http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090311/wl_nm/us_malaysia_religion_1
I think report by Niluksi is misleading. Over my life only recently that I found out that Malaysian Christians are using word "Allah" for God not word "Tuhan" as what normally referred to (for those in peninsular especially), when Herald - The Chatolic Weekly insist on to use the word in their publication... If Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew claimed that they should be allowed to use word Allah to promote use of National Language Bahasa Malaysia, he is wrong. Word Allah is an Arabic literally while the correct word for God in Bahasa Malaysia would be "Tuhan". Word Allah used by all Muslim all over the world with one mutual meaning, on the opposite Christian used different term and word for God tu suit place, people and objective. Word Allah is significant to Muslim not only literally, but in spiritually and akidah. To justify whether Christian religiously correct to use word Allah we have to look at it not only in literally but in religious aspect of each religion. What word Allah really meant? Generally it meant Oneness of God. Literally it is "the One" [1] , from root word of "ilah" (God) [1}and "Al" in arabic refer to specific one like "the" in English so "The One" and "ma'luh" meant (yang disembah). Inherently it meant He who has all the al-ilahiyyah (the ultimate power), al-ubudiyyah (servitude) over His creatures.
The use of word Allah can be traced back to first Prophet of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad (peace be upon them all) mutual teaching of them all lay on divine religion of pure monotheism of God. Islam is the only religion which recognizes and believes that all the prophets brought the same essential message[2]. This message was, still and will be the belief in and submission to ONE God (the Creator and the Sustainer of all things, the Exalted and the Redeemer of all things. The word Islam itself means "submission and surrendering" to God. Islam is the complete submission and obedience to Allah (God).When the teaching of previous prophet already deviated and changed for want of priest and people. The question of authenticity of Holy Book and Teaching came. Allah sent new prophet /religion to renew call for right path to Him. The Pure Monotheism of Islam calls all people to the worship of the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all of the other prophets. However, even though Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God — since there is only one God — their concepts concerning Him differ in some significant ways. The concept of Trinity would definitely against the meaning of Oneness of God of word Allah.
In Islam Jesus is a prophet of Allah, he is not a Allah’s son. The belief of Jesus as Allah/God’s son would negate the concept of Oneness of God lay in word Allah, literally and religiously. Christian in Western countries never used word Allah as God, Christian Arab speaker use word Allah al-‘Ab (God the Father), Christian in China and Japan chose word in their own language. Christian in Malaysia should use word “Tuhan” in Bahasa or “Tuhan Ayah” if they prefer to.
correct me if i'm wrong
The name Allah (God) in Islam never refers to Muhammad (pbuh), as many Christians may think; Allah is the personal name of God. What do Muslims believe about Allah?
1. He is the one God, Who has no partner.
2. Nothing is like Him. He is the Creator, not created, nor a part of His creation.
3. He is All-Powerful, absolutely Just.
4. There is no other entity in the entire universe worthy of worship besides Him.
5. He is First, Last, and Everlasting; He was when nothing was, and will be when nothing else remains.
6. He is the All-Knowing, and All-Merciful,the Supreme, the Sovereign.
7. It is only He Who is capable of granting life to anything.
8. He sent His Messengers (peace be upon them) to guide all of mankind.
9. He sent Muhammad (pbuh) as the last Prophet and Messenger for all mankind.
10. His book is the Holy Qur'an, the only authentic revealed book in the world that has been kept without change.
11. Allah knows what is in our hearts.[2]
Allah is the One, No God but Allah,
Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.Say: He is Allah, the One!Allah, the eternally Besought of all!He begetteth not nor was begotten.And there is none comparable unto Him.-Al-ikhlas Holy Quran
same God? Different teaching? Different way of life?
