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When, Why and How Christians use the word 'Allah'
The Tao and the "mother of all things"
Exempt Sabah Sarawak from GST

Employees wanted

Posted: 19 May 2013 08:53 PM PDT

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When, Why and How Christians use the word 'Allah'

Posted: 19 May 2013 03:26 PM PDT

The objective of this document is to explain briefly to those Christians who do not understand when, why and how Churches in Malaysia use the word 'Allah. It is also for Christians who are confused about how to respond, when confronted by the ignorance of non-Muslims about the Christian use of the word 'Allah'.

Christian Federation of Malaysia

Introduction and Background

There are many (misleading) statements by non-Christians who claim that we should not use the word, because it is an exclusive Muslim term for the God of Islam and can be used only by Muslims. This is a situation peculiar to Malaysia, as elsewhere in the Muslim world, Arabic-speaking Christians use the word 'Allah'.

Christians themselves are sometimes ignorant, because unless we pray in Bahasa Malaysia, we pray to 'God' in our own language. In English services, for example, nowhere do we use the word 'Allah'.

However, more than 60% of Malaysian Christians only speak Bahasa Malaysia, and the word used for God in the Bahasa Malaysia Bible (Al-Kitab) since its translation in 1731, is 'Allah'. The word is used by Bumiputera Christians who only have Bahasa Malaysia as their common language in Sabah, Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia, and by the Baba community in Malacca.

Historical Usage and Meaning

1. The word 'Allah' was a term used for the supreme God in a pantheon of gods, before the revelation of Islam. The Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam ed., H. A. R. Gibb & J. H. Kramer and The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, ed. John L. Esposito, both affirm and support this contention.

2. Historically, Malay-speaking Christians in South-East Asia have used 'Allah' to refer to God. The proof is as follows:

• The Kitab salat as-sawai or Christian catechisms in Malay written in 1514 and published around 1545,

• The printed version of the Gospel of Matthew in Malay by A.C. Ruyl in 1629,

• Malay-Latin Dictionary was printed in Rome in 1631 (The Dictionarium Malaicum-Latinum and Latinum - Malaicum)

• The translation of Genesis by D. Brouwerius (1662),

• M. Leijdecker's translation (1733),

• H.C. Klinkert's translation (1879),

• W.A. Bode's translation (1938), and

• The complete Malay Bible of 1731-1733 containing the word 'Allah' for God.

3. Therefore, from the very beginning, the word 'Allah' has been used in the liturgy, prayers and worship of those Christians who speak Bahasa Malaysia.

But for centuries, there has been no opposition or uproar about their use of 'Allah'.

Language

Objections to the use of the word 'Allah' comes mostly from political discourse, or those who argue that the translation and usage of the word is a recent decision. This is not true for the following reasons:

1. In Semitic languages, the word 'Allah' has been widely used in the Middle East dating back to the 5th century BC and up to the time of the expansion of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language in the 7th century AD.

2. The translation of the Al-Kitab is not from the English translation but based on the Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible. In the Hebrew language, the word 'God' has the same root form as the Arabic language. So, when the word 'God' was first translated into Bahasa Malaysia, the translators merely followed the Arabic Christian usage and retained the word 'Allah'.

3. As stated earlier, the word 'Allah' pre-dates Islam. It is not a creation of the Muslims and its existence does not begin in the Al-Quran.

Should Christians Substitute the word 'Allah' with 'Tuhan'?

This is not possible for the following reasons :

1. In the Malay language, 'Allah' means 'God' and Tuhan means 'Lord'. As is obvious when we read the Bible, both God and Lord are used in the Bible, and both have different connotations. Therefore 'Allah' cannot be substituted by 'Tuhan'.

2. The word Tuhan has been applied to Jesus Christ and read as Tuhan Yesus. If Christians are to substitute the word 'Allah' for Tuhan, it will render many Biblical references to God and Jesus incoherent because:

• The meaning of 'Allah' and Tuhan are different.

