An uneducated and compliant rakyat is easily manipulated and in the “Allah” word debate, you can be sure that the “Allah” argument will resurface just before an election.
It is highly probable that the “A” word debate is kept on the back burner and brought to the boil whenever convenient, to influence the voting patterns of the Malays in an election, or to control the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.
Politicians from both sides of the political divide want to get involved as they are desperate to be seen as the saviour of Islam in Malaysia.
If only they would ask the rakyat for their views, because most of us are thoroughly fed up with the attention given to the “A” word.
We have so many pressing issues to discuss, but we keep returning to the “A” word. If its use is limited to only the Christians of East Malaysia, what about the thousands of Sarawakians and Sabahans who live and work in the peninsula? Are they not allowed to use Allah in their Sunday service?
There are more important topics to argue about, such as the cost of living crisis, the consequences of artificial intelligence on the working population and affordable health care for senior citizens or cheaper child care for working mothers. Instead, we go around in circles with the “Allah” debate.
Only the naïve will think that the “Allah” debacle is about religion. It is not!
The issue has three objectives: To confuse, frighten and demoralise.
Using religion as a cover, the “A” word is just a ruse, to control both Malays and non-Malays. With control, comes power. With power, comes the ability to do whatever they please, easy access to wealth and an enviable position in society and politics.
Earlier attempts to quash the public outrage which followed the “Allah” ruling included the ulamas warning Muslims who criticised the court verdict, that they would be considered infidels.
Malay extremists warned Christians who wanted to use the “A“ word that they should convert to Islam, or worse still, emigrate.
Those who claim to defend the name are insincere. Many failed to speak out on issues of corruption, mysterious disappearances, abuse of power, incest, indiscriminate killings and domestic abuse.
Instead, we have a frightened and demoralised rakyat, with many Malays being fearful of their faith being compromised, and Christians being unable to practise their faith properly.
Years ago, Jakim warned Muslims that the use of “Allah” in the Christian Bible will confuse Muslims because they would mistake the identity of “Allah” and destroy their own faith.
Jakim has a tendency to insult the Malays by portraying them as spineless and stupid.
It is also said that the debacle is not just about control but also about fear. The authorities are afraid, because they suspect, but they will not tell us if it is true, that many Malays are secretly converting to Christianity.
A converted Malay will never vote for Umno, PAS, or Bersatu. Moreover, Article 11 of the Federal Constitution does not apply to the Malays.
Who to blame?
If Malays are that easily confused, should we blame our teachers, our home environment and the quality of education we received?
Let us blame the Education Ministry. Perhaps, if Malays were better educated, they would not be so easily confused, when they read the word “Allah” in the Bible.
Actually, there is no confusion. The word has been used for hundreds of years in the Golden Chersonese or the Malay peninsula without any problems.
The word “Allah”, from the Aramaic language, has been used in the Middle East, by both Muslims and Christians for thousands of years. In Peninsular Malaysia, only fools want to copyright the “A” word.
The consequences of this debacle will mean that most of us will be pessimistic about our future. That is what the politicians want of us because we will be easier to control.
The debacle did not start in 2007 as many people think, but had its roots in 1986, when it was alleged that two letters were sent by the Home Ministry to the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM).
The letter contained a list of 23 prohibited words, not just “Allah”. Then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad issued this directive as part of his Islamisation drive, and to curtail the freedom of religion for non-Muslims, contrary to the rights which are enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
It was also a time when the Malays were gravitating away from Umno towards the then-opposition.
In order to break this hold on the Malays, Umno needed a plan that would divide Malay opinion, and so, the “Allah” issue was born. Most Malays were fine about the use of the word until politicians intervened.
Instead of banning the word, we should take up the suggestion of a journalist friend from Penang who said that politicians should be banned from talking about it.
Whilst we are at it, let’s also ban race-and-religious-based political parties, as well as religious NGOs.
When the word is removed from their vocabulary, perhaps, politicians will finally do some real work and focus on policies to improve our lives. - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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