References
[1]http://www.islam.gov.my/ajaransesat/pdf/KALIMAH%20ALLAH.pdf
[2]http://en.allexperts.com/q/Islam-947/2008/10/meaning-Allah-1.htm
Malaysia Christians battle with Muslims over AllahBuzz UpBy Niluksi Koswanage Niluksi Koswanage – 1 hr 1 min ago
KENINGAU, Malaysia (Reuters) – Reciting the Catholic Creed, the 1,800-strong congregation attending mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Borneo island intones in Malay: "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of Allah."These Malaysian Catholics, like their brethren in Indonesia, have used the word "Allah" in place of "God" since converting to Christianity in the 19th century.But now the government in this mostly Muslim Southeast Asian nation of 27 million people wants to prevent "Allah" being used by Christians, saying it is subversive and aims to convert Muslims.Christians fear this is just the thin edge of the wedge."The government of West Malaysia has an infection of religious hatred. We have to fight back so it does not spread," said Bishop Cornelius Piong after Sunday Mass at the cathedral in the heart of a rice-growing district in eastern Sabah state.Christianity is practiced by 9.1 percent of the Malaysian population, according to the 2000 census, the most recently available figures. Many of them, like Bishop Piong, come from ethnic groups such as the Kadazandusun, Dayaks, Ibans and Bidayuh who live in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak."Our worship of Allah is so natural, it is part and parcel of the Kadazandusun people here," Piong said.The row over the use of Allah to describe the Christian God feeds into a long-running feud over conversions between the government of a country where all Malays must be Muslims and other faiths, such as Hinduism and Buddhism that are practiced by ethnic Indians and Chinese.MALAYS FRET OVER CONVERSIONIt is illegal in Malaysia to convert from Islam to any other religion although conversions to Islam are allowed.One of the biggest cases involved Lina Joy, a woman who wanted to convert to Christianity to marry her partner, who was baptized and applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian state.She lost a court battle two years ago to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card. All Malaysian identity cards carry a person's race and religion.It is cases such as these that worry Malaysian Muslim activists and officials and they see using the word Allah in Christian publications including bibles as attempts to proselytize.Those concerns led to the ban on the Catholic Herald newspaper's use of "Allah" to denote God. The Herald is now suing the government to overturn the ruling, made after it appeared the paper would be allowed to use "Allah" provided it stamped "For Christians" on the front page of the paper."Allowing Christians to use the word is dangerous because it's attacking the sole religion of the Malays," said Yusri Mohamad, president of the influential Muslim Youth Movement."We have to question Christians' motive for wanting to use this obviously Muslim word. It appears to be for conversions. All Muslim Malays in Malaysia are against this."Some leading Muslim scholars here say the issue is being blown out of proportion and that the risk of conversions among the 60 percent Muslim population is tiny.They see it as an attempt by the government that has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for 51 years since independence from Britain to hold on to power by identifying ethnicity with religion.The main ruling party in Malaysia is called the United Malay National Organization, and like its allies from Chinese and Indian parties, it is ethnically based."It is an irrational fear (of conversions) but a very powerful one," said Osman Bakar, the deputy head of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia. "Now the government has moved to setting up demarcations around the national language."SPILLING INTO POLITICSWhile the Kadazandusun and other indigenous people on Borneo hold the same privileges as Malays in preferential access to areas such education, loans and housing, the resource-rich states of Sabah and Sarawak are far poorer than peninsular Malaysia.Sabah and Sarawak have voted solidly for parties from the governing National Front coalition since the start of democratic rule in Malaysia.That hegemony is now under threat after the opposition scored its best-ever election result in 2008 when it deprived the government of its two-thirds parliamentary majority and ended up in control of five of Malaysia's 13 states.Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is now targeting the voters of Borneo in an effort to keep up pressure on the government and the first test will come in a state assembly by-election in Sarawak in early April.There may also be a chance for voters in a constituency near to St Francis Xavier to flex their muscles depending on a court decision on whether a move to disqualify three non-government parliamentary candidates was valid.For the people of Bishop Piong's congregation what happens in the battle over the use of "Allah" will certainly be an issue if the election is re-run."If the government wants to be nasty and stop people from using Allah, it can. But it may not work here. It's God's country here," said 28-year-old Teresa Palikat, a tailor, after attending Sunday Mass in Keningau district."If the elections happen, we will show them (the government) we are serious about Allah."
(Editing by David Chance and Bill Tarrant)
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