Malaysia gov't to challenge court verdict allowing Christians to use 'Allah' to refer to God
Tanki
challenge a court ruling that Christians have a constitutional right
to use the word Allah to refer to God.
The High Court verdict Thursday has sparked small, peaceful protests
by Muslim groups, raising fears of friction between the Malay Muslim
majority and the large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, who
mainly practice Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.
The Prime Minister's Department will file an appeal against the
verdict, Jamil Khir Baharom, a Cabinet minister responsible for
Islamic affairs, said in a statement late Saturday.
He called for Muslims to respect the court decision and for all
parties to be patient and allow the dispute to be resolved through the
legal process.
The High Court's decision struck down a government ban on non-Muslims
translating God as Allah in their literature. Minorities welcomed it
as a blow against what many consider to be institutionalized religious
discrimination.
The court ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed in late 2007 by
The Herald, the Roman Catholic Church's main publication in Malaysia.
The government ban had affected The Herald's Malay-language edition,
read mostly by indigenous tribes who converted to Christianity decades
ago.
The verdict has divided Muslim commentators. Some agree with the
government's insistence that Allah is an Islamic word that should be
used exclusively by Muslims, and that its use by other religions would
be misleading. However, other Malaysian Muslim scholars say non-
Muslims should be free to use the word.
Efforts by Christians to use Allah in Malay-language literature have
been perceived by some Muslims "as a plot to convert Malay Muslims to
Christianity," Anas Zubedy, a popular Muslim blogger on social and
political issues, wrote after the court verdict, adding his support of
the ruling.
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Saturday the government
should set strict conditions for the use of the word Allah to ensure
the court verdict does not trigger religious tensions, the national
news agency Bernama reported.
"What I am afraid of is that the term 'Allah' might be used in such a
way that could inflame the anger of Muslims, if (non-Muslims) were to
use it on banners or write something that might not reflect Islam," it
quoted Mahathir as saying.
Minorities often say their constitutional right to practice religion
freely has come under threat from the Malay Muslim-dominated
government. The government denies any discrimination, but authorities
recently confiscated 10,000 copies of Malay-language Bibles because
they contained the word Allah.
Siansiansian
Put it this way, how would you explain to other people what is the
meaning of the word Allah in English?
Most people would explain, Allah is one and only one true God.
Therefore Allah is God,
and God is Allah.
And if Muslim were to bother to find out the history of the
development of Islam, they should realise that both Christianity and
Islam were branched off from Judaism, so you are all worhshiping the
same God. To extend it further, even Taoism also worshiping the same
God called Tian Gong (means God of the Sky) who takes no form, neither
statue, but they worhsip the spiritual existence of God the Almighty
who governs the heaven and earth for peace. Lao Tse is just a propher
who founded Taoism.
So essentially everyone in this world is worshiping the same God
regardless of their religion. Religion is just some different ways
human being find it easier for them to relate to God and be in touch
and seek peace with God.
charlie vietcong
n Jan 3, 1:43 am, Tahanan <ip...@yahoo.co.id> wrote:
> Anybody know what name the Christians in Arab used to refer to God prior
> to the advent of Islam?