The Catholic Weekly was supposedly permitted to use the word “Allah”
Just recently when the Herald - The Catholic Weekly was supposedly permitted to use the word “Allah” in its Malay publication, The Star today has reported that Herald is not allowed to use the word “Allah” anymore in its publications, due to its claims that “Allah” is the word specifically to refer to God in Islamic context. In order to avoid confusions, “Allah” shall only be reserved for the use of Muslims to refer to their God and that other religions should only refer to God as “God” in their own publications. What they have failed to understand is that “Allah”, like “Jehovah” in English or “YHWH” in the Tetragrammaton, refers to the same God worshipped by Abraham. Little do many people know that Islam, Christianity and Judaism are grouped together as Abrahamic religion because these three religions come from the same root, that is the root of Abraham. “Allah” is “Jehovah” or “YHWH” in Arabic. This is not blasphemy! This is fact! There have been translations of the Bible in the Malay language, and to prove that what I have written is not baseless, refer to the following excerpt: Picture courtesy of http://www.worldscriptures.org/pages/malay.html The excerpt above was taken from the Gospel According to John, and the English translation, as taken from the New King James Version, would be as thus: (1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (4) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (7) This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. (8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. (9) That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. Let’s look at the following translation in Arabic:  Picture courtesy of http://www.worldscriptures.org/pages/arabic.html Sure enough. I understand not a word of it in Arabic, but I just want to draw your attention towards the word I highlighted in a rectangle, and compare that word to the following:  Picture courtesy of http://www.livingislam.org/k/allah_gr.jpg Tell me now, is it not the same to the one I highlighted in the Arabic translation of the Bible? And do you know what is the word I have highlighted? Simple. It is “Allah”. One was taken from the excerpt of the Gospel According to John of the Holy Bible, and the other one was just taken from Living Islam. Both “Allah” are the same. Both refer to the same God they worship. Both refer to the God worshipped by Abraham. Therefore, is this not just merely a matter of language? I have no idea what other people would say, but I believe the Internal Security Ministry is going to face some hard time on this issue. Fair enough, words like “Kaabah”, “Solat” and such are indeed from the Islamic context, but “Allah” is just “God” in Arabic. Therefore, if it is the same, why can’t the Herald use “Allah” in its weekly publications, then? If this publication is going to benefit those who are comfortable about using Bahasa Malaysia. If the Ministry is worried that there will be confusions among Muslims in Malaysia, then it should be the duty of religious teachers and the Ministry itself to educate the people, especially Muslims, that “Allah” is Arabic for the Tetragrammaton “YHWH”, which is originally Hebrew, and means “God”, or “Lord”. It is important to educate the people, and not shy away just like that. I can somehow hear people shouting “Blasphemy! Heretic!” Correct me if I am wrong, and bring forth your evidence. Let us share views openly. |
posted by Francis Xavier at 5:06 PM
