an Arabic word, therefore rightfully whoever so speaks Arabic can use it to get his/her point across.

2. The blaming of the Malaysian Malays in this article

This has nothing to do with our education system nor the publics language proficiencies, it has more to do with why, if they are printing in Malay, are they not using the Malay lingual term for the word God, which is Tuhan?

Not Exclusive
written by Hantu Laut , December 24, 2007

Dr Hussein,
Islam has no exclusive rights to the word 'Allah'.To say Muslims would be confused is insulting to Muslims.How can the Minister think all Muslims are stupid and incapable of discernment.Johari politised the issue for political expediency.He is certainly not ignorant, he is a fanatic, a bigot and a lousy politician.Tell me, should Muslims be banned from using the word 'God' when refering to Allah?

Tuhan in Malay is definitely 'God', no two way about it.In the Islamic context, it can't be used to refer to Lord as in human.

In English,The word 'Lord' can mean God or a highly esteemed human, depending on the context it is used.

Dark Age Again
written by The Wise Guy , December 24, 2007

There are 6 billion people on this planet, and plenty of gods to go around. Who is right?? Chances are good that gods are human creation. Life is short. Go do something useful.

Ignorance is more on the writer
written by DrHussein , December 24, 2007

The writer here has taken this in some other light.
He has taken offense, but the matter here stands different.
Its not line what the writer thinks in simplistic terms of language translation.
The fact, in Bahasa Melayu, the translation of God it Tuhan and not Allah. But Malays use Allah adopted from Arabic only in Islamic terms.
What the minister says, use the BM term, i.e. Tuhan and not Allah, so as to confuse readers whether a Christian article might actually be Islamic (Quranic basis).
People must understand the issue, rather than looking at it only in a offensive way and dubbing others as extremist, radicals and fanatics.
No they are NOT!! Its just that you have a narrow view and cannot see the real reason which is pretty understandable.

Director
written by Terry Cheng , December 24, 2007

As a Chinese with Malaysia nationality and a Free Thinker, I would like to add my two cents to this argument. All religions worship an Almighty, through a “proxy”. In the case of Christianity, it’s Jesus Christ and in the case of Islam, it’s Muhammad. As there’s only one Almighty, then whatever name one calls Him, it’s still Him.

Hence, in whichever language, whether it’s God (English), Allah (Arabic) or Zhen (Chinese), it’s still the same perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions.

...
written by purefaith , December 24, 2007

The said word existed long before Islam came to life...
Surprised ?

You mean there is more than one?
written by Teak , December 24, 2007

I thought that there is only one God. Saya percaya hanya satu Allah sahaja.

Why do some Muslims teach that there is more than one God? Kenapa beberapa orang Islam mengajar ada lebih Allah daripada satu?

The name is different because the languages are different. Malay borrowed the name Allah from Arabic, so when I speak Malay, I use the Malay/Arabic name. Why are some Muslims so paranoid about these semantic differences?

Tuhan is more correctly translated "Lord", not God. Ignorance is not bliss.

Sekian, terima kasih.

Sorry - God and Allah are not interchangeable
written by Anis Ong , December 24, 2007

The article was written with a lot of ignorance about the Islamic religion. We can't have non Muslims using the word Allah to mean God, simply because in Islam, our God which is Allah isn't the same as the Christian God. The Christian God is a Holy Trinty (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) whereas Islam is very, very firm that there isn't such a thing as the Holy Trinity. So by interchanging the terms God and Allah, it will mislead non-Muslims to think that perhaps, God, Deus, Allah is all the same thing with the same description and attributes. There is another word in Malay that describes God and that is "Tuhan". That should be the term used for a general idea of a God.

The writer is trying to politicise the matter, unfortunately, by bringing in Umno. The article alludes that "Malaysian Malays are confused about the distinction between Islam and Christianity because they use the same word to describe the one God" ... but to me, it is quite the opposite. Muslims in Malaysia are very clear about the distinction between the Christian God who sent his son Jesus to earth, and Allah, who "does not beget or is begotten ", ie has no parent or child. And we are very particular about it too.

The writer also states that the "English Koran uses the words 'In the name of God...'". Does he know that in Islam, any translation of the Quran is just that ... ie a translation? It is not, and never regarded as THE Quran itself, and it's meaning will always be questionable as it is translated by humans and our limitations will always cause it to have some linguistic error. This is why true learners of Islam make it a point to learn Arabic in order to avoid any linguistic misinterpretation.

Being Chinese, I don't think it's a racial issue as well (because the term Malay is used a lot in the article). It's just about the fundamental differences between the two religions, that's all ... and so the terms of reference are different. It's just a pity that the writer did not choose to find out more about Islam before commenting on it. Ignorance and finger-pointing aren't a good combination.

A Malaysian Chinese Muslim.