Catholic priests say Allah

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum brothers and sisters in Islam,


After my thread entitled "Farewell" [posted on November 7, 2007], I stopped posting on the TurnToIslam forum.


However, I just saw an article which made it nearly impossible for me resist posting here again.


What's this article?


Well, let's just say it's really very interesting [to say the very least]. It was posted on the International Herald Tribune website. Please take special note of the phrases I highlighted in bold type:

Malaysian Catholic weekly told to drop use of 'Allah' in order to renew publishing permit

The Associated Press​

Published: December 21, 2007​

--------------------------------------------


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Catholic weekly newspaper in Malaysia has been told to drop the use of the word "Allah" in its Malay language section if it wants to renew its publishing permit, a senior government official said Friday.

The Herald, the organ of Malaysia's Catholic Church, has translated the word God as "Allah" but it is erroneous because Allah refers to the Muslim God, said Che Din Yusoff, a senior official at the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit.

"Christians cannot use the word Allah. It is only applicable to Muslims. Allah is only for the Muslim god. This is a design to confuse the Muslim people," Che Din told The Associated Press.

The weekly should instead, use the word "Tuhan" which is the general term for God, he said.

Religious issues are extremely sensitive in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 27 million people are Malay Muslims. Ethnic Chinese, who follow Christianity and Buddhism, account for 25 percent of the population. Indians, who are mostly Hindus with a sprinkling of Christians and Muslims, are around 10 percent.

The minorities have often complained that they don't have full freedom of religion even though the constitution guarantees everybody the right to worship. The minorities cite the difficulty in obtaining permission to build their places of worship, and the Hindus have been particularly angered by the demolition of temples by government authorities in recent months.

The Herald, which has a circulation of 12,000 copies for its members, publishes reports in four languages — English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.

The Rev. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald, said the weekly's use of the word Allah was not intended to offend Muslims.

"We follow the Bible. The Malay-language Bible uses Allah for God and Tuhan for Lord. In our prayers and in church during Malay mass, we use the word Allah," he told the AP.

"This is not something new. The word Allah has been used in Malaysia for a long time. There is no confusion," he said.

The 13-year-old weekly is still in talks with the authorities to renew its permit, which expires Dec. 31, he said, adding that they would appeal if the government refuses to budge on the issue.

Publishers in Malaysia are required to obtain annual permits from authorities under a printing law that has long been criticized by rights groups as infringing press freedoms.

There are more than 800,000 Catholics in Malaysia, Andrew said.

Che Din said Christians don't use the word Allah when they worship in English, so they shouldn't use it in the Malay language too.

There are four Malay words that must not be used by other religions, he said: Allah for God, "solat" for prayers, "kaabah" for the place of Muslim worship in Mecca and "baitula" the house of Allah.

The Herald's permit will only be renewed if they stop using Allah in their publication, he stressed.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/21/asia/AS-REL-Malaysia-Catholic-God.php#end_main


Well now, that's something really new!


It seems that Catholics in Malaysia are fighting for the right to use the word "Allah" in the Malay language!


I believe many Catholics in the West will be very surprised by this.


Best regards,

Bluegazer

Wassalamu Alaikum

 

[TheHumbleWun]

Asalaamalikum Akhi,

I'm so glad to see you back here!!! Wallahi, I miss you man. Don't abandon us like that again.

I had a post similar to this issue. Non-Muslims living in Muslim lands sometimes use the word "Allah" to refer to God, after all, it simply means God. I think it can be a little confusing when they use the word "Allah" but after listening to them a little longer you can distinguish whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim.

Maybe this will further enhance non-Muslims especially in Malay to look and search what the Islamic definition of Allah is....perhaps the 99 names of Allah....The Most Merciful, The Most Forgiving, etc and will inshallah come in terms or even accept Islam!

The attributes (99 names) of Allah swt will not make anyone disagree.

P.S. I didn't forget to check the answer to the Eid stamp thread. I have the answer and will post it sometime soon inshallah.

 

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum brother TheHumbleWun !!


Thanks for the very warm welcome!


I didn't mean to "abandon" all the kind brothers here, it's just that sometimes I can get too involved. It really distracts me away from some other duties I have to attend to.


I'm not sure I can post as often as I have before. Still, it's good to be back.


And I'm looking forward to your answer on the Eid Stamp thread.


Best regards,

Bluegazer

 

[Bluegazer]

Thanks brother Azhar!


I'm humbled by your kind feelings.


I'm not sure I can post as often as I did before. So, I'm not really completely "back".


Many thanks for your kind feelings.

 

[hambaAllah]

:salam2:


Alhamdulillah,,, nice to see you here again brother although a short one,,, do misses and looking forward to reading your interesting articles... do post some even if its not regularly....May Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala make it easy for us to help others in understanding ISLAM and guides us all to his straight path....Ameen Ya Rabbal Alameen

 

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum,


This is a follow up to my post #21.


The following article is from the Catholic World News website; CWNews.com. Please note the words I set in bold type, like so:

Malay Catholic paper wins reversal on publishing license


Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 31, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Government authorities in Malaysia have backed away from a threa to shut down a Catholic newspaper, the country's episcopal conference has announced.

Earlier in December the editor of the Herald, a Catholic weekly, was notified that the government would withdraw the paper's license to publish, if the paper continued to use the term "Allah" to refer to the God worshipped by Christians.

A government minister had said that only Muslims-- the majority religion in Malaysia-- have the right to use the term "Allah." The Herald editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, had countered that "Allah" is the Malay word for God, used in the local translations of the Bible.

The Herald editor now reports that after protesting the government's order to stop using the term, the staff has received a new license to publish the weekly. The new license makes no reference to any restrictions on language, the Herald notes, and the editors plan to continue with their standing editorial policies.

Source: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55657


Regards,

Bluegazer

Wassalamu Alaikum

 

[dianne]

Salam brother,

U know that bible has many editions,so in Malaysian Christians here like Catholic,Anglican,Protestant,Evangelical,SIdang Injil Borneo etc.
The God concