written by Staff
Friday January 11, 2013
PETALING JAYA - The MCA has urged all parties to stop politicising the use of the word “Allah”, warning that any further debate on the issue would only polarise the nation.
Referring to a High Court decision on Dec 31, 2009, to allow a Catholic weekly to use the word “Allah” in its publication, MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok said the law should be respected by all.
“Based on this ruling, the use of the word ‘Allah’ is not exclusive for Muslims.
“It is not an offence for non-Muslims to use the word for the purpose of religion and there is a pending appeal by the Home Ministry,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Loh also cited the 10-point solution released by the Prime Minister’s Department on April 2 last year, which allowed the Bible to be imported and printed locally in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia.
“We urge all parties to stop politicising the terminology and recognise this 10-point solution while also abiding by the High Court’s ruling,” he said.
Loh added that it was not only Christians, but also the Sikh and Hindu communities which would be affected if non-Muslims were prohibited from using the terminology.
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The Malaysian Star
written by Sira Habibu
Friday January 11, 2013
PETALING JAYA: Due to the conflicting views among PAS leaders on the use of the word “Allah” in the Malay Bible, the Syura Council needs to review the party’s decision to allow non-Muslims to use the term, said the party’s deputy ulama chief Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed.
He said it was time that the Syura Council, the supreme body in the party, step in and review the matter as many leaders were against allowing the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.
Mahfodz is among the 15 members of the Syura Council, the supreme body in the party.
“PAS agreed in 2010 that Islam does not forbid non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’, provided it is not misused.
“As some leaders do not share the same opinion, it is the Syura Council that must come up with a consensus,” said Mahfodz.
PAS secretary-general Datuk Mus-taffa Ali yesterday said he was also against the use of “Allah” in the Malay Bible.
Deputy Murysidul Am Datuk Dr Haron Din and ulama chief Datuk Harun Taib were among the Syura Council members who had publicly stated their stand against allowing non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” in publications.
Mahfodz said the greatest concern was the possibility of Malay Bibles with the word “Allah” being used to propagate Christianity among Mus-lims.
Mahfodz said the Syura Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow had been moved to Sunday night because many members would be participating in Himpunan Kebang-kitan Rakyat.
In a related development, a Muslim scholar said the Government had every right to impose a ruling to bar non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” in religious publications to avert tension.
Former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin such a ruling was acceptable in the administrative perspective to check a potentially explosive situation.
As such a problem does not arise in Sabah and Sarawak, the ruling could be restricted only to peninsular Malaysia, he said.
Dr Asri also ticked off irresponsible leaders fanning the issue for political expediency.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in his Christmas message said that non-Muslims should be allowed to use the word “Allah” in the Malay version of the Bible.
Dr Asri said since the Bible was translated from English to Malay, the right translation for God was “Tuhan”, not “Allah”.
“They are not translating from Arabic to Malay, but from English to Malay. Therefore, the polemics over the use of the word ‘Allah’ should not arise in the first place,” he said, chiding those who use religion to create unnecessary tension.
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