Debra Chong
An umbrella body representing Malaysia’s Protestant churches said today Christians nationwide have been calling their god “Allah” in their worship for centuries and will continue exercising their constitutional right to do so, notwithstanding a Selangor state decree barring the term from them.
The heads of churches of the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) said it had noted the current discourse over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.
The church leaders who are meeting in Ipoh, reiterated that they have been using “Allah” in Malay-language bibles “for centuries” and that many indigenous communities here have incorporated the word that was of Arabic origin as part of their everyday language.
“That being the case, we shall continue this practice ― a right guaranteed to us in our Federal Constitution (Article 11) ― and call on all parties to respect this fundamental right,” they said in a statement to The Malaysian Insider.
The CCM clergymen’s statement comes on the heels of a similar statement issued yesterday by the umbrella body for all Sikh temples in the country.
The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) added that any move to stop non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” in a religious text would be a restriction on Sikhs from practising their religion.
“The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) is saddened to note that a decree has been issued by His Highness the Sultan of Selangor that non-Muslims in the state are banned from using the word Allah as it is a holy word exclusive to Muslims.
“The MGC is further dismayed that no exceptions have been made in the decree,” MGC president Jagir Singh said in a statement.
Sultan Sharafuddin has called for an emergency meeting with state Islamic religious officials to bar non-Muslims from using the Arabic word for god, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) said yesterday.
The statement from the state’s highest Islamic authority came despite a High Court ruling in December 2009 that the word “Allah” was not restricted to Muslims and the Catholic Church had the right to publish the word in the Malay section of its weekly newspaper, Herald.
Despite the Selangor Sultan’s latest decree banning non-Muslims in the state from using the word “Allah”, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) confirmed today its stand on the controversy, insisting that Islam does not prohibit others from using the word.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang told a joint press conference with PR leaders in Petaling Jaya yesterday that Christians and other non-Muslim communities should not abuse the word to spread confusion among Muslims but this did not mean they were not allowed to use the word.
“Islam does not stop those of other faiths from using kalimah ‘Allah’ in their practice, although [in the usage of the word by non-Muslims] it does not refer to the original meaning of the word as according to the al-Quran,” he said.
The “Allah” storm was reignited recently when Lim Guan Eng, the opposition DAP’s secretary-general, raised the controversial issue in his Christmas message urging the federal government to lift its ban on the word published in the Malay bibles shipped in to Sabah and Sarawak, who form the bulk of Malaysia’s 9.2 per cent Christian population.
In recent years, the Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim god.
Shipments of the Alkitab, the Malay-language Bible catering to the Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Bumiputera Christians, were blocked or confiscated at ports, before the government finally bowed to pressure and released them in 2011.
The Sikhs, however, were not barred from using “Allah” in their worship until the Selangor Sultan’s latest decree.
friends please understand 1 thing we as experts in our uwn field we are per occupied with what we do BUT THE POLITICIAN HAS NO WORK FROM MORNING TO MIGHT MORE SO THE POLITICIAN IN MALAYSIA FOR EVERYTHING IN MALAYSIA IS RUN BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR SO CAN U GUESS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY AS IDEAL MIND IS A DEVIL WORKSHOP THE STATEMENT OF THE WORD ALLAH IS A LONG TERM SOLUTION FOR MALAYSIA THAT IS TO SAY SLOWLY BUT SURELY THEY THAT IS UMNO WANTS TO INCREASE THE MUSLIM POPULATION SO ONCE THEY ARE MAX THEN THERE WILL BE NO BERSIH RALLY ETC PLEASE DO NOT PAY TO MUCH ATTENTION ON THIS PLEASE GO ALL OUT TO CHANGE THIS GOVT THEN ALL BE OK MI BET U. GOOD LUCK
Comment by selva — January 10, 2013 @ 7:17 PM |
Subject: Population Re-Engineering by Johan Bakri
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST WRITTEN SUMMARIES OF UMNO’S POPULATION RE-ENGINEERING POWER GAME-
KETUANAN MELAYU & MELAYU RAYA = UMNO MALAY SUPREMACIST NAZI IDEAS
Population Re-Engineering by Johan Bakri
Dear friends
This is of interest to those watching the development of Malaysia and Singapore I am currently reading two books in parallel:
1] The March to Putrajaya This is about the recent and current happenings in Malaysia. It is the first book I am reading as an e-book
2] Men in White. This is the history of Singapore for the last 50 years
The contrast is most enlightening; not that one has to read the books to know. The books spells out the minutiae that is not intended for the public eyes. Needless to say the former is banned in Malaysia.
UMNO and Population Engineering by Hussein Abd Hamid Since 1957 UMNO has effectively carried out the population engineering of our country to ensure its long-term survival by creating the myth of a two pronged “Ketuanan Melayu”.
“Ketuanan Melayu” for the Malay masses who are lull into a feeling of being superior over the non-Malays because of their numbers and “Ketuanan Melayu” for the UMNO Malay political elites through the accumulation of massive material wealth for themselves and their cronies.
And while UMNO has failed by almost any measure you chose to gauge them – good governance or morality – without question they have succeeded too well in the engineering of the population of this country of ours.
