KUALA LUMPUR,- The PAS Syura Council yesterday decided that non-Muslims should prevent the use of the word “Allah” in translations of their religious texts, but are free to use it orally.
Following weeks of controversy over the usage of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, the party’s religious council said that the Arabic word cannot be translated into or translated from other languages.
The council explained that the word “Allah” is a specific and holy word used to refer to the Muslims’ god.
“Therefore, translating the word God or Lord from any non-Muslim kitab agama (religious texts) to the word Allah tidak dibolehkan (cannot be allowed) because it is wrong from the aspect of meaning and wrong usage, does not fulfill the actual purpose and can bring about an obvious confusion.
“Therefore, it has to be prevented,” PAS’ spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and his deputy Datuk Dr Haron Din wrote in a statement yesterday.
But the PAS leaders said that the word “Allah” is a universal word and can be spoken by those who are not Muslims.
They said that this statement clarifies the meaning of the statement by the PAS spiritual adviser, the party’s president and the whole party leadership.
Political allies PAS and DAP had recently appeared to send mixed messages over the use of the word “Allah” by Christians in their Bahasa Malaysia bible, before the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership made their stand clear last week.
Last Tuesday, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang explained PR’s position, saying that non-Muslim communities should not abuse the word to spread confusion among Muslims, but said that this did not mean they were not allowed to use the word.
“Islam does not stop those of other faiths from using kallimah ‘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 read from a statement.
Last Monday, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said that the party maintains its 2010 stand that non-Muslims should not be forbidden from using the word “Allah” to describe their gods.
Abdul Hadi, a respected Islamic scholar, had in a statement dated January 7, 2010 said: “In conclusion, we cannot forbid them from using the word ‘Allah’ among themselves, in their worship and practice, even though the meaning deviates from the original according to our language.”
Last Tuesday, the Selangor Sultan issued a decree to bar non-Muslims in the state from using the word “Allah”.
“His majesty the Selangor Sultan has made a decision and decreed that the word ‘Allah’ is a sacred word specific to Muslims and is strictly forbidden for use by any non-Muslim religion in Selangor as stated in a fatwa and gazetted on 18 February 2010,” the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) secretary Datuk Mohd Misri Idris said in a statement.
The Selangor ruler had also instructed MAIS and the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (JAIS) to take firm action against all groups, including non-Muslims, who continued to question the state fatwa (edict) and a 1988 state law restricting the use of the word.
On the same day, the Sikh community said that any move to stop non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” in religious texts would restrict their freedom to practise their religion.
The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC), the umbrella body for Sikh temples, pointed out that the community also uses the word “Allah” in their religious texts.
The Muslim community has argued that the use of the word “Allah” should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word denotes the Muslim god.
-themalaysianinsider.com
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