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Herald & Allah
No, this isn’t the sequel or the prequel to Harold & Kumar. This is about the Malaysian government’s fright of non-muslims using “Allah”. Somehow, if a non-muslim uses Arab to converse, like “Assalamuailakum”, it would be frowned upon by muslims. We would probably run into the law!
Why is the government intimidated? Why they are so naive to think that “Allah” is exclusive for Muslims? In fact, shouldn’t they be happy that non-English speaking Catholics use “Allah”? Doesn’t it indirectly promotes Islam? Doesn’t it sound like the muslims are more gullible than everyone else in Malaysia?
If Herald is permitted to publish “Allah”, that’s it! That’s the end of Malaysia as we know it as millions of muslims would convert to Christianity. Please, don’t belittle the muslims.
“Allah” is BEFORE Islam and that is a fact. Muslims weren’t the ones who coined that. Even in the middle east, the use of “Allah” by Christian Arabs are accepted by Muslim Arabs. There is no bickering.
“In Christian usage, “Allah” is the BM, NOT Arabic, translation for the English term “God” while “Tuhan” is the translation for the English term “Lord”. When a Christian says “Allah ialah Tuhan ku”, he/she meant it as ” God is my Lord” and NOT ” Allah is my God”. When a Christian says ” Tuhan Allah”, he/she meant ” The Lord God” and NOT “a god called Allah”. When a Christian says ” Puji Tuhan”, he/she meant “Praise the Lord”, when a Christian says ” aku menyembah Allah”, he/she meant “I worship God”, and NOT ” I worship a god call Allah”.”
Do you know that “Melayu” means “migrating” or “fleeing”, which might refer to the high mobility of these people across the region (Javanese verb ‘mlayu’ means “to run”, cognate with Malay verb ‘melaju’, means “to accelerate”). Pendatang? Pot calling kettle black is it?
Not all Muslims are like that, mind you, as I met a very open minded Muslim who thinks LOGICALLY and I’m sure there a many more out there.
Sigh.
Thats the case since way back last time, i was told not to say Allah or assalamualaikum as i wanted because it is something thats belong to only the muslim and only they can use it. subtitles in movies translate assalamualaikum as may ‘peace be with you’, and how come we cant use such a nice word just to greet others -_- sad case. The different between a muslim and a terrorist is the fanaticism that they have for themselves. if you have a strong foundation of what you believe in, you wont be easily intimidated by others regarding of what people have to said about your believe. they cant even get the foundation right and how do they suppose to tell people to trust in what they believed.
i love how you explain the usage of Allah and Tuhan in the Christian’s text. haha
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‘this is what they call malaysia’.. i love this article bro..
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only in malaysia these things happen. ridiculous ain’t it!
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Very nice post..and really agree with you Daniel. I’m Catholic and respect to all kind of religions. We live in a same country. We believe there is Higher Authority..uses of word ‘Allah’ is not for **** only. Daniel better you teach them..hehehhe..
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That man’s got a lot of nerve… you’re absolutely right. Different rules apply to different people. Great post!
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‘isu panas’ tu…two thumbs up for the brave and meaningful post!
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Well said my friend. I’ve got loads of Muslim friends and all of them sees things the way you see them. Not everyone are fools in this country, somebody should tell the powers that be just that.
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be careful, the italicized wording might confuse those ‘muslims’ like datuk zahid….hehehe
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Good post!
That should teach those who still dunno what the terms really meant.
I am a christian but I respect them all…why can’t those ppl do and think the same. *sigh*
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in other word this happen cause by our political leader..they tried to carry out some issue which can blow them high…there’s nothing wrong wef ISLAM or Christian actually coz religion lead us into something good…but sometime it also happen cause by the head of the house…such reverent, pastor, uztaz etc… they all human being which tend to make mistake. they do have feeling, interest n greed as well… what happen today is something ridicules. maybe they need to learn more bout bahasa la bro… anyway, really glad you bring this issue…
yeah, i wonder why it’s weird when i answer the phone with an “assalamualakum…” when it’s just another note for “Salam” or “Shalom”. I get all these weird faces and questions. if we cant say so, not explain like “it’s not wrong, just that….” Sounds wrong to me. Yeah, i agree with u. What i dont get is, we speak of religious tolerance… but i just see too much of it is tipped heavier on the other end.
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*sigh* I’m wondering why Indonesia, country with the largest Muslim population allowed bible from their country to use the term “Allah”! Weird huh??
way to go………. Dan… I absolutely agree with you!
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U’ – Correcto – there’s a fine line between religion and fanaticism. I don’t know how this can worry Muslims and make them convert to Christianity. “Allah” does not belong to Muslims.
belle – Danke.
sarah – Yes it is. Now, we watch the hoopla in Perak the Berak.
Alv0808 – I wish I could, but then ISA is not big enough for everyone in the government.
Terra – Yeah, double standards mumbo jumbo bullshit. He’s banking on the ignorant and naive Muslims.
fonsusz – Well, sometimes, you just can’t sit back and watch Malaysia go to the dogs. It’s our fucking country.
