Malaysia row over use of 'Allah' reaches Facebook
More than 43,000 Malaysians protested online over a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper to use the word.
By Reuters Tags: Israel newsMore than 43,000 Malaysians protested online over a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper to use the word "Allah" to describe the Christian God, signaling growing Islamic anger in this mostly Muslim Southeast Asian country.
A group page on social networking site Facebook was drawing 1,500 new supporters an hour on Monday as last week's court ruling split political parties and even families.
Among those who signed up for the protest were Deputy Trade Minister Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of Malaysia's longest serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamed, while Mahathir's daughter Marina called critics of the court decision "idiots" in her Weblog.
The government said on Monday it had filed an appeal against the court ruling amid concerns the issue could cause religious and racial conflict in this country of 28 million which has large Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.
"The problem is that there will be lots of doctrines and principles promoted that would totally contradict Islamic theology... there is a danger to public order here," said Shad Saleem Faruqi, a constitutional law lecturer with Universiti Tekonologi Malaysia.
The Facebook page, named in Malay as "Protesting the use of the name Allah by non-Muslims", said that the group was for Muslims "who realise that this is propaganda to confuse Muslims now and in future".
The Catholic Church, which publishes a Malay version of its newspaper, The Herald, says that it uses the word "Allah" for the Christian God to meet the needs of its Malay speaking worshippers on the island of Borneo.
"There should not be a cause for concern because some people have got the idea that we are out to convert (Muslims), but not at all, there is no question of this," Father Lawrence Andrew, the newspaper's editor, told Reuters.
The ruling by the Kuala Lumpur High Court followed a ban imposed by the government on the weekly Herald in January last year over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians.
The government had argued that the use of the Arabic word might offend the sensitivities of Muslims who make up 60 percent of Malaysia's 28 million population, while Christians - including about 800,000 Catholics - make up about 9.1 percent.
The Herald circulates in Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island where the indigenous population converted to Christianity more than a century ago and where the word has been commonly used in prayer for decades.
Malaysia's ethnic Chinese and Indian communities abandoned the ruling coalition in the 2008 general elections in part due to unease over an increasing Islamization in the country.
In 2008, the government that has ruled Malaysia for 52 years suffered its worst ever results in national and state elections and Prime Minister Najib Razak has sought to address the fears of minority groups by adopting an inclusive racial program called "1Malaysia".
Najib has appealed for calm pending the appeal but the government, like the country's three-party opposition grouping, is wary of upsetting the Malays, who form a critical vote bank.
Mahfuz Omar, the vice-president of the opposition Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), said the main government party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), was politicizing the issue.
"This shows that UMNO is taking opportunity on this issue to whip up Muslim sentiment so that they unite and see UMNO as the champion of Islam," said Mahfuz in a statement on Monday.
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"The Facebook page, named in Malay as "Protesting the use of the name Allah by non-Muslims", said that the group was for Muslims "who realise that this is propaganda to confuse Muslims now and in future". " They're now got people displaying Nazi emblems posting messsages on the group: http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/4401/faizalnazimessage.png http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/7784/faizalnazi.png
The answer is found in the following: www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm www.letusreason.org/islam6.htm pp.210-216, "Why We Want To Kill You" [2007] by Walid Shoebat
so much confusion over so few words! Allah, an Arabic word, has the same root as the Hebraic word El and its plural form Elohim - it carries the broad meaning of 'strength'. Yahweh carries the broad meaning of 'I am'. Arabic and Hebraic are sister languages, although graphically different in written form. common meanings are self evident by observation of usage and phonemic value (how the word sounds). the english word 'god' has no semantic relation to either Elohim or Yahweh, and is possibly related to an Indo-European root meaning 'voice'. Arabic and Hebraic notions of existence and higher thought have their origins in similar cultural, geographical and semantic backgrounds. christianity is just rehashed redundant roman theogony, spuriously blended with ideas stolen form the Hebraic writings, and has no relation to Semitic language and culture whatsoever. the religious lunatics should maybe stop listening to those voices and start listening to logic:-)
There is no "Judeo-Christian God". There is God, the one the Jewish People is teaching about..... the Christian decided that it is Jesus...The Arabs (any religion) call God Allah. It is as simple than that. Paganism is when we pray statues and Saints... Muslims certainly don't and cannot be considered as pagans.
Jews don't say Yahway either. Jews use the word "Elokim", certainly not Allah. Christians sometimes call themselves "new Israel".When Islam does that too,then Islam may claim civilized roots, rather than a moon-Allah.
call him eloheem if then its the same thing
Atif you miss the pt twice... 1- "remember when" does not apply here, or anywhere else. the past does not dictate the present. 2- in civilized societies we have rights and freedoms, which include the right to create non threatening or crime free cults, blasphemies etc...
