Such vile actions have no justification, but undoubtedly the court ruling allowing the use of the word Allah by The Herald, a Catholic newspaper, helped ignite the furore and confusion among most Muslims, and many non-Muslims alike. I, too, disagree completely with the decision, and I am appalled by the judge’s ignorance, or perhaps even arrogance, in upsetting the religious sensibilities Malaysians have worked hard to balance for decades.
Some people question what the fuss is all about. After all, Allah is just the Arabic word for God, isn’t it? Christians in the Middle East have been using that word for centuries, without any protest from their Muslim countrymen. What’s the big deal? Well, it may be perfectly acceptable for Arabs, regardless of their religion, to use that word because in the Arabic language, Allah simply means God. However, outside of the Middle East, Allah is a specific word which is inextricably linked to Muslims and Islamic practice. In the Malaysian context, it is not simply another word for God, but is one of 99 names of the Almighty which Muslims are enjoined to remember and reflect upon.
The Herald claims it merely wishes to translate Christian texts for the benefit of its non-English speaking congregation. Maybe they don’t know this, but there is already a common and perfectly acceptable Malay word for God, and that is Tuhan. It is used by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and due to its general meaning, is not likely to create any confusion as to which religion it belongs to. The word for God in the English Bible, believe it or not, is God, not Allah, so why is the newspaper so intent on borrowing the Arabic term? If the newspaper is suddenly fascinated by the Arabic language, which I must admit is a beautiful and elegant tongue, would it also then use solat to denote prayers, or jemaah for its congregation?
Supporters and sympathisers of the ruling argue that the word Allah has been used in the Bible in East Malaysia for decades, and this somehow justifies the recent ruling in West Malaysia. Well, an error left uncorrected does not excuse its replication. In the absence of a valid reason for using the Arabic Allah, rather than the Malay Tuhan, when translating non-Islamic religious texts from English to Malay, one can’t help but to question the real motive behind the move.
Eurasian Sensation
January 11, 2010
Semantics. Christians and Muslims agree that they follow the same God (albeit in different ways). So why the fuss?
The real issue here, unfortunately, is that there is a significant proportion of the Malay Muslim population who have such a sense of entitlement that they just have to have everything their own way, damn everyone else.
The joke is the claims that use of “Allah” by Christians will make it easier to convert Muslims away from Islam. Hah! The thing that will drive people away from Islam is the aggressive and intolerant fundamentalism constantly on display in Malaysia.
kampunghouse
January 11, 2010
I always appreciate your comments, regardless of how much I may disagree with them.
Unfortunately, in this instance it doesn’t boil down to simply a matter of semantics. Christians and Muslims believe in a God, but it is not only our rituals that differ, but also the fundamental relationship we have with the Almighty. In Malaysia, in fact virtually everywhere outside the Arabic-speaking world, Allah is a term exclusively used to refer to Muslims and Islam.
Muslims hold that the Quran is the true source of divine inspiration coming directly from Allah. If other religions are also using that word in their own religious texts, everyone would then be able to make a claim which they can purport to come from Allah. This is especially relevant in the Christian context, because there is a tendency for pastors or priests to say something along the lines of “God tells us so and so”, or “God wouldn’t want you to do so and so”. This is of course perfectly fine, but if they were to then substitute the word Allah for God, to Muslims it distorts the messages Allah has relayed to them exclusively through the Quran.
That is what is causing inequitude among many Malaysian Muslims. It’s not about a feeling of entitlement which you repeatedly try to push. Religious sensitivities in Malaysia have been cultivated and carefully balanced for decades, and I’m perplexed as to why all of a sudden there is now a mob so insistent on associating with a word that all this while has got nothing to do with them.
You could try to downplay the issue of proselytising targeting Muslims with your “joke” and snigger, but it doesn’t make it any less real. When a proper translation of the word God to Malay would’ve been Tuhan, one has to wonder what the real motive is, behind this insistence on using a term that has long been used to refer exclusively to Islam.
Eurasian Sensation
January 12, 2010
Judging from what I have read on this blog, I suspect that outside the subject of religion, you and I actually agree on much!
I don’t doubt that the push to use “Allah” rather than “Tuhan” comes from a desire to convert Muslims to Christianity. However, I ask: why does there exist such paranoia among some Muslims about conversion away from the faith? As long as someone makes a free and informed choice about their religion, all power to them – whether it be Christians becoming Muslims, or vice-versa.