• This is obvious in just one example. In Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 13; also 43 : 3 and 51 : 15. "For I am the LORD, your GOD..." is translated as "Akulah TUHAN, ALLAH kamu...". (ALKITAB : Berita Baik. 2001. 2nd edition. Published by the Bible Society of Malaysia).

• It creates an absurd situation if Christians have to translate the biblical phrase 'Lord God' as Tuhan Tuhan. The repeated words Tuhan Tuhan indicates plural in Bahasa Malaysia, and creates the impression that Christians believe in many Gods, which is unacceptable.

• Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians will not be able to affirm the deity of Jesus Christ and teach the doctrine of the Trinity as these two 3 foundational words are essential to maintain and communicate these truths.

Consequences of Banning the Word "Allah"

1. Being denied the use of the word 'Allah' disregards the constitutional right of Malaysian citizens to freedom of religion under the Federal Constitution.

Article 11 of the Federal Constitution safeguards the right of each Malaysian to profess and practice one's religion of choice. Article 11(3) expressly provides that every religious group has the right to manage their own religious affairs.

2. In 2011, the High Court handed down a judgement allowing the Catholic Church to use the word 'Allah'. The government (of all Malaysians, including Christians) is appealing the judgement and it is pending.

3. There have been other infringements on the right to use words imperative in the Bahasa Malaysia Bible. See the directive of 5 Dec 1986 from the Ministry of Home Affairs stating that, in addition to 'Allah', the words: Al-Kitab, Firman, Rasul, Iman, Ibadah, Injil, Wahyu, Nabi, Syukur, Solat and doa are not to be used in the Al-Kitab. In addition, making such prohibitions through fatwa render them only relevant to Muslims as the Shari'a does not apply to non Muslims.

4. Prohibiting the use of the word 'Allah' and these other terms is unjust. Bumiputera Christians should be given the respect and freedom to call God in the only language they have in common. This is important to their religious and cultural identity.

5. If Churches in Malaysia agree to stop using the word 'Allah', it means that the right to edit the Scripture of a major world religion has been given over to a secular government. This would be a shameful and an unprecedented development for any religion and government.

Conclusion

Some Muslims have claimed repeatedly that Christians in Malaysia refuse to stop using the word 'Allah' because they want to confuse and convert Muslims, thereby posing a threat to national security. The claim is groundless as there has been no evidence offered of any threat to security. These remain unfounded accusations.

On the contrary, such an assertion is made in ignorance of the fact that when Christians use the Al-Kitab, it is simply for Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians.

Malaysian Churches have never suggested changing the words 'God' and 'Lord' to 'Allah' and 'Tuhan' respectively, in the other languages of the Bible.

PREPARED BY THE CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA

(Persekutuan Kristian Malaysia)

********************************************

BILA, MENGAPA DAN BAGAIMANA KRISTIAN MENGGUNAKAN KATA 'ALLAH'

Pengenalan dan Latarbelakang

Tujuan dokumen ini adalah untuk menjelaskan secara ringkas kepada orang-orang Kristian yang tidak faham bila, kenapa dan bagaimana Gereja-gereja di Malaysia menggunakan kata 'Allah'. Ia juga untuk orang Kristian yang keliru tentang bagaimana harus bertindak apabila berhadapan dengan orang bukan Islam yang jahil tentang penggunaan kata 'Allah' dalam agama Kristian.

Terdapat banyak (tidak tepat) kenyataan bukan Kristian yang mendakwa bahawa kita tidak boleh menggunakan kata 'Allah' kerana ia adalah istilah eksklusif untuk agama Islam yang merujuk kepada Tuhan Islam dan hanya boleh digunakan oleh orang Islam. Ia merupakan masalah pelik di Malaysia kerana di negara-negara Islam yang lain , di negara Arab – penganut Kristian berbahasa Arab menggunakan kata 'Allah'.

