Politicising God?

As the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak can use the word 'Allah', we now have a bizarre 1Malaysia. Is this the Utopian 1Malaysia as mooted by our Prime Minister?

COMMENT

The saga concerning the use of the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God is still continuing as the Catholic Church has indicated that it will appeal the court decision barring The Herald (the Catholic weekly published by the Catholic Church’s KL Archdiocese) from using the ‘Allah’ word in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its publication which caters to the native Christian Bumiputeras.

In the meantime, the debate continues.

However, PAS legal counsel, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin who is also the Sepang MP has said, “Truth be told, Allah is not the exclusive possession of any Muslim. The non-exclusivity of Allah to the Muslims is in fact derived from Muslim’s main sources of guidance, i.e., the Holy Quran and the Hadith.

“The first chapter of the Quran known as Al Fatihah (The Opening Chapter) categorically states that Allah is the God of the universe embracing all mankind. Allah, as far as Islam is concerned, transcends racial and religious boundaries. Be that as it may, I am indeed puzzled when some Muslims vehemently assert the exclusive right to use the word ‘Allah’ to the exclusion of others.”

Hanipa also mentioned that in the Hudaibiyyah treaty, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had allowed the Meccan infidels to use the word ‘Allah’ despite the fact that they had a different understanding of the word.

That the word ‘Allah’ is not to be confined to Muslims is indeed the opinion of many great Muslim scholars such as Dr Yusuf Al Qardhawi and Dr Wahbah Zuhaily. In subscribing to such a view, these Muslim scholars in fact, among others, relied on the above quoted verse from Al Fatihah as their basis.

“Thus any different stand deviating from such a view, I believe, has nothing to do with religion. Unfortunately preconceived fear among the majority of Muslims in this country, fueled by provocative and irresponsible elements contributes to this sad state of affairs,” said the Sepang MP.

As the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak can use the word ‘Allah’, we now have a bizarre ’1Malaysia’. Is this the Utopian ’1Malaysia’ as mooted by our Prime Minister?

Hanipa also informed this columnist that “the right of the non-Muslims to freedom of religion in Article 11 is definitely not unlimited. The Christians are constitutionally protected to profess and practice Christianity and such a right definitely includes the right to use the word ‘Allah’ in the ‘Herald’ which is a newsletter exclusively for the Christians. So long as ‘Herald’ is distributed to Christians only – despite the word ‘Allah’ appearing in it – the Federal Constitution will recognise and jealously protect it. No law or minister can supersede such a fundamental right.”

Of course the Herald cannot be distributed to Muslims because it is tantamount to propagation. Article 11(4) prevents the Herald from doing so. To its credit, there is no evidence whatsoever proving that the Herald has been distributed to Muslims.

Added Hanipa, “If at all there is any proof that the Herald has been distributed to Muslims, it would be an offence not because there is Allah’s name in the publication. Any Christian publication distributed to Muslims obviously contravenes Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution irrespective of whether the word ‘Allah’ appears or is absent therein.”

The man on the street

That is all very well. However, many Muslims in the Peninsula are unhappy that the Christians want to use the word ‘Allah’ in the Catholic newsletter.

And who are these Muslims? They are none other than the ordinary man-in-the-street: the bus driver, the despatch rider, the fruit-stall owner, etc. These people are obviously not the readers of FMT or other online news portals.

They could not be bothered with intellectual dialogue concerning law and etymology and they are steadfast in their stand that the word ‘Allah’ is exclusive to Muslims only.

“Here in Malaysia, race is tied to religion. A Malay must be a Muslim but in the Middle-East, an Arab may not necessarily be a Muslim. In Malaysia when a non-Malay embraces Islam, he is said not only to ‘masuk Islam’ but also ‘masuk Melayu’,” said Khalid Samad, the PAS Shah Alam MP.

Khalid’s words ring true indeed.

Way back in 1995, this columnist represented the KL Archdiocese in a forum in Rome and had the opportunity to chat with a Jordanian named Khaled Akasheh and an Egyptian named Samir Khalil Samir.

Both men are Catholic priests and are highly-intellectual theologians although from their names you can never tell.

Here in Malaysia, a name such as Khalid Samad must be Muslim as race, religion and politics is all interlinked in Malaysia.

Thus the situation is not that simple for the Catholic Church here. It is best to pray for wisdom and discernment before proceeding with the next course of action.

Anyway, all this bickering about God is only giving Mephistopheles a good laugh. As it is, there is already enough problems on earth such as how to cope with the ever-rising cost of living.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist.