One thing that many people do not realise is that East Malaysian indigenous and Orang Asli Christians constitute 60 per cent of the church in Malaysia and many of them use Bahasa Malaysia.
This is a CFM statement reacting to the Court of Appeal’s decision to bar the use of the word ‘Allah’ in the Malay-language pullout of the Catholic Herald weekly in Malaysia:
The Christian community in Malaysia is gravely dismayed and very disappointed by the decision of the Court of Appeal to uphold the power of the Minister to ban the use of the word Allah in the Herald publication. In a wide-ranging decision, all Christian publications in Bahasa Malaysia would appear to be affected by this ruling.
By stating that “the name ‘Allah’ is not an integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity” the court has totally ignored the position of our East Malaysian Bumiputra and Orang Asli Christians, who constitute 60% of the church in Malaysia and who are Bahasa Malaysia-speaking.
In particular, by holding that “the welfare of an individual or group must yield to that of the community” and applying this principle to freedom of religion, this decision is yet another erosion and infringement of the constitutional protection to the freedom of religious communities to profess and practise their faith and to manage their own affairs.
In what would appear to be a re-reading and re-interpretation of Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution, it would now appear that a minority religion can only be practised and professed in Malaysia to the extent that it does not upset the “peace and harmony” of adherents of the majority religion.
The Bahasa Malaysia-speaking churches have been using the word Allah both before and after the independence of Malaya and the formation of Malaysia. The use of the word Allah by the Malaysian churches had not been an issue all these decades.
However, the various authorities in this country, by making an issue of it and by what would appear to be selective action or inaction, have only encouraged and fuelled further misunderstandings, mistrusts and brokenness between the Muslim and Christian communities. This will only further undermine the unity of Malaysians.
Despite this very negative development, the Christian Federation of Malaysia reminds all churches in Malaysia to always look to God and to pray for wisdom and guidance for all involved as to the next steps that they should take.
We welcome the fact that the decision of the Court of Appeal does not appear to cover the use of the word Allah in the Bahasa Malaysia Bible, the Al-Kitab.
We expect our Honourable Prime Minister and the Cabinet to continue to honour the 10-point solution with respect to the Bahasa Malaysia Bible, the Al-Kitab. We shall, therefore, continue to use the word Allah in our worship, liturgy, prayers and educational materials of the church.
As Malaysian Christians we are committed to our beloved nation and our love for Malaysia remains steadfast and we continue to respond with love and not in hatred as we face this on-going trial and tribulation.
Rev Dr Eu Hong Seng
Chairman and the Executive Committee
The Christian Federation of Malaysia
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Questions: 1) Are the East Malaysian indigenous and Orang Asli Christians become LESS Christians if they read the Bible in Malay which used the word ‘Tuhan’ (which is the correct translation of Malay language of God)? 2) Are the East Malaysian indigenous and Orang Asli Christians become MORE Christians if they read the Bible in Malay which used the word Allah? 3) It is not a disgrace in the image of Christian when you have to use the word ‘Allah’ in your translated Bible which is widely known in Malaysia as the One God, who has no son or wife,… Read more »
To A Muslim. Shamefully not one lawyer in Malaysia, supposedly the bastion of “religious freedom and tolerance” has been able to express the real outrage of the use (or abuse) of the word Allah for a purely political reason than you have herer. And for that I congradulate you. It brings a sigh of relief to my mind and the minds of those many others who also see this issue as a form of Muslim baiting. Yes, the East Malaysians may form a large part of the Christian population. But there are many more things in Christianity and about being… Read more »
This guy Eu Hong Seng sounds like he has been castrated. There is no fire in him at all.
I support the Appeal court decision. Even Ulama Pas support it too.
The malays in Malaysia somehow interpret Islam very differently from the rest of the world.
Strange indeed!
The Catholics in Malaysia interpret Catholicism in much the same way Malaysian lawyers interpret their constitution. To suit themselves.
When you say Islam do you mean the Shia form of Islam, the Turkish liberal or Turkish conservative Sunni brand of Islam? or do you refer to the Wahhabi sects of Saudi Arabia and now Chechenya? Or is it the Ahmdis of Pakistan and Kashmir? or is it the Hashemites of Jordan or Iraq? or is it Alawite Islam of Syria or perhaps also Iran?