Umat Kristian sendiri kadang-kadang jahil kecuali jika kita berdoa dalam Bahasa Malaysia, kita berdoa kepada 'Allah' dalam bahasa kita sendiri. Sebagai contoh, dalam Bahasa Inggeris, kita tidak menggunakan kata 'Allah'.

Walau bagaimanapun, lebih 60% daripada Kristian di Malaysia hanya bercakap dalam Bahasa Malaysia, dan perkataan yang digunakan untuk Tuhan di dalam kitab Bahasa Malaysia (Al-Kitab) sejak terjemahan pada tahun 1731, adalah 'Allah'. Kata ini digunakan oleh Bumiputera Kristian yang menggunakan Bahasa Malaysia sebagai bahasa pengantara mereka terutama di Sabah, Sarawak, Semenanjung Malaysia, dan masyarakat Baba di Melaka

Sejarah Makna dan Penggunaan

1. Kata 'Allah' adalah istilah yang digunakan bagi Tuhan yang tertinggi di antara tuhan-tuhan, sebelum wahyu Islam. The Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, ed. H.A.R. Gibb & J. H. Kramer dan The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, ed. John L. Esposito, menyokong dan mengesahkan pernyataan ini.

2. Dari segi sejarah, penganut Kristian berbahasa Melayu di Asia Tenggara telah menggunakan 'Allah' untuk merujuk kepada Tuhan. Buktinya adalah seperti berikut:

• Wujudnya Kitab salat as sawai atau Katekismus Kristian di dalam Bahasa Melayu telah ditulis pada tahun 1514 dan diterbitkan sekitar 1545,

• Telah ada versi cetakan Injil Matius di dalam Bahasa Melayu oleh A.C. Ruyl pada tahun 1629,

• Kamus Melayu-Latin telah dicetak di Roma pada tahun 1631 (Dictionarium The Malaicum-Latinum dan Latinum - Malaicum)

• Terjemahan Kitab Kejadian oleh D. Brouwerius (1662),

• Terjemahan M. Leijdecker (1733),

• Terjemahan H.C. Klinkert (1879),

• Terjemahan W.A. Bode (1938), dan

• Pada tahun 1731-1733, telah wujud Al-Kitab Bahasa Melayu lengkap mengandungi kata 'Allah' iaitu terjemahan untuk 'God'.

3. Oleh itu, sejak awal lagi, kata 'Allah' telah digunakan dalam liturgi, doa-doa dan ibadat orang-orang Kristian yang bertutur dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Tetapi selama berabad-abad itu, tidak ada bantahan atau kegemparan mengenai penggunaan kata 'Allah'.

Bahasa

Bantahan terhadap penggunaan kata 'Allah' kebanyakannya berpunca dari wacana politik, atau di kalangan mereka yang membantah dengan tuduhan bahawa penterjemahan dan penggunaan kata 'Allah' baru sahaja berlaku. Ini tidak benar kerana sebab-sebab berikut:

1. Dalam bahasa-bahasa Semitik, kata 'Allah' telah digunakan secara meluas di Timur Tengah sejak abad ke-5 SM, sehingga masa perkembangan Islam dan penyebaran Bahasa Arab pada abad ke-7 M.

2. Penterjemahan Al-Kitab bukan menterjemah dari Bahasa Inggeris tetapi berdasarkan teks-teks dari Al-Kitab Ibrani dan teks Yunani. Dalam Bahasa Ibrani, kata 'Allah' mempunyai bentuk akar yang sama seperti Bahasa Arab. Jadi, apabila kata 'Allah' pertama kali diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Malaysia, para penterjemah sebenarnya mengikut penggunaan Bahasa Arab Kristian dan mengekalkan perkataan 'Allah'.

3. Seperti yang dinyatakan sebelum ini, kata 'Allah' digunakan sebelum kedatangan Islam. Ia bukan ciptaan umat Islam dan kewujudannya tidak bermula di dalam Al-Quran.