Nick Phillips – Exactly. I can’t wait for the next elections. Hopefully the number of morons in Govt can be reduced.
sweetie~ – What’s the worst that could happen? He calls for a boycott against my blog, waives the keris, calls me pendatang and blow up some random building?
AngelBear – Exactly. Retards are taking the country backwards.
Gee – Yeah, it’s all politics. Every single thing in this country is politically linked. From sports to religion to human rights. For fuck sake.
One Other – Careful when you say “Assalamualaikum” next time, might land you in some police lockup and then they kill you by giving you a glass of water.
kaDusMama – Simple, in Indonesia, the Muslims have strong foundation of their religion. Muslims in Malaysia, apparently, if based on the government’s actions, are a scared bunch of hypocrites.
Bosscat – Thanks. Wish some member of parliament reads this and digest it properly amidst all the bullshit that is gripping the nation.
Allah is Arabic word for the one God. Like THE god. So, in Malay it should mean… Tuhan yg satu. Of course since this is Arabic, the language of the Holy book, it is automatically meant, the one God is the God of the Muslims. Also based on Islam, Allah has 99 names, so obviously, Allah is not His name lah.
I could see the Muslims point of view that using Allah (which is Arabic in origin) in a bible translation is an act of mockery. But I guess, mocking anyone’s God would be insulting to anyone as well…
To use the word Allah in the bible translation or not, I don’t really care. First because I’m no religious person teehehe, secondly even IF I am religious, I would know which God I’m supposed to have faith to, my faith will not be easily deterred simply by reading the bible that has Allah word in it.
But then again, why bother using the world Allah in a bible. Wouldn’t it be easier to use Tuhan yang satu? Allah is not an easy word to pronounce anyways, haha. So IMHO, both sides are wrong. One side is tad too sensitive and the other side, is tad too insensitive.
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Dan, I absolutely like this entry!
Well said.
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well said bro.i still don’t understand why they dun allow Allah to be used by the catholic mag. Afterall ,there’s only one Almighty.
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first of all, i would like to point out that Judaism, Christianity and Islam are sumarized as Abrahamic Religions. Thats in the history. Heck we used to share one place, Jerussalem. It was made into a movie even, Kingdom of Heaven. i as a muslim felt really ashamed. they should actualy need to understand not to blindly follow it. like what all of you have commented, if you have good foundation and i dont see any problem.
the things is, muslim over here (majority of them) are quite ignorant. yes i said it, IGNORANT! come on, everything in the quran is in one language which is arabic. technically speaking, when a christian says “assalamualaikum” is the same as hello, and i humbly replied “walaikumsalam” because i’m returning back a friend good wish. i dont recall anything in the quran says “oh you’re soo going to hell for answering that!” i even salute to my christian friend who know what and when to use “alhamdulillah” and “astaghfirullah”. seriously, up to the spelling.
its just a language, we maintain it in that language because its was originated in middle east and dont want the meaning “lost in translation”. Understand it not follow it blindly. err.. i think i’m getting emotional now hahaha.. have a nice day
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I always thought that that Zahid Hamidi just wanted to be a bigger jerk than everyone else, and congrats to him, he just made it!
Luckily his constituency is not in Johor, but even tougher luck, his is in Perak and Perakians will hand him an even harsher punishment lol.
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Faiez – I disagree. Allah has been used even before Islam came into the world. Hence, it should not expressively linked to Islam. As for sensitivity, it’s mostly down to Muslims. Just look at the Middle East and Indonesia for prime examples. Allah can be used. So, I guess Malaysian Muslims, based on the Govt’s reaction, are mega-hypersensitive.
chegu carol – Thanks.
chrisau – Because they’re afraid as they feel their religion is weakening no thanks to terrorism and 72 virgins.
Paival – Spot on. It’s all about personal beliefs. Unfortunately, many in Malaysia are ignorant about their religion to the fact that they become hyper-sensitive when religion is affected. Thank you for your comment.
JL – He’s one of those big jerks that makes up jerks united aka BN.
I see it as plain spiteful childish carry on, on the part of none other than UMNO. They are merely taking revenge on the communities who turned against them on March 8th 2008, which are predominantly lain lain, although a lot of Malays turned against UMNO also.
I think it is best to mock and ignore them. Everyone mocks them. They have no credibility, and they might arrest the occasional “nyamuk” now and again. The chances of being arrested are minimal to be frank, you need to be very prominent. And they cannot monitor everything, they don’t have that much brains in Bukit Aman.
Najin Tun Razak is about to commence his Premiership with the lowest starting approval ratings of any Prime Minister in Malaysian history at 43%. The best Pak Lahs dumb fuck cabinet can come up with in the last two months of his lame duck Premiership.
“Ban this, ban that”
They rule by fear, offer no hope, no progress and less inspiration.
Give me a break. The Muslims in the BN cabinet are hypocrites of the highest order. They are the Pharisees condemned by Jesus. They are less than nothing.
I took down Pak Lahs picture in the office a few months back, and nearly caused a lot of trouble. I urge all, remove his portrait from your offices, if it is there. Leave only the King and Queen.
