So the most heated debate amongst Malaysians right now is the usage of the word "Allah" in the bible to signify God. The word pops out after the bible is translated into the Malay language. In the Malay language, you can use the word "Tuhan" as a direct translation of the English word God, but Christians living in the eastern side/Borneo side of Malaysia have been using the term "Allah" as the translation of the English word God in their bibles.
This has stemmed some debate amongst religious scholars everywhere in the country. Some are against it, some are for it, and some people such as myself really don't care. (don't worry, I'll tell you why I don't care).
The people who are against it have been scrutinizing the word "Allah". Allah in the Arabic language means "the One God". When you take into account the Holy Trinity concept of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit there appears to be a mismatch in the definition of the word "Allah" when comparing the two religions. I'm quite sure that the eastern/Borneo side Malaysian Christians didn't really know the concept of the word "Allah" when they were translating their bibles in the first place. Had they knew... maybe they wouldn't have wanted to use the word in the first place. However, after years and years of using the word "Allah" in their bibles to signify God, it would be confusing for them to suddenly change their God's name.
People who are for it have their fair point of view as well. These people are more tolerating than others. By using the word Allah to signify God in the bible, it is believed that we adhere to the same God and since we believe in the same God (there are many religious scholars who believe this) we would be able to understand each other religions better and get along better as well.
People like myself don't really care. Why? Because religions are already segregated by the community in Malaysia. Today, you won't find a Muslim kid reading the bible nor will you find a Christian youngling reading the koran. The two religions are already seperated by their mosque/church walls. Christian kids are not educated in Islam at schools too. Different faiths in Malaysia only follow their own religions and they will not see the light of other religions - ever. I know, because even when I have an awesome uncle who happens to be Christian, I barely knew about the Christian religion in my younger days. Exposure of other religions have not been taught in Malaysia, and that's how it always has been.
Another reason as to why I don't really care is because the word "Allah" is still being used as the word God. People are holding up the name in high reverence. Both religions won't misuse nor abuse the name of God.
Now, what really makes me angry about this issue, is that it was made an issue. This matter shouldn't have been brought no where near to a court ruling, or in this case to the appeals court. It has been blown out of proportion to the tenth degree. The matter should have been hush hushed and not made public. Just recently I heard that three Churches in Malaysia were attacked and another has received a threat letter by stupid Muslims who cannot embrace other peoples faiths.
It's embarrassing how some people act. Sometimes I try to look towards the future of my country and all I see bleekness.
edit: below is an excerpt produced by Marina Mahathir (she is currently mobilizing a group of people to condemn the attacks on the churches) and her sources:
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.
The Promise to St. Catherine:
"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)."
edit: below is an excerpt produced by Marina Mahathir (she is currently mobilizing a group of people to condemn the attacks on the churches) and her sources:
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.
The Promise to St. Catherine:
"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)."
1 comment:
nice opinion piece. just have a couple of things i don't think you've got right:
1. the holy trinity concept in christianity does not mean that christians believe in 3 gods, rather that they are three forms of a single entity, rendering the use of 'a one God' (both literally and figuratively) pretty much viable.
2. when i was in uni, after friday prayers i would always go to a comparative religion talk or seminar. i can easily say there's more muslims who read the bible than you think, and even more xtians who read the quran. that's not even including the buddhists / hindus / atheists etc who read any form of scripture. and yes, some of them are malaysian. if you're going for the general idea, yeah most people don't read it if it's not their religion's but i don't think you should be too quick to dismiss the liberalness of malaysians, at least in many forms of religious awareness.
Post a Comment