Haruskah Kristian Menggantikan kata 'Allah' dengan 'Tuhan'?

Ini tidak mungkin atas sebab-sebab berikut :

1. Dalam Bahasa Melayu, 'Allah' bermakna 'Tuhan' dan 'Tuhan' bermaksud 'Lord'. Ini jelas apabila kita membaca Al-Kitab, 'Allah' dan 'Tuhan' digunakan di dalam Al-Kitab, dan kedua-duanya mempunyai konotasi yang berbeza. Oleh itu 'Allah' tidak boleh digantikan dengan 'Tuhan'.

2. Kata Tuhan telah digunakan untuk Yesus Kristus iaitu Tuhan Yesus. Sekiranya Kristian menggantikan kata 'Allah' untuk Tuhan, ia menimbulkan banyak kekeliruan dan tidak keruan yang merujuk kepada Tuhan dan Yesus

kerana:

• Makna 'Allah' dan Tuhan adalah berbeza.

• Ini sangat jelas melalui satu contoh sahaja. Di dalam Yesaya, Bab 41 dan Ayat 13; 43:3 dan 51:51. "For I am the LORD, your GOD..." diterjemahkan sebagai "Akulah Tuhan, Allah kamu..."(ALKITAB : Berita Baik. 2001. Edisi Kedua. Terbitan The Bible Society of Malaysia).

• Ia akan mewujudkan situasi tidak masuk akal jika orang Kristian perlu menterjemahkan frasa alkitabiah 'Lord God' sebagai Tuhan Tuhan. Pengulangan kata Tuhan Tuhan menunjukkan jamak di dalam Bahasa Malaysia, ia seolah-olah memperlihatkan bahawa agama Kristian percaya akan banyak tuhan, ini adalah sesuatu yang tidak boleh diterima.

• Umat Kristian berbahasa Malaysia tidak akan dapat mengesahkan ketuhanan Yesus Kristus dan mengajar doktrin Tritunggal kerana dua perkataan ini adalah kata-kata asas

Kesan-kesan Larangan Kata 'Allah'

1. Dinafikan untuk menggunakan kata 'Allah' adalah melanggar hak perlembagaan kebebasan beragama rakyat Malaysia di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Perkara 11 Perlembagaan Persekutuan melindungi hak setiap rakyat Malaysia untuk menganut agama dan amalan pilihan masing-masing. Perkara 11 (3) jelas memperuntukkan bahawa setiap kumpulan agama mempunyai hak untuk mengurus hal ehwal agama mereka sendiri.

2. Pada tahun 2011, Mahkamah Tinggi memberikan penghakiman yang membenarkan Gereja Katolik menggunakan perkataan 'Allah'. Kerajaan (semua rakyat Malaysia, termasuk Kristian) membawanya ke Mahkamah Rayuan dan ia masih belum selesai.

3. Selain itu, terdapat juga pelanggaran hak menggunakan kata-kata penting dalam Al-Kitab Bahasa Malaysia. Lihat arahan 5 Disember 1986 daripada Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri menyatakan bahawa, sebagai tambahan kepada 'Allah', kata-kata : Al-Kitab, Firman, Rasul, Iman, Ibadah, Injil, Wahyu, Nabi, Syukur, Solat dan doa adalah tidak boleh digunakan dalam Al-Kitab. Di samping itu, membuat larangan melalui fatwa hanyalah relevan dengan umat Islam sahaja dan tidak terpakai kepada bukan Islam.

4. Melarang penggunaan kata 'Allah' dan istilah-istilah lain adalah tidak adil. Kristian Bumiputera perlu diberi penghormatan dan kebebasan untuk memanggil Tuhan dalam satu-satunya bahasa yang mereka. Ini adalah penting bagi identiti agama dan budaya mereka.

