[lg policy] Malaysia Catholics allowed to call God 'Allah' again. Why the fuss?

Tue Jan 5 15:33:12 UTC 2010

Malaysia Catholics allowed to call God 'Allah' again. Why the fuss?
Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, worships the God of Abraham. So
why is Malaysia's government trying to prevent Catholics from calling
God 'Allah?'

By Dan Murphy Staff writer / January 4, 2010

After a three-year battle, the Roman Catholic church in Malaysia won
back the right to use the long-standing Malay-language word for God:
"Allah." Temple demolitions anger Malaysia Indians Pro-Muslim tilt in
Malaysia's courts Blog: Amid furor, Malaysia delays woman's caning A
judge, responding to a suit filed by the editor of The Herald, a
Catholic weekly distributed primarily to Catholics in the Malaysian
portions of Borneo, found that an earlier government restriction
allowing the term only to be used by Muslims was unconstitutional.

But the freedom to use what is commonly understood to be the generic
word for the God of Abraham – in both Malaysian and in the closely
related language of Indonesian – may not last long. On Jan. 4, the
government said it would appeal the ruling. The official state news
agency Bernama reported that "the Home Minister had justified the ban
on grounds of national security and to avoid misunderstanding and
confusion among Muslims."

The government's sensitivity on the issue seems to have less to do
with linguistic precision and more to do with the complicated role
Islam has come to play in Malaysia's political life. The country is
about 60 percent Muslim, with most adherents belonging to the
ethnic-Malay majority. But a sizable number of ethnic Malays on Borneo
are Christian, both members of the Catholic church and various
Protestant groups. A large portion of the country's ethnic-Chinese
minority are Christians as well, with a smaller group of its
ethnic-Indian population adhering to the faith.

The Malay word for "god" has been "Allah" for centuries, reflecting
the strong Arab linguistic and cultural influence on the Malay
Peninsula and the sprawling string of Islands in the area once known
as the Malay Archipelago but now mostly controlled by modern
Indonesia. Arab traders came to dominate the important Malacca Strait
in the 13th and 14th centuries, which linked the markets of Asia to
the Middle East and Europe, leading to both the spread of Islam and of
Arabic influence on local languages throughout the islands.

"Allah yang maha kuasa," or "almighty God," is a phrase that is
typically heard in Catholic churches in Sarawak, Borneo, and in
Protestant churches on Sumatra in Indonesia. The word "Allah" of
course, is also voiced to the heavens by Palestinian Christians in
Bethlehem at Christmas and is used by the Eastern Orthodox Christians
in Egypt, commonly referred to as Copts.

That this use of "Allah" is largely uncontroversial in the Arab world,
which has plenty of religious conflicts of its own, points to the
unusual nature of the Malaysian government's effort.

Political Islam has become a more important force in Malaysian society
in the past 30 years, and Malaysia operates under two sets of law –
one for Muslims, and one for everyone else. Alcohol is freely
available in much of the country, though it's technically illegal for
Muslims to drink it. That distinction led to a Muslim woman, who had
ordered a beer in a Kuala Lumpur restaurant, to almost be caned last
year. Malaysia also has a number of casinos, but national identity
cards are checked at the door to keep Muslims out.

The most militant of Malaysia's Muslims have warned of efforts to
"Christianize" the country and alleged at the time the government
banned the Catholic use of the word "Allah" that its use was
deliberately confusing and could be used in an effort to win converts.
The Catholic church in Malaysia has argued that it was simply using
the word best understood by its parishioners.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is the most powerful group
pushing for Islam to have greater influence over Malaysia's political
life, and currently has 23 seats in the national Parliament. PAS has
favored the ban in the past, and in a statement on Monday said it was
"disappointed" with the high court ruling but urged followers to stay
calm.

"PAS is worried that allowing the use of the name Allah in this
publication will create confusion among Muslims, especially among
converts and those wanting to draw closer to Islam,'' the Party said
in a statement. The party said restrictions on use of the word are
important to "close the door to wickedness for the Muslim community"
and added that "it needs to be stressed that PAS is not opposed to
freedom of religion."

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0104/Malaysia-Catholics-allowed-to-call-God-Allah-again.-Why-the-fuss

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal.
(H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list