Comments on: Herald permit: Divide-and-rule rears its ugly head?

By: jerrymohan

jerrymohan — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:17:32 +0000

The government’s control of the word “Allah” proves that religious freedom in Malaysia is threatened.

It’s a mockery of Article 11 of the Federal Constiturion which guarantees freedom of religion.

By: anilnetto

anilnetto — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:22:20 +0000

Well, by now, the permit has been approved, but the Cabinet has banned the use of several terms such as “Allah”.

Of course, doing the will of God is more important than outward displays of religiosity, which incidentally is not confined to just Catholics. I mean there are are so many people who profess to be Christians but who are actually materialistic and store up worldly treasures in violation of Jesus’ exhortation.

Sure, there are bigger problems in this world, which I often blog about. While some may not consider it a big deal what word they use to address God, as long as they do his will, it is a bit scary that a government can dictate to members of a particular religious group what words they can and cannot use to address the Almighty. If a government can do that, then there is little that would be beyond it.

As for Eloi and Allah, there is an intense discussion about whether they share a common root word. Just google Eloi Allah at the same time… See also Mak Jun Yeen’s comment above.

By: Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe Mutombo — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:34:11 +0000

What’s the big issue. If they dont allow Allah, just use Tuhan. What’s the big deal. Dont the Catholics have better things to do. Maybe the Archbishop who eagerly accepted his Datukship can prove he is not one of the many useless Datuks running around by using his Datuk link to get the permit. I’m sure he didnt accept the title for self glory but instead to forge a better relationship with the government.

And no, Eloi sounds like Eloi and not Allah. Go blog about something else, like why religiosity is more important to most Catholics than actually doing the will of God.

By: Sivin Kit’s Garden » Random Links 206 (”Boxing Day” Malaysia edition)

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 04:15:16 +0000

[...] Herald permit: Divide-and-rule rears its ugly head?Anil’s column in the Herald is one of the reason’s the weekly is my favorite … “Four years ago, Christian Malaysians were overjoyed when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi sent Christmas greetings to their various churches and congregations. It was an astute gesture that touched many Christians, and many of them voted in droves for the BN in the 2004 general election. How times have changed. [...]

By: mak jun yeen

mak jun yeen — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 04:57:25 +0000

In hebrew, “God” is rendered ELoaH, spelled with the aramaean script (now Hebrew script) Alef for “E”, Lamed for “L” and Heh for “H”. The God of the Bible specifically YHWH is refered to as ELoHim.

In ancient aramaic, “God” is “ALaHa”, again the Arameans use the Aleh, Lamed, Heh to spell the word.

Jesus reportedly spoke Galilean Aramaic, a dialect much akin to the relationship of Cockney English with Standard English. Thus God would be pronounced as ELoH. Galilean Aramaic does not aspirate the “H” so it would come out a ELo. “My God” would thus be “ELoi” instead of “ELoHi” or ALaHee.

In Hebrew if I want to say “from GOD” it owuld be “Min Ha ELoHim”

In Aramaic “Min ALaHa”

“Ha ELohim” means the God(that we worship) or one and only God “Ha” means “The”.

Aramaic puts the definitive article at the back and thus “ALah” plus “Ha” becomes “ALaHa”

In Arabic, “God” is generally rendered as ILaH, spelled with Alif for “I”, Lam for ” L” and “Ha” for “H” see the similarities?

“Ha ELoHim” equivalent in Arabic would be “The” = “Al” and “God”= “ILah” becomes “ALLAH”.

When Arabic replaced Aramaic as the lingua franca of the Middle East, Jews and Christians in the Arabic speaking world replaced “ALaha” to “ALLAH” in daily renderings as well as in religious books written for the guidance of the faithful who couldnt spak the old tongues anymore.

BE informed.