Cranky Thoughts & Muses

Sabah church sues PM over book ban

December26

It’s Christmas! Jesus is the reason we celebrate today! And I am glad to read this the moment I got to MalaysiaKini.com. Truly God blessed news.

As explained by a commentor, AK:

He is establishing a new order through his ignorance.
Both the Bible and the Koranstems from a common root-the Abrahamic root. And the minister(?) doesnt seem to know that there are also Arab Christians. e.g, one of the earliest Christian community in Egypt-the Coptic christian are still alive and well in Egypt. Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey have their own christian population. And these christians use Allah in reference to their christian GOD. Allah is simply GOD in Arabic language. He seems to think that he has become a champion of the islamic faith in Malaysia, but in so doing, he actually bring shame unto himself, the country, and his religion. May ALLAH bless him?

_{Soon Li Tsin

MalaysiaKini.com

24 December 2007}

A Sabah church has sued the government and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his capacity as internal security minister for not allowing the import of Christian literature from Indonesia containing the word ‘Allah’.

Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Church president Pastor Jerry Dusing filed the suit on behalf of the church at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Dec 10 after six titles for their Sunday school education for children were banned from being imported.

The church is also asking the court to compel the minister to return the consignment of materials that were ‘unlawfully detained’ by customs officers at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal on Aug 15.

According to letters from the ministry, the books were banned because the Bahasa Indonesia publications contained various words that are exclusive only to Islam.

The words in contention are ‘Allah’ (God), ‘Baitullah’ (House of God), ‘Solat’ (prayer) and ‘Kaabah’ (The Sacred House).

The letters state that the ministry is allowed to stop any propagation of religious doctrine or belief to Muslims in accordance with Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution allowing certain words to be restricted and prohibited from use.

The ministry explained that the prohibition was due to the uneasiness felt in the community during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the issue has become sensitive and been classified as a security issue.

It also stated further that the publications can raise confusion and controversy in the Malaysian society.

Dursing’s affidavit rebuts several of these points including the use of Alkitab - the Bahasa Indonesia translation of the Holy Bible - where the word ‘Allah’ appears.

“The Christian usage of ‘Allah’ predates Islam. ‘Allah’ is the name of God in the old and the modern Arabic Bible.

“The Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia translations of the Holy Bible have been used by Christian native peoples in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak for generations,” it stated.

Educational purpose

He also noted that the publications was for educational purposes within the church and was not for sale or distribution outside the church.

“The publications will not be made available to members of the public and in particular to a person professing the religion of Islam.

“The publications contain nothing which is likely to cause public alarm or which touches on the sensitivities of Islam,” the affidavit read.

A range of constitutional provision were also raised by the applicants. The hearing for the application for leave in the Kuala Lumpur High Court is scheduled to take place on Dec 27.

The controversy over the use of ‘Allah’ in non-Islam publications recently surfaced when Herald - the largest Catholic newspaper - was facing problems when renewing its annual publishing permit because of the word ‘Allah’ was used in referring to ‘God’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

The ministry has told the publisher to remove the entire Bahasa Malaysia section or the permit will not be renewed when it expires next week.

Asked for an explanation on the matter, Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum said the word ‘Allah’ can only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religion.

The Herald, which is published in four languages - English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil - has a circulation of 12,000.

What is our government trying to prove? The savior for the religion, Islam? I hope this suit will serve as a reminder to them that they are not GOD themselves. The real GOD will take things in His own hands, if there is a need for that. Like I said, I hope they will be punished for their deeds.

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4 Comments to

“Sabah church sues PM over book ban”

On December 26th, 2007 at 5:24 am douglas210 Says:
Hi Daphne,

Thanks for posting the article from Malaysiakini. Our subscription with them ran out a couple of years ago and I couldn’t get to the article until I saw it in your blog.

I tell my Malaysian wife (Puteri, of Puteri’s Musings blog) that Malaysia will not be truly “Multicultural” until it has a National Cathedral and National Temple AS WELL AS a National Mosque.