I used to be shocked out of my wits when I entered the church and saw the name Allah painted on the walls (was there to attend wedding). But what I understand now is what man don’t understand they will fear. They don’t understand what exactly the Christian meant by using the same term and assume the worst and the whole Muslim population will convert. I have been to many places of worships, I know what they say in their prayers, I celebrate their festivals but I still believe and live by my belief without compromising my tauhid.
Besides “Allah”…. the other word that the Muslims (in Malaysia and elsewhere in the world) use to address God is “Illahi”.
But in the movie “The Passion of Christ”, Jesus was calling “Illahi, Illahi…” during his final minutes as man on the crucifix.
I wonder if the word “Illahi” will be another issue after “Allah”.
I’m 110% agree with this article. Nice post dude.
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I recall my lecturer (a muslim lady) for “Perbandingan Agama” subject; kept reminding us (non-muslim) to use the proper terms as Allah SWT if we were to relate our answer AND presentation with Islam. If only Allah… no mark!! She said… it can refers to any God (though I knew all along that it came from an Arab terms.. ^^)
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Diarmuid Curran – Excellent stuff once again Dermo.
Val Aziz – Exactly. They assume the worst because their foundation in the religion is weak. Simple as that.
endroo G – One by one. I’m sure. Once this dies off, they’ll play another racial card.
huguon – Thanks.
elcynthia – OK. Allah SWT is the extended version. “Perbandingan Agama” sounds like a biased close-minded view, especially when it comes from our country.
this article puts a lot of Christian to shame…. many are just stuck in their comfortable church life, never dare to stand up and say something.
zewt – We should not hide behind fear and must fight for the truth.
If one really knows his/her God then the issue of “Allah aka God aka Tuhan aka The Almighty aka etc” will not arise IMHO
and it’s ridiculous what some says that using the word Allah by another religion will confuse the people.. c’mon lah, what kind of thinking is this?
way to go Gallivanter..
Hombidai – Correcto. For Malaysia, it’s commonly known as Backward Thinking.
Hey, I was refraining myself not to comment on this entry even though it is very interesting. I am a Muslim myself. I was born as one. Didn’t practise the religion until I got married to a non-muslim who then converted and believe in Islam. And no, I didn’t start believing in Islam because my husband who was not believing in Islam back then started to believe and practiced after the conversion. It’s because the open communication we used to have before we both started believing in this religion. In religion to be exact.
I used to be called as ‘murtad’ as I was not acting like one true Muslim. My husband who was my non-muslim boyfriend (back then) didn’t judge me. In fact he fell in love with me because I was so open about religion. That I never felt offended if anybody had any different opinions from me in religion matters. I did believe in God. That any God you are believing in, it means only one thing. For me,it means “you believe there’s someone bigger than you who has created you, who can guide you whenever you are ready to throw your ego and ask for His guidance, blessing or whatnots”.
Thinking as a Muslim who used to be ‘murtad’, I think nobody should think that ‘Assalamualaikum’ or ‘Allah’ is only meant for Muslim.
It’s God that we believe in.
It’s peace that we are wishing for.
Hope I don’t offend anybody.
And no, Muslim doesn’t mean Malays. That’s totally wrong. It’s religion and race. Two different things. So no Muslim should feel offended when something unpleasant happened to Malays. Likewise.
Juicy Yan Lim – Thanks for sharing. Echoing my points.
Again with the “Allah” issue. I feel terrible when this issue came up. Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, you’re offending Christians in Malaysia, but we stay cool saja. Tidak bising2 pun sampai masuk TV itu ini. Excuse me D.A.Z.H, remember that Malaysia is a multi racial and multi religion country. Gallivanter explained well about the word “Allah”. The word “Allah” belongs to everyone, every race and every religion. Bukan milik orang Muslim saja. Ko paham ka nda ni ? Don’t start another CRUSADE war…
Crusade – Unfortunately, they don’t understand, because some of them are covered by insecurity.
Well even Nik Aziz agree the word Allah is belong to anybody. I believe those completed their study in Arab world, really understand this issue. How about the local graduated? Maybae too…
Alb – Well, that’s the thing, the politicians of UMNO is confusing the closed-minded Muslims living in the outskirts who do not have any opinion and hence would agree after listening to them, and in the long run, keep BN in power.
Two thumbs up to this article. Good post bro.
How can someone ‘terpesong akidah’ just by looking at someone else with a different religion using the same word to refer to God?
I had just read an article in a blog that tells how ‘confusing’ when the non-Muslims use that term.
Take a look at this
This is one of your best articles man.. Congrats!! I am fully behind you.. and I strongly think that no matter what terms is used, what’s important is you are true to your religion. Allah is not exclusive to anyone. If it is, why other countries brand it as a non issue?
Only in Malaysia.. Only in Malaysia…
There are so many stupid fanatic religion in malaysia.They never check internet or other suorces before making an issue.the word Allah was global used since before malaysia merdeka.isu bodoh.
cicak – Thanks for sharing.
Cyril Dason – Yeah, a sad time for Malaysia.
egg – You’re right, some people are too religion-sensitive that it blurs their logic.