Christian coalition urges Putrajaya to do so in fear that calls by groups to defend from supposedly being insulted and threatened could breed social unrest.
PETALING JAYA: The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) today urged Putrajaya to check on the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) and its handling of the controversial “Allah” issue, a day before the hearing of the appeal filed by the government against the High Court’s decision to allow The Herald newspaper to use the word, “Allah.”
“Let not Jakim be the only voice purporting to speak on behalf of the government of Malaysia, which it said represents Malaysians of different faiths and ethnicities,” CFM chairman Dr Eu Hong Seng said in a press statement.
Eu said the federation was concerned that the calls by the various groups to defend Islam from supposedly being insulted and threatened could be a catalyst to trigger public disorder.
In particular, CFM referred to a television programme in which accusations were made about so-called Christian plots to convert Muslims.
Eu also noted that the official Friday sermon (khutbah) written by Jakim and delivered on Sept 6, 2013, which called for “action” (tindakan) in defence of Islam by Muslims over the use of the word “Allah” for God by Christians, and that such defence was a “holy struggle” (perjuangan suci).
“In the light of that, the CFM relentlessly called upon the Malaysian government, which represents all Malaysians to ensure, uphold and protect freedom of religion in Malaysia,” he said, adding that the demand for “action” by some Muslims is “incendiary and alarming to ordinary Malaysians.”
According to Eu, a cursory examination of these accusations and statements clearly showed that the groups were emotional and alleged without factual basis but worst of all, he added, there appears to be no action or statement whatsoever from the government to stop the spread of such calls.
Eu pointed out that the word “Allah” to refer to God has been in use for hundreds of years in translations of and from the Bible in the Middle East and North Africa, and that Christians in those regions freely used the word “Allah” without complaints of confusion.
“Only in Malaysia when Christians use of the word “Allah” to refer to God is a problem for the Muslims,” he said.
“Bumiputera Christians, who only have Bahasa Malaysia as their common language for worship and prayer, have long used the Bahasa Malaysia Bible containing the word “Allah” for God without any uproar, resistance or objection. Why now?” he asked.
Judicial review
Since about 60% of the 2.6 million Christians in Malaysia used the word, “Allah” from the time they embraced the religion, the repeated accusations that the use of the word as part of a Christian conspiracy to convert Muslims did not hold water.
“This has been going on for centuries without any problems and we have lived in relative peace and harmony until recently,” he said.
“Such irresponsible accusations must stop. This is blatant scaremongering and provoking of religious tensions,” he said, while inviting all Muslims to “reflect, understand and appreciate the context of how, when and why Christians use the word, ‘Allah.’”
“In dealing with the use of the word “Allah” as with other inter-religious issues, there is a need for the truth instead of purely emotional rhetoric or use of base insults, or talk of plots and alleged conversions.”
On Feb 16, 2010, the church filed for a judicial review of the Home Ministry’s decision to prohibit the use of the word, “Allah” in The Herald publication.
Available in four languages, the publication has been using the word, “Allah” to refer to “God, in its Malay-language publication for Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.
On Dec 31, 2009, the High Court declared that the Home Ministry’s decision to prohibit The Herald from using the word, “Allah,” was illegal.
However, the government was adamant that the word, “Allah,” was exclusively Muslims.
The government then applied for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal.
PETALING JAYA: The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) today urged Putrajaya to check on the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) and its handling of the controversial “Allah” issue, a day before the hearing of the appeal filed by the government against the High Court’s decision to allow The Herald newspaper to use the word, “Allah.”“Let not Jakim be the only voice purporting to speak on behalf of the government of Malaysia, which it said represents Malaysians of different faiths and ethnicities,” CFM chairman Dr Eu Hong Seng said in a press statement.
Eu said the federation was concerned that the calls by the various groups to defend Islam from supposedly being insulted and threatened could be a catalyst to trigger public disorder.
In particular, CFM referred to a television programme in which accusations were made about so-called Christian plots to convert Muslims.
Eu also noted that the official Friday sermon (khutbah) written by Jakim and delivered on Sept 6, 2013, which called for “action” (tindakan) in defence of Islam by Muslims over the use of the word “Allah” for God by Christians, and that such defence was a “holy struggle” (perjuangan suci).
“In the light of that, the CFM relentlessly called upon the Malaysian government, which represents all Malaysians to ensure, uphold and protect freedom of religion in Malaysia,” he said, adding that the demand for “action” by some Muslims is “incendiary and alarming to ordinary Malaysians.”
According to Eu, a cursory examination of these accusations and statements clearly showed that the groups were emotional and alleged without factual basis but worst of all, he added, there appears to be no action or statement whatsoever from the government to stop the spread of such calls.
Eu pointed out that the word “Allah” to refer to God has been in use for hundreds of years in translations of and from the Bible in the Middle East and North Africa, and that Christians in those regions freely used the word “Allah” without complaints of confusion.
“Only in Malaysia when Christians use of the word “Allah” to refer to God is a problem for the Muslims,” he said.
“Bumiputera Christians, who only have Bahasa Malaysia as their common language for worship and prayer, have long used the Bahasa Malaysia Bible containing the word “Allah” for God without any uproar, resistance or objection. Why now?” he asked.
Judicial review
Since about 60% of the 2.6 million Christians in Malaysia used the word, “Allah” from the time they embraced the religion, the repeated accusations that the use of the word as part of a Christian conspiracy to convert Muslims did not hold water.
“This has been going on for centuries without any problems and we have lived in relative peace and harmony until recently,” he said.
“Such irresponsible accusations must stop. This is blatant scaremongering and provoking of religious tensions,” he said, while inviting all Muslims to “reflect, understand and appreciate the context of how, when and why Christians use the word, ‘Allah.’”
“In dealing with the use of the word “Allah” as with other inter-religious issues, there is a need for the truth instead of purely emotional rhetoric or use of base insults, or talk of plots and alleged conversions.”
On Feb 16, 2010, the church filed for a judicial review of the Home Ministry’s decision to prohibit the use of the word, “Allah” in The Herald publication.
Available in four languages, the publication has been using the word, “Allah” to refer to “God, in its Malay-language publication for Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.
On Dec 31, 2009, the High Court declared that the Home Ministry’s decision to prohibit The Herald from using the word, “Allah,” was illegal.
However, the government was adamant that the word, “Allah,” was exclusively Muslims.
The government then applied for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal.
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