LET THE CONSTITUTION PREVAIL! Is Najib hinting to Christians to GIVE UP use of ALLAH?

GEORGE TOWN — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today urged Muslims and Christians to stop the increasingly acrimonious fight over “Allah”, warning that continued conflict over the Arabic word for God may irreparably harm ties between the faiths.

In his address at the National Christmas Open House celebration here, he said both Christianity and Islam have common roots and are Abrahamic religions.

“However, there are differences in the faiths of the two biggest religions in the world so the concept of God in Islam and in Christianity are quite different.”

“But, if we continue to fight over this, it will only serve to damage the relationship between Muslims and Christians,” he said.

He noted that the Muslims may not be able to accept the Christian interpretation on the concept of God and vice versa for the Christians.

“So, rather than choosing this path of fighting over these differences, it is better that we find a common ground to preserve the peace, harmony and stability of the country,” he said in his speech at the Esplanade here.

He told both groups to understand the sensitivities of each others’ religions so as not to offend one another.

“Muslims should not hurt the feelings of Christians and likewise, Christians should not hurt the feelings of Muslims,” he said.

He also referred to a point by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in the latter’s speech earlier that there should be love and compassion between the two faiths.

“Even in Islam, we emphasised on love, compassion and mutual respect so if only we can find common values amongst different religions, then we can promote and upkeep the peace, harmony and stability,” he said.

He added that he is not interested in winning an argument or in winning a legal argument but his main concern is on pursuing harmony, peace and stability for the country.

Doubletalk

Earlier, Najib had said the importance of harmony, peace and stability that he likened to oxygen and said he was committed to maintaining these as prime minister.

“Like oxygen, we have taken it for granted but when we don’t have oxygen, we realised we can’t breathe, we need it and that it is very important to us,” he said.

The tussle over the “Allah” arose in 2008 when Catholic newspaper The Herald was ordered by the Home Ministry to stop using the word “Allah”. The Catholic Church had contested this in court and won a High Court decision in 2009 upholding its constitutional right to do so.

Putrajaya later appealed the decision and successfully overturned the earlier decision when the Court of Appeal ruled this October that “Allah” was not integral to the Christian faith.

The ruling has since sparked confusion over the use of the word by Christians in their worship, especially with conflicting opinions within the government itself on how far the ruling would affect practising Christians.

Since the ruling, churches in Sabah and Sarawak have become more vocal in pressing for their right to use the term that they say is entrenched in the 20- and 18-point agreements with the two states, insisting they will continue their age-old practice of referring to God as “Allah” in their worship and in their holy scriptures.

Islamic groups and authorities have of late also stepped up their “vigilance” against non-Muslims over their use of the word “Allah”, with a closed-door Christian event in Selangor now reportedly the subject of an investigation by the state Islamic religious department.

The Catholic Church has since appealed to the country’s top court this week for clarity on the religious row that has drawn deep lines between Malaysia’s non-Muslim minorities and its 60 per cent Muslim population. - Malay Mail