Jakarta Post editor: No one has sole monopoly on God

Those who believe in one supreme God cannot say there is a God for Muslims and a God for Christians, said a senior editor at Indonesian daily Jakarta Post in reaction to the court decision in Malaysia declaring that ‘Allah' is exclusive to Muslims.

In an opinion pieceyesterday, Endy M Bayuni (left) argued that believing that there are different deities for different religions is believing in polytheism.

"No one who believes in the power of one supreme God can really claim exclusivity. There is no such thing as the God for Catholics, just as there is no such thing as the God or Allah for Muslims.

"Those who claim exclusivity to God undermine their own faith, and inadvertently or not, preach polytheism," he wrote in the piece which ranked high on the website's most viewed list.

Endy, who is also a founding member of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ), said that while one religion may profess closer proximity to God, it cannot claim exclusivity.

He said that monotheism is the foundation of the Abrahamic faiths - including Judaism, Christianity and Islam - and it entails that their followers pray to the same God Almighty.

"Can Muslims, who profess belief in One Almighty God, seriously claim exclusivity in God?" he asked.

He added that religious exclusivism "goes against the grain of Islamic teachings and most major world religions".

"Every monotheistic religion will obviously claim exclusivity in their proximity to God, but that is not the same thing as claiming that God only listens to them and no one else."

Ironically, he said, it is a court in Malaysia, a country which prides itself in multiculturalism, which had "formalised" this practice.

Bad influence

A contributor to the Washington Post's ‘PostGlobal' page, Endy also warned that this could lead to growing extremism in a region which claims to practice a more moderate strand of Islam.

He expressed fears that the exclusivity debate could spread to Indonesia, a country with the world's largest Muslim population and a sizable Christian minority.

"It's only a matter of time before someone takes the cue from Malaysia and starts raising objections to non-Muslims using the word ‘Allah'," he said.

"But there is only a thin line dividing tolerance and intolerance, so we should not take this moderation for granted," he said.

"With the rising exclusivism that the Muslim majorities in these two countries are pushing, we may be witnessing the Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia becoming less and less tolerant. In fact, it may already be happening.

"Which begs the question: Is there anyone in this country that is pushing for more religious inclusivism?"

Earlier, Emirati newspaper The National published an editorial condemning the Court of Appeal decision as "wrong", arguing that ‘Allah' is freely used by non-Muslims in the Arab world.