5. Jika gereja-gereja di Malaysia bersetuju untuk berhenti menggunakan kata 'Allah', bermakna hak untuk mengedit Kitab Suci agama utama dunia telah diberikan kepada sebuah kerajaan sekular. Ini akan menjadi satu perkara memalukan dan kejadian yang belum pernah berlaku pada mana-mana agama dan kerajaan.

Kesimpulan

Sesetengah umat Islam mendakwa berulang kali bahawa orang Kristian di Malaysia enggan berhenti menggunakan kata 'Allah' kerana mahu mengelirukan umat Islam dan memurtadkan penganut Islam, sekali gus menimbulkan ancaman kepada keselamatan negara. Tuntutan itu adalah tidak berasas kerana tiada bukti penggunaan kata ini membawa ancaman keselamatan negara. Tuduhan ini kekal sebagai tidak berasas.

Sebaliknya, keadaan sebegitu dibuat kerana jahil dengan hakikat bahawa apabila orang Kristian menggunakan Al-Kitab, ia adalah khusus untuk umat Kristian berbahasa Malaysia. Gereja-gereja di Malaysia tidak pernah mencadangkan untuk mengubah kata 'Allah' dan 'Lord' kepada 'Allah' dan 'Tuhan', begitu juga bahasabahasa lain dalam Al-Kitab.

DISEDIAKAN OLEH PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA

(The Christian Federation of Malaysia)

The Tao and the "mother of all things"

Posted: 19 May 2013 03:20 PM PDT

According to the Taoist world view, the birth of the "mother of all" things is a sure sign of the the two extreme Yin and Yang forces are at its peak.

Kuo Yong Kooi

In a short period of just over a month, Malaysia went through a festivity of 'mother of all things political'. Just after the parliament was dissolved, the opposition declared that GE13 is the 'mother of all elections'. In the period leading up to the May 5 election day, new records were set in the numbers of ceramah attendees night after night. On election day, we had the 'mother of all voter turnouts' with 84.4 percent, a new record.

Adding in BR1M 1 and BR1M 2, GE13 is undoubtedly the 'mother of all amounts of money' spent on buying votes compared to any other elections.

We also have the 'mother of all number of independent candidates' participating in the recent general election.

Anwar Ibrahim has publicly declared that the GE13 is the 'mother of all fraudulent elections'.

We had the 'mother of all post-election gatherings' in Kelana Jaya stadium on May 8. We also saw a series of after-shocks in Batu Kawan, Penang; Ipoh, Perak; Kuantan and Johor Baru; with large turnouts but not as impressive as the one in the Kelana Jaya Stadium.

Depending on the outcome of the coming Umno general assembly, Najib Abdul Razak's head might roll and that would be the 'mother of all heads rolling', adding to the recent head-rolling of Gerakan's Koh Tsu Koon. MCA's Chua Soi Lek's head will purportedly roll at the end of this year as he stated.

The opposition PAS might also do some blood letting in the coming PAS muktamar as the progressive 'Erdogan' faction suffered losses at the last GE13. We will have to see if Mat Sabu's head is going to be rolling, too.

Uncle Kit Siang has seen cabinet line-ups since the sixties. He labelled the current new cabinet as the most (mother of all) unimpressive cabinet in Malaysia's history. East Malaysians had just witnessed the 'mother of all number of East Malaysians' in the current cabinet line-up.

The winner of the 'mother of all political illusionists' is P Wathaymoorthy. Many did not take him seriously when he demanded a few seats from Pakatan in negotiations prior to the election. I was really touched when he did his 21-day fast. He even got Karpal Singh's attention and sympathy.

I guess many Indians went along with his call to vote for BN and that contributed to the "technical" survival of MIC in the recent polls. That was really a class act. He worked hard and honestly to get sympathy from the Indian community to vote for BN as a free agent/NGO.

Whereas BN openly and utterly disregarded the sanctity of a "free and fair" election campaign. Its secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said, "There is nothing wrong with flying in voters to vote", and the caretaker PM Najib Razak was quoted to have said that there will be more BR1Ms to come if BN is re-elected during the campaign.