Merry Christmas from California!

Douglas

[Reply]
daphne reply on December 26th, 2007:

You’re welcome Douglas. Merry Christmas to you. Yeah I believe I have came across Puteri’s blog. Will keep her blog in mind.

Our government is too petty and afraid to the extent that they don’t even dare to allow other religions to have a free stand in the country. This is truly pathetic.

[Reply]
On December 27th, 2007 at 9:24 pm Tuhan, Dewa, Allah for wording of the Constitution? « Shariah @ National Law Says:
[...] Daphne’s Musings » Blog Archive » Sabah church sues PM over book ban [...]
On January 20th, 2008 at 12:56 pm michael chick Says:
As I understand it, the word “Allah” is a derivative word of the Sanskrit language. Similes would be Akka and Amba. This should come as no surprise as the original 360 deity statues were of Hindu origin anyway, as was King Vikramadiya’s inscription on the golden dish contained within the Ka’abah itself. The same black stone contained within the Kaabah is called the “Hajra Aswad”. Ironically the Hindu Lingghi or Lingham, is also called the Sanghey Ashweta. Both words have their origins in the Sanskrit language. Please consult your favorite linguist for verification. I stress linguist, and NOT religious advocate, to reduce any possible “unbiasness”. (geseran Bahasa)

Coming back to the name “Allah”, it has been established that the Sanskrit language translates it as “Mother”, or “Goddess”, or “Mother Goddess”. This appellation has been retained by the Muslims, some say as a form of continuity, and for the ease of transition of the people’s religion of the middle-east from Hinduism and Paganism to Islam. Mecca was already the pilgrimage focal-point of the Hindus & Pagan Arabs as their Holy Site for centuries pre-dating the birth of the prophet Muhammad (real name Ahmad). In fact, the grandfather of Prophet Muhammad (saw) was one of the keepers of the then Pagan Ka’abah. One of his duties included the daily cleaning of the 360 golden pagan statues contained within this Holy Place.

The parallel Christian story is, that Dec 25th was really the Birthday of Horus (Son of Isis 4,000bc) and NOT the birthday of Jesus. The Roman Pope “canonized” it to minimize the transitional “shock” from Paganism to Roman Catholism. Thus, certain “traditions” are kept for ease of religious transitional purposes.

To preserve inter-faith religious harmony, I will not get into the discussions of the shaving of heads, or the perambulations as practiced by both the Hindu and Islamic religions when performing pilgrimage at the Kaa’bah. It raises too may doctrinal questions.

I will however, highlight:
Surah 3 verse 48
“And He (Allah) will teach him the Scripture, and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel(Bible).”
Also:
Surah 3 verse 3
”He (Allah) hath revealed unto thee the Scripture with Truth, confirming that which was before it even as He (Allah) revealed the Torah and the Gospel (Bible).”

You might also want to read about the additional definitions of the name of Allah at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah for even more alternative views.

So perhaps the Christian Community should NOT be using the term “Allah” in their Alkitab, even though Khadijah’s cousin, Waraqah (Christian Pastor), had been preaching Christianity using the same name of “Allah” from his Arabic Talmud/Torah and his Injil/ Kitab (book of Matthew only). Although the Christian community may be historically correct when using the term “Allah”, they may face some inferred “paganistic conflicts” as the term “Allah” also has female connotations in the Sanskrit origin of its derivative. They should instead be adhering to either Yahweh, Yehovah among the many other names of God so as to be more theologically “accurate”. Christianity after all, insist that their God is a He.

Final Word, IMHO, Christians should NOT use the term “Allah” in their Alkitab or any other publication when referring to their God.

“Uncle” Pak Lah, maybe you should have let the “INTER-FAITH” Conference proceed instead of canceling it. Now you have a very confused nation. Each citizen not fully understanding one another’s religions. Leaving everyone in a very confused and sorry state.

[Reply]