What is this talk of Christian God and Muslim God. There is only one God, Muslims and Christians agree on this. What you call Him is not relevant. What He is like is what we differ on somewhat - how He deals with us we differ on quite a bit. I shall not ban a Muslim from using the word God or Gott or Yahweh or whatever you like. I shall not ban a Christian from using Allah.
If using the word Allah hadn't been prohibited this never would have been an issue. Islam holding itself separate is the issue. The term infidel is insulting in and of itself. FYI Brod; Jews and Muslims are all decendents of Abraham and he only worshipped one God.
Allah, Adonai, Hashem, Yaweh. These are examples of celestial names of Christian, Jew , and Moslem followers. There is whole other lexicon for the God's of Asian cultures. Bottom line is that anybody's God represents good. Why get so upset if the meaning was well meant.
The more educated readers on this Talkback have already pointed this out.
'Most Christians would consider it blasphemous to rename the Judeo-Christian God after a pagan god.' The breadth and depth of ignorance required to make that assertion is breathtaking. It almost turns lack of learning into a positive attribute, a consciously attained achievement.
- as I see it, it is the very same G-d
Allah is the word used in Arabic for G-d, amongst arabic-speaking Moslems and arabic-speaking non-moslems. I really can not understand this reaction. Further more, it is the one and only true G-d, the true divine force in the three Abrahamitic religions.
The Allah of Islam is NOT the GOD of Judeo-Christians. Papism is Paganism and does not represent Christianity.
@Dan It seems the thoughts you share are unique to you. Imagine if a cult opposite to Christianity emerges and uses Christ as its central figure how will the Christians feel then. As for Islam you only seem to mention punishments for grave sins. Have you forgotten the atrocities committed during the crusades or thousands of Knights Templar's burned at stake just at the whim of a pope??
Am I the only one who thinks that banning the use of an word to certain groups of people based on their religious affiliations is riduculous? Muslims are bound by Islamic law to refrain from blasphemy, infidels are not bound by those same laws. Certainly I would be killed in a Muslim country if I were to state that Mohammed is the son of Zeus. As it relates to sensitivy, let Islam remedy its internal atrocities (stonings, death penalty for leaving Islam), before feigning offence. Lastly, should we really care about what people wish to call imaginary figures? Should we really care whether schizophrenics name their imaginary friends Dave or Wendy, or that they have these imaginary friends to begin with, ones that can get them to act irrationally.
All middle eastern Christians use/say 'Allah'. Obviously because the word 'Allah' just means God in Arabic. I believe the Malay people are confused by the real meaning of the word 'Allah' as Arabic is not their native language.
Christian Arabs have used the word Allah for God for centuries before Islam exsisted and in South-east asia as well.
Well said nk. Most of the problems in the Islamic world are due to ignorance of Muslims of their own religion. It is stupidity of the highest order to object to the name Allah being used by Christains. As Daniel Pipes wrote in an article: "Is Allah God"?, at the time of Jesus, the word used for God was Allaha.
what is the fuss about allah ? all claim only one god so is allah not the one god ??
The Allah of Islam is definitely NOT the GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-the GOD of the Bible and the GOD of Judeo-Christians. The Allah of Islam is the Antithesis to the GOD of the Bible. Papism does not represent Christianity. Papism that worships idols, relics, rosary, and dead humans that they call saints is Paganism.
If you feel the need to hyphenate to include then you should probably use something like: Judaeo-christo-islamic. As they are all the same aren't they? Not sure the name is Yahweh in Christianity, there is only a small sect that thinks that is important. Most Christians would be more comfortable with God, Christ, Jesus and Holy Ghost as far as I know.
Could Islam have adopted the name Allah from the Christians of the Arabian Peninsula? Both Christianity and Judaism were spread and well established in the Arabian Penisula before the emergence of Islam. The Quran is full of references to Judaism and Christianity. There is no dispute that the term god for the Arab Christians before Islam was "Allah", a term which is still in use by all the Arab Christians throughout theArab World. Furthermore since all three faiths have the same roots and belief in one God how, could that one God in the Arabic language be called anything but Allah. Naturally the God of the Jews in arabic is also "Allah".
ignorance is getting to be a bountiful commodity for the politicos of the world.
What on earth are they talking about? All Christian Arabs call God Allah. Malaysians obviously do not speak Arabic so they should shut up and stop making the rest of us look like a bunch of mindless moronic barbarians.
The Christian God already has a name, Yahweh. He does not share many attributes with the Muslim God Allah. It is because Catholics are so ignorant of their theology that the protests are not coming from that side of the argument. Most Christians would consider it blasphemous to rename the Judeo-Christian God after a pagan god.