If Malaysia is truly a free multiethnic society, there would have been no reaction to the verdict, other than civilised disagreement. I see the violent reaction as another example of how the majority ethnic group can get hysterical about anything, no matter how seemingly insignificant, that its sees as threatening its traditional stranglehold on power. Witness the way white conservatives in the US treat Obama’s presidency as the end of the world as we know it.
kampunghouse
January 12, 2010
Well, I’m glad we disagree on something; otherwise it wouldn’t be very exciting. In response to your query over the seemingly one-way-street with regards to conversions among Malays, the best explanation I can give is an honest one, and it is this:
Malays are unequalled by anyone else in the world when it comes to the relationship between religion and racial identity. There are non-Muslim Arabs, Iranians, Turks, Bangladeshis and Bosnians. Even within the Malay Archipelago, there may be non-Muslim Malays in Indonesia and the Philippines, but not so in Malaysia (at least not officially). The reason for this is largely historical. Between the 12th to 13th century, Malays in Peninsula Malaysia converted en masse to Islam, at which point was forged this intrinsic, intertwined relationship between Islam and Malayhood.
If one were to ask what it means to be a Malay, being a Muslim takes precedence over all other cultural attributes – speaking the language, eating the food, listening to the music, following the customs, or even simply looking like one. This is why a Malay who isn’t Muslim isn’t considered a Malay; likewise a non-Malay who becomes a Muslim is often said, in jest, to ‘masuk Melayu’ (entering Malayhood) instead of ‘masuk Islam’. It’s a reflection of the synonimity between the concepts of ‘Malay’ and ‘Muslim’ deeply ingrained in the Malay psyche. To most Malays, a Muslim Malay remains Malay regardless of whether he or she is pious or otherwise, practicing or nominal. To the community, a Malay who openly opts out of the religion betrays the collective racial identity; he inflicts a wound on the unbreakable link between religion and race forged for centuries.
I understand if, upon reading this explanation, you develop a feeling of resentment or cynicism towards us Malaysian Malays. But it is what it is, and this is the most sincere rationalization I could offer you.
Eurasian Sensation
January 12, 2010
You’ve described that really well. I knew that already though, and I admit it does result in a bit of cynicism. For a harmonious multiracial society, such a rigid collective racial/religious identity is a serious barrier. In my observations, Indians and Chinese mix with greater ease with each other in contemporary Malaysia than either do with Malays, and Malay religious identity seems to play a major part in this.
I also think that in any multiethnic society, socio-political dominance has a kind of corrupting effect on a groups interactions with minorities. It’s not something unique to Malays by any means.
My feelings about Malays are a bit complicated actually. Half of my family are Indonesian and mostly Muslim. (I myself profess a watered-down version of Christianity, but that’s another story.) In that sense I feel a degree of ethnic kinship with Malays. On the other hand, my partner is Malaysian Indian, and many of my friends and extended family are Malaysian Chinese and Indian. All of them, while having individual Malay friends, feel stifled and disrespected by the Malay population as a whole. Many leave Malaysia because they feel their opportunities are restricted because of their ethnicity. So obviously I take on some of their reservations.
kampunghouse
January 13, 2010
Like any other country, especially one blessed with a multitude of racial and religious backgrounds, Malaysia has to grapple with the challenges of satisfying the sometimes competing demands of its diverse communities. The most pressing struggle, I would imagine, is balancing the sociopolitical dominance of the Malays with the disproportionate economic power of Chinese and Indians.
Perhaps, one reason why Malays in Malaysia are so determined to assert their rights and sociopolitical dominance is due to the plight of Malays in neighbouring countries. In Indonesia – and do correct me if I’m wrong – the overarching Javanese influence is felt as far wide as the Malay-populated provinces of Sumatra; Malays in Singapura languish politically, socially and economically behind their counterparts and face questions of loyalty in their own motherland. Elsewhere, Malays in Thailand and the Philippines endure systematic restrictions on their cultural expression; the same can be said of Champa Malays in Cambodia and Vietnam.
I count as friends Malays and non-Malays alike, although many of my closest friends are non-Malays, among whom is an evangelical Christian who is active in her church, a Chinese-Indian who feels the quota system rewards laziness to undeserving Malays, and a Chinese who feels some members of her community complain too much about the country without contributing enough. We agree on most things and disagree on others, but our friendships remain intact (or so I hope!)
Eurasian Sensation
January 14, 2010
Unspun (http://theunspunblog.com/) has written some interesting stuff on this. You probably won’t agree with it, but some perspectives worth considering.