Well what can I say, you Christians in East Malaysia have never treated your fellow Christian brothers in West Malaysia on equal terms because of your … “Bumiputera” status. Fact is I was once refer to as a “Keling” by a Kadazan-Dusun guy who worships the same Jesus as I do and goes to a Roman Catholic church, during a trip to Kota Kinabalu. Today (others) are slowly sucking your rights way. First they make sure that Christian leaders such as Stephan Kalong and Donald Stephan are removed from power and replace with Muslim leaders. Then they bring in the… Read more »
Its all about horses for courses. Nothing stays the same. The bottom is falling out o that loose raft of opposition leaders and groups in Malaysia. Empty rhetoric, half baked arguments and self indulgent racists and undemocratic swill blaming government demanding a standard they themselves are found lacking in.
Karma Chameleon you sound like a typical arrogant, hyper sensitive Indian from West Malaysia. …”Christians in East Malaysia have never treated your fellow Christian brothers in West Malaysia on equal terms because of your … “Bumiputera” status”. If Sabahans were really like what you described here, then why are there so many of your kind relocating to work in Sabah and getting married to local Dusun, Kadazan girls? Because you people were tired of being trampled on … in peninsular? Because the Sabahan locals treat your kind (and definitely OTHER ethnic groups) WAY BETTER and WITH MUCH RESPECT compared to… Read more »
The organized Religion God so Fickle-minded that he send 3 books .. and forever divided mankind(?). rajraman. Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have to do with the word “Allah”. For various reasons, many people have come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews. This is totally false, since “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for “God” – and there is only One God. Let there be no doubt – Muslims worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus – peace be upon them all. However, it is… Read more »
Muslim and Christian are actually praying to the same God. All over the Muslim world the Christian are allowed to use the word Allah. It is only the Malay Muslim in Malaysia that does not it to be used. Hahah are they trying to impress upon Allah that they are more faithful. My goodness. A surau was demolished when other religious pray in it. Isnt that ridiculous. Well they must not buy any non muslim houses or stay in a hotel room and bed that have been used by non Muslim or they must throw away the plates used by… Read more »
You mean of course all over the Arab world. In Pakistan Christians do not use the word Allah. In Bangladesh another large Muslim country the Christians do not indulge in the use of the word Allah in their liturgy. In Khazakstan, Turkey, and in the Uighur region of Sinjiang province in China the Christians do not use the word Allah. So which Muslim world is this you speak of. And why would the Catholics of Malaysia want to use the word Allah alone when it is a sensitive issue likely (and proven) to cause disquiet and disharmony likely to lea… Read more »
I would love to see the malaysian govt now to stop the use for all Christians and Jews in the world and make it exclusively theirs.
… to join Malaysia in the first place. Brunei was smart and Singapore wake up 2 years later. Sabahan and Sarwakian are still sleeping and will languished if it did not wake up. Brunei did not join because the Sultan does not want to lose its power. Singapore join on equal term as Lee Kuan Yew still governed as Prime Minister and not CM so we have 2 Prime Minister in Malaysia at that time. Singapore was allowed to leave Malaysia as the Malay were afraid of losing political power as with Singapore combined the Malay does not form the… Read more »
Look out into the sky and see the universe of which the observable universe is 64 billions light years across. Put earth on the edge and we will be 138 billions light years across and again put earth on the edge and we will be 278 billions light year across and so on and on and on………………….. In the immensity we are even smaller than a speck of dust and here on earth we are squabbling, killing and fighting and now we have one idiotic kind fighting just for a single word …
There are no absolute freedoms in the constitution of Malaysia. Lets get that point right in the first place. Lau Bee Lian J’s analysis of the facts and the law before her was skewed and incoherent. She clearly read the bits of the constitution that put a limit on free speech and expression to suit an outcome she may have had in mind that influenced her judgment. The use of the word Allah does cause some disquiet in sectors of the community. And where that disquiet is likely in the perception or discretion of the IGP or the government to… Read more »
The problem is having BM as language of instruction in schools in Sarawak and Sabah, and now the natives there could not understand English Bible.
Anyway, is it true that the Penang government is taking over RapidPenang bus service from Prasarana?
Not taking over, just offered to take over as Rapid said it was making losses.
after watching the situation in sudan on aljezeera, hope we will not degenerate to that situation or to any 3rd world countries in africa.
A once model for islamic countries. Now can’t even copy an arabic word properly. There is only so much we can describe umno. Please give umno some space to parade their stupidity to the world. haha
Condo Lim,
Obviously your kindergarden teacher was wrong or at least lack of world view.