Of course Wathaymoorthy deserves the position as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's department as far as the prime minister is concerned. I think he might have a future in Bollywood after this stint at the Prime Minister's Department.

The progressive forces in Malaysia are now split. This election result has pushed the radicals out of the woodwork. We will have to see the turn out in the 'one million people' protest march in the next week or so. If the group manages to attract a big turnout like all other previous post GE13 'aftershock' rallies, we will be witnessing the 'mother of all stalemates' in the history of Malaysia's politics.

This group will surely thumb their noses at the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Najib administration and ask for Anything But Umno (ABU).

According to the Taoist world view, the birth of the "mother of all" things is a sure sign of the the two extreme Yin and Yang forces are at its peak. We are living in an interesting time indeed in the context of Malaysia's political history.

Exempt Sabah Sarawak from GST

Posted: 19 May 2013 03:10 PM PDT

The BN government should stop beating around the bush and just plainly say that it needs to raise another RM27 billion from GST, which is the equivalent to about RM1,000 per person per year, to cover the ballooning national debt which have been increased partly by the various Santa Clause programs to fish for votes in the recent general elections.

Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan

"The people of Sabah and Sarawak should be exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that appears imminently to be implemented by the BN Federal government at any time" said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief.

Foremost, the PM needs to practice what he says and start implementing his transparency programs by not "testing the people" by using mouthpieces for feedback on the intended GST implementation.

The BN government should not treat the people as fools anymore. People can understand the need to increase revenue to cover the national debt but whether the need to tax and burden the people is another matter altogether. The government should pay attention to reduction of economic leakages and to wipe out corruption which is probably the biggest cause for any unjustified increase in the national debt.

As for the GST itself, the federal government should exempt Sabah and Sarawak from its implementation. The GST will burden Sabahans and Sarawakians who are already poor.

Sabah and Sarawak are more than justified in being exempted from the GST implementation.

Firstly, Sabah and Sarawak, both with riches and wealth have been robbed and are now suffering from being made the two poorest states in Malaysia. In 2012, RM17.88 billion in oil revenue were siphoned by Petronas from Sabah and another RM35 billion from Sarawak. Sabah lost another RM24 billion in federal taxes and revenues collected from the state.

Secondly, the crippling cabotage policy is not only increasing the living costs of Sabahans but is stifling Sabah's economy and making Sabah an uncompetitive investment destination. Thus, depriving our youths of further job opportunities.

If the PM is serious with his "Rakyat Didahulukan" slogan, the PM should immediately abolish the cabotage policy. There are no two ways about it. Yet, the federal and state governments are deaf to the pleas of the people to have the cabotage policy abolished.

Thirdly, rural Sabahans and Sarawakians have low household incomes and this is made even worse by the federal government's minimum salary level which has fixed a lower minimum of RM900 for Sabah and Sarawak and discriminates against them compared to West Malaysians with a threshold level of RM1,000.

Last but not least, instead of imposing the GST on Sabah and Sarawak, the PM should stop the marginalization of Sabahans and Sarawakians and implement programs in both states to increase the income levels and improve their livelihoods, consistent with his "Rakyat Didahulukan" slogan.

If the PM fails to exempt Sabah and Sarawak from the GST implementation, he should be wary of the consequences of being the last Umno Prime Minister.

The people in Sabah and Sarawak have awoken to the concept of Sabah and Sarawak being the kingmakers and can topple the BN federal government at any time. This "kingmaker" role and leverage can be seen in the increased composition of Sabah and Sarawak lawmakers in the new Cabinet and demands for more.

"I will personally be meeting further with Sabah and Sarawak leaders and work on bringing this kingmaker role to the next level. We need to work towards the restoration of our rights and autonomy if it means toppling the current BN regime" concluded Dr. Jeffrey.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Isnin, 20 Mei 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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