" Umno Revivalism - Reinforcing the "Seige Mentality"... contd

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الله محبة فمن أقام في المحبة أقام في الله وأقام الله فيه

("God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him")

1 John 4:16

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With reference to "Umno Revivalism - Reinforcing the "Seige Mentality"..."

Allah may be disappointed that I'm no fan of the name or word. I'm not much for this idea of the use of Allah in translated Christian Scripture either.
From what I know, the word is just a word for "god", as in "theos".

Apparently, Allah originates from pagan gods of of the preIslamic era, back to the days of Hammurabi. Before Islam, in Arabia, Pagans believed that "Allah" had three daughters. They worshiped them among the other 360 gods and goddesses. The infamous Satanic Verses were that "al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat were called “the daughters of Allah”" - and we all know what happened to Salman Rushdie ....

The archeological evidence demonstrates that the dominant religion of Arabia was the cult of the Moon-god.In Old Testament times, Nabonidus (555-539 BC), the last king of Babylon, built Tayma, Arabia as a center of Moon-god worship. Segall stated, "South Arabia's stellar religion has always been dominated by the Moon-god in various variations." Many scholars have also noticed that the Moon-god's name "Sin" is a part of such Arabic words as "Sinai," the "wilderness of Sin," etc. When the popularity of the Moon-god waned elsewhere, the Arabs remained true to their conviction that the Moon-god was the greatest of all gods. While they worshipped 360 gods at the Kabah in Mecca, the Moon-god was the chief deity. Mecca was in fact built as a shrine for the Moon-god.

This is what made it the most sacred site of Arabian paganism. In 1944, G. Caton Thompson revealed in her book, The Tombs and Moon Temple of Hureidha, that she had uncovered a temple of the Moon-god in southern Arabia. The symbols of the crescent moon and no less than twenty-one inscriptions with the name Sin were found in this temple. An idol which may be the Moon-god himself was also discovered. This was later confirmed by other well-known archeologists.
The evidence reveals that the temple of the Moon-god was active even in the Christian era.

However, I don't care if people want to call their God "Jack" - for God doesn't depend on our language. If that's how the translation has been over the years, so be it.
For the faithful, it is within their right to do so.
Same goes here.

It is sad that people wish to fight over these petty things in these days ....

According to http://www.worldscriptures.org/,

Malay is spoken by more than 17,600,000 people:
10,000,000 in Indonesia,
7,181,000 in Malaysia,
390,000 in Singapore,
21,000 in Myanmar,
more than 20,000 elsewhere.

It gives the Malay Bible Publishing History as Follows:-
Part of the Bible was published for the first time in 1629.
The New Testament was first published in 1668.
The complete Bible was first published in 1733.

Forget about DBP, Ketuanan Melayu or the arrival of the ancestors of Hamid Albar, Mahathir, Abdullah Badawi or Khir Toyo
- that's long before many from Nusantara were even literate - in Malay or Arabic!!

(From L to R : Bibles in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Turkish, Kurdish, Dari)

Anyways, as far as I know, no holy book states that the word Allah is exclusively "Islamic". In fact it was also the name of one of the pagan Arab Gods - the Moon God!
As such, I'd say that common sense & basic decency dictates that Sikhs and Christians can use it, within the context of their worship.

This has been going on for ages - probably more than 200 yrs (without the help of DBP, thank you), with no problems whatsoever.

Malay Muslims cannot be so weak in their faith after fifty years of NEP-education, that a common word/name can cause confusion ....
Just how many conversions to Sikhism or Christianity can be attributed to this word "Allah"!
None!!
So why infringe on their right to practice their religion as they deem fit?

The argument that there are "other words for God in Malay" does not hold in this case - DBP isn't the guardian of all versions of Malay. Should the publishers not subscribe to DBP, it's the choice of their faithful if they want to accept it.
DBP definitely doesn't have rights to the use of Punjabi anyways ....

There are "agent provocatuers" at work to propagate the "siege mindset" that's required to create conflict among peaceful citizens.
They want a confrontation in which they hope to triumph so that they can thump their chest in pride. They want to impress upon Muslims and Malays that they are "under attack", and as such need to "rise to the occasion".
Who are these "defenders of God" to dictate that someone cannot use a word in accepted in their vocabulary?
It's just that certain quarters want to split hairs to claim something for themselves, when even Arabs have no problems with the word being used by other religions.
Next they will attempt to prevent all non-Muslim religious literature publication and worship in Malay.
I found a blog Comparative Religion Studies by effry saiful of Al Azhar Uni, which had some discussion on this.

