Zaid: Let Christians use 'Allah', but bar conversions

The prime minister and the Malay Rulers can look to a resolution of the ‘Allah’ controversy by allowing Christians to use the term in their prayers, publications and in the Malay Bible.

However, this must be in exchange for Christians supporting an enactment to protect Muslims from conversions.

This proposal was made by former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Zaid Ibrahim (right) in his latest blog posting titled ‘The Way to end the Allah row’.

“Proselytising to Muslims has long been illegal. Thus, effectively punishing evangelists who break the law ought to offend no one. At the same time, the PM and other authorities must urge Muslims to respect the beliefs of Christians in the country.

“If Christians say ‘Allah’ is integral to their scriptures and their faith, then let’s accept that and move on. Equally, Christians should affirm that they will respect the rights of Muslims to practise their faith undisturbed.

“No one should engage in deceitful, coercive or unlawful activities to convert anyone else - it’s not only illegal but morally repugnant,” he said in the posting.

Zaid also said the situation should remain status quo as was done prior to 1988, when such a ban on the use of ‘Allah’ and other words were imposed on faiths other than Islam.

He noted that PM Najib Abdul Razak in his recent speech said that he was not interested in who won or lost in  the legal argument (involving The Herald Catholic Weekly) as all the PM wanted was peace and harmony.

Zaid, in paraphrasing what the PM said, stated that what Najib was saying to the Christians is “The Muslims have won the legal argument and thus have exclusive rights to use of the word ‘Allah’. I have said I would defend this exclusiveness at the recent Umno general assembly. I will not change my stance, so let’s move on for the sake of peace and harmony.”

Hoping Najib has a change of heart and head

As we enter 2014, Zaid hopes God will win over Najib’s heart and also his head.

“Firstly, the PM must know Christians consider the use of ‘Allah’ to be integral to their faith despite the ‘finding of fact’ by the Court of Appeal that it was not.

“Ask Christians leaders, or even Pope Francis, if the word is indeed of such importance. It is a question of fact, so make an honest finding. If it is so, then Najib and the Malay Rulers must behave like leaders and withdraw the ruling under which ‘Allah’ and 32 other words were prohibited 20 years ago,” he said.

Hence, the former minister said the PM and Malay rulers should convene a special meeting on this subject and discuss the matter with detachment and clarity and return to the pre-1988 status quo.

Zaid noted presently, everyone keeps talking without even knowing what exactly they are saying.

“Some said the ban on the word ‘Allah’ was restricted to The Heraldalone. Later the same people said that the ban extended beyond The Herald and could not be used in peninsular Malaysia at all - but was still acceptable in Sabah and Sarawak.”

These same leaders then changed their minds again and said that ‘Allah’ was exclusive to Muslims everywhere in the country. This repeated public display of utter confusion is an international embarrassment and must stop.”

Reason for concern

There must have been a reason for the controversy, Zaid said and it was due to a real concern at that time that some Christian evangelists were aggressively converting Muslims.

“Although Muslims are legally protected from being “converted”, this had not prevented some groups from attempting to do so anyway.

“The issue of conversion or proselytising Muslims is a separate issue and must be dealt with carefully in a way that will not upset Christians. The majority of Christians respect the laws of the country and I don’t think they will mind if the government were to set up a special task force to look into conversions.”

Here, Zaid said, is where the PM and the Malay Rulers can make this point to Muslims.

“In exchange for the use of the word ‘Allah’ by the Christians in their prayers, publications and the Malay Bible, Christians in turn will support the enactment of special laws and enforcement mechanisms to protect Muslims from any conversion,” he said, adding that if one looks at the existing laws on prohibiting the use of ‘Allah’, the title to these laws and regulations are self-explanatory.

The Selangor enactment, for example, he said refers to the promulgation of laws for the protection and control of Muslims from other faiths.

“The raison d’être of this ban is to protect Muslims from forced conversion, which is a legitimate concern that has not been addressed openly enough.  Few ask, for example, what makes some Muslims susceptible to conversion in the first place.

“Unfortunately, and unknown to Muslim politicians, the word ‘Allah’ is very much a part of Christian linguistic tradition (to say the least) in this country. The ban was a knee-jerk reaction that caused widespread animosity between the Muslims and the Christians. It’s not too late to revisit the matter for the sake of the country.”