The duplicity of UMNO in proclaiming Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara while all the while undertaking a relentless program to whittle down the numbers of the non-Malays through very precise and focused initiatives is breathtaking in its effectiveness!
Consider this: In 1957: – 45% of the population are Chinese. – 12% of the population are Indians.
In 2010 – 25% of the population are Chinese. – 7% of the population are Indians. Over 600,000 Chinese and Indian Malaysians with red IC were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship and possibly 80% of them had passed away due to old age.
Since 1957: – 2 million Chinese have emigrated. – 0.5 million Indians have also emigrated overseas. – 3 million Indonesians migrated to Malaysia to become Malaysian citizens with Bumiputra status.
Now the non-Malays are well aware of this tinkering and engineering of our population and it would do us Malays no good to say that it was UMNO doing and that we had no hand in what happened. As a Malay I was then comfortable that UMNO was the dominant partner in the Barisan Nasional. It was comforting to know that Malays controlled four of the five major banks.
Education? Between 1968 to 2000: – 48 Chinese Primary Schools closed down. – 144 Indian Primary Schools closed down. – 2637 Malay Primary Schools were built.
Of the total government budget for these schools 2.5% were for the Chinese Primary Schools, 1% for the Indian Primary School and 96.5% for the Malay Primary School .
Petronas Petrol Stations? Of the 2000 stations the Malays owned 99%.
Yes we Malays were indeed in control. In control of what?
We were in control of the all the business licenses and permits for Taxis and Approved Permits.
We were in control of Government contracts of which 95% were given to Malays.
We were in control of the Rice Trade through Bernas that bought over 80% of Chinese Rice Millers in Kedah.
We were in control of UMBC, MISC and Southern Bank – all previously owned by Chinese. We were in control of bus companies. Throughout Malaysia MARA buses could be seen plying all the routes.
Non-Malays were simply displaced by having their application for bus routes and for new buses rejected.
Every new housing estate built had a mosque or a surau. None, I repeat “no” temples or churches were built for any housing estate!
So why with control over all these highly visible entities and business opportunities are the Malays still unable to stand tall and with pride over and above the non-Malays?
We are unable to so do because it was not the Malays that benefited from these opportunities – UMNO did.
Why must UMNO constantly harp about the need to spoon feed the Malays – about ketuanan Melayu when it is already in place and about Bumiputra status and all the privileges and rights that goes with that status?
And as a Malay I want to ask the non-Malays why do you still choose to live in a country whose government has by its actions and deeds done whatever it could to make you not feel welcome?
The non-Malays I know have all told me the same thing – Malaysia is their country – they know of no other country they can call their own. And so they stay and put up with the abuses.
The difference now is that there are enough Malays who are shamed by the antics of this Malay political organization called UMNO. There are enough Malays to tell the non-Malays that we feel your pain.
We understand your frustrations and despair at not being treated as equals in a country you call your own. And enough non-Malays have migrated abroad to cause our country to understand that their loss is another country’s gain. A loss, which our country can ill afford to sustain.
And more importantly all this ground swell of disgust and contempt at UMNO has manifested itself in a way these political idiots understand – losing our votes in the 12th General Elections. Amen for that.
And so we wait for the 13th General Election which we hope will dish out the relevant karma for UMNO and its Barisan Nasional partners. Meantime understand what they have done to us all – not only the non-Malays but also to the Malays and do not allow Barisan Nasional to play the race card and start their divide and rule antics on us anymore.
You are one with me we are two.
—————————————————————————
HIGH TIME TO WAKE UP FROM OUR COMFORT ZONE…….ALL OF YOU OUT THERE…
MALAYSIA IS NOT DOING ALRIGHT AT ALL…IT IS STILL NOT TOO LATE…..
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL !!!
FOR THOSE WHO KNOW WELL, SHOULD PASS THE MESSAGE AROUND TO
THOSE WHO ARE STILL SLEEPING. MAY GOD HELP US…TO HELP
OURSELVES.
Johan Bakri
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
SABAH APPEARS TO HAVE OVER HALF OF THOSE 3 MILLION INDONESIANS!
Comment by NEWSITEMS — January 10, 2013 @ 6:26 PM |
Yusri….you are a joke to the religion itself.
Comment by Hard Rod — January 10, 2013 @ 6:02 PM |
To the Malays…..why dont the Malaysian Fatwa council goes to the Arab world and tell they can not use the word ALLAH?
Comment by Hard Rod — January 10, 2013 @ 5:38 PM |
To Yusni….. what does Fatwa has to do with Non Muslim? To everybody know that ALLAH is ARABIC word…..not Malay/Islamic word!
Comment by Hard Rod — January 10, 2013 @ 5:37 PM |
Why should we stop just because somebody tells us to. ALLAH is universal,not exclusive as some narrow minded and selfish individuals are peddling to us. These people should move to the Middle East for a better understanding of ALLAH!
Comment by brian — January 10, 2013 @ 2:48 PM |
The Sultan of Selangor has embroiled himself in UMNO’s religious agenda.
Comment by Mohd Ramli — January 10, 2013 @ 10:25 AM |
UMNO USING SULTAN TO STIR UP RACE & RELIGION ISSUES!
Comment by Anon — January 10, 2013 @ 12:55 PM |
Comment by Allah Whose God? — January 10, 2013 @ 7:58 AM |