The Following is John 3:16 in various languages
(for more, go to everytongue.com)

English (New Living Translation of the Bible)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Arabic

Bahasa Melayu

Allah sangat mengasihi orang di dunia ini sehingga Dia memberikan Anak-Nya yang tunggal, supaya setiap orang yang percaya kepada Anak itu tidak binasa tetapi beroleh hidup sejati dan kekal. Allah mengutus Anak-Nya ke dunia ini bukan untuk menghakimi dunia, tetapi untuk menyelamatkannya.

Here's a comment from MT:-
written by gorshan, November 21, 2008 18:41:33
The word Allah is written in the Sikh Holy Scripture The Granth Sahib and in the Shabad kirtan
"Awal Allah Noor Upaya, Kudrat kae sab bandey ek noor tae sabh jag upjaya, kaun bhaley kaun mandey?"

First, Allah created the Light; then, by His Creative Power, He made all mortal beings.
From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good, and who is bad?

The Fatwa Council should first take the Sikh scriptures into consideration before coming out with any fatwa banning the use of the term 'Allah' by non-muslim.
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Just for Kicks, Take A Look at My Nose - I'm Mikaeel!!

(from MalaysianInsider)

MJ converts to Islam, says British tabloid

LONDON, Nov 21 — Michael Jackson has become a Muslim — and changed his name to Mikaeel. The skint superstar, 50, donned Islamic garb to pledge allegiance to the Quran in a ceremony at a pal’s mansion in Los Angeles.

Jacko sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an imam was summoned to officiate — days before the singer is due to appear at London’s High Court where he is being sued by an Arab sheikh.

A source told last night how Jacko, brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, decided to convert as he used a studio at the home of his chum to record a new album.

The star — whose hits include “The Way You Make Me Feel” — was spotted looking “a bit down” by a producer and a songwriter who had both embraced Islam.

The source said: “They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea.

“An imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief.”

Mikaeel is the name of one of Allah’s angels.

“Jacko rejected an alternative name, Mustafa — meaning ‘the chosen one’”.

British singer Yousef Islam, 60 — who was called Cat Stevens until he famously converted — turned up to help Jacko celebrate.

It was his pals David Wharnsby — a Canadian songwriter — and producer Phillip Bubal who counselled Jacko.

The pair’s new names are Dawud Wharnsby Ali and Idris Phillips.

Jacko now prays to Mecca after the ceremony at the Hollywood Hills home of Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro, 51, who composed music on the singer’s Thriller album.

Jacko, who rarely ventures out without a mask, is due to give evidence on Monday in a £4.7million (RM25 million) lawsuit brought by Prince Abdulla Al-Khalif of Bahrain.

The sheikh claims he bankrolled the singer’s lavish lifestyle in exchange for an exclusive recording contract. The billionaire sent songs for him to record but claims he was blanked.

He told the court yesterday: “Many times he confirmed to me he would pay me back.” — The Sun

Umno Revivalism - Reinforcing the "Seige Mentality".

Islamic councils say courts have no right to decide on ‘Allah’
By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The ongoing lawsuit filed by the Catholic Church in Malaysia seeking a judicial review of the government decision to ban it from using the word “Allah” is not a matter that can be decided by the courts, says lawyer Mubashir Mansor.

“We are making an application under Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act for the High Court to stay the effect of the proceedings in order to state a case to be determined by the Federal Court on the effect of relevant provisions of the Federal Constitution,” he said.

“The effect is whether or not the present issue is justiciable, something that should be decided by a court of law.

“We are saying that this issue is not,” he added.

Mubashir is acting on behalf of three state Islamic councils, namely Malacca, Penang and Terengganu, which are seeking to intervene in the case.

He told reporters at the High Court here that he would be filing his application to the Federal Court in Putrajaya in the next two weeks.

A total of eight Muslim organisations today joined the Home Minister and the federal government as respondents in the suit filed by the church on the right to use the word in its publication and practices.

The other five are the Federal Territory Religious Council, Selangor Religious Council, Kedah Religious Council, Johor Religious Council and the Malaysian Chinese-Muslim Association.

The Malaysian Gurdwaras Association, representing the Sikh community, had also sought to be included in the court case for the right to use "Allah" in their religious practices.

Justice Lau Bee Lan, of the KL High Court of Appellate and Special Powers Division, fixed Feb 27 for mention to enable the various Muslim organisations time to file their affidavits.

The Catholic Church's official publication, The Herald, had in May this year won the right to challenge the Home Minister's decision to ban it from using the word "Allah" as a synonym for God in its Malay-language section.

The counsel for the church, Porres Royan, said that the church had previously objected to the inclusion of these parties seeking to intervene in their case, but had changed its mind.

Asked to comment on Mubashir's claims, Porres replied that he did not understand what they wanted.

He affirmed that the church merely wanted the Home Minister's decision overturned.

"The Home Minister decided that we cannot use the word 'Allah'," he said.

"We are saying that decision is wrong," he concluded.