The problem is “voilation of rights” and “unconstitutional judgement”.
It matters not why The Herald wants to use that word, what matters is the right to use the word, as simple as that.
in a nut shell, the court should and must dispense judgement based on laws and the constituition, NOT to please the feeling of majority. this is fundamental. and yes. it is also as simple as that.
The only way the Appeal Court could have reversed the decision is saying that Article 11’s the right to restrict propagation of other religion include “can confuse Muslim” even though there is no evidence. In other words the assumption of guilt is potential AND without evidence.
The ruling only shows that judges are so bad even just technically..How any judge could read potential violation without evidence as right to violate constitutional guarantees are the minds of those trapped in medieval period.
At the source of this is the HATE politics of Mahathir – the BTN, the wrecking of institutions, breaking the Malaysia agreement including treason.
Given what has been ruled, its clear the Malaysia Agreement is no longer valid …
I have always said that the politicians of Sabah and Sarawak got their priorities wrong in demanding more equitable development. Its a dependency that should not have happened. By now, especially in Sabah, they should have learned from Singapore about the evils of dependencies …
Might as well Throw Out the Rukun Negara Belief in God and replace it Belief in God that UMNO Creates and Dictates how you belief…… + time to Revert back to English Medium of Educataion as too many Malay-English words used can Confuse many……and Lets start Agenda 2020….Migrate to Sabah- Sarawak……
The state anthem of Johor and Kedah has reference to Allah.
Does that mean that non-Muslims now cannot sing these state anthems?
The word Allah attribute to which one in christianity?…the father, the son or the holy ghost? This is very confusing…Allah is One and the only One..nothing is comparable to Him..He begetteth not nor was begotten.
Since kindergarten, we knew english word ‘god’ = ‘tuhan’ in Malay–FACT. Just don’t know what the fuss about this court case. And also since kindergarten, at least in West Malaysia and in GLOBAL Muslim community, ‘Allah’ word is for Muslims specifically–FACT. What’s the problem now ??? Some bright souls please explain the rationale behind this court case.
Please, no more ‘Federal vs State’ or ‘BN vs PR’ argument here. I did talk to many people. Most of them just don’t care or understand about it. What’s the problem ???
Condo, I do not blame you as you are obviously a West Malaysian. Allah has been used by Christians in Sabah long before Malaysia. The issue is not about whether ‘Allah’ is a Muslim God or not. The issue is about the UMNO/BN Government infringing on the rights of Christians. It may be Allah today, tomorrow we may have to give up eating pork, praying in churches etc. You may not be aware but Christians have difficulty getting permits to build churches even if they own the land and have the money to do so. Think of your children and… Read more »
The problem is politics and how to get extreme as possible to make sure they get the Malay and muslim votes and how they are afraid of losing political power especially those who profess muslim but are not really malay but wanted to be Malay
It’s incorrect to say that the East Malaysians use Bahasa Malaysia(or Bahasa Indonesia) in their churches.Instead local dialects are widely used.For example Iban dialect is used when the mass is for the Ibans.And the Orang Ulu preferred to use their own dialects to conduct their mass/prayers.BM may be used in cases where various and different etnic groups come together.But again English is a better choice.
The use of the local dialects in churches is not as regular as Bahasa Malaysia. In my church, the local dialect is used at most 6 times a year, whereas Bahasa Malaysia is used every week.
Although i don’t practice any Organized Religion but looks like UMNO copy rights exclusively for them.They are more Malay than Malay ( although some of them celup Malay?) and now they are more Islam than Arabs. rajraman. Thousand of years the words “ALLAH” use by the Arab speaking nation although they are divided by 3 books.The words “ALLAH” is mother tongue for Arabian regardless their believed. UMNO now must tell the non Muslim Arabs “ALLAH” is a forbidden to be use by them. Anil a question for you since you are one of the followers of organized religion – am… Read more »
No, I don’t think you are going to hell and I don’t think of you as an ‘infidel’, far from it. It is between you and God. And it is lovely if your mind/soul soars like an eagle.
Thanks, you one of the rare of the rarest followers of the books.
rajraman. Human have many sickness in their brain and heart – Jealousy of others but this thing i don’t have at all from young.I am freeman from Organized Religion Slavery but extremely sad that a Religion who supposed to spread piece but forever fighting each other since the day of “Walking Prophets”.
Selamat Hari Raya Haji to all Malaysian.I celebrate all festival directly or indirectly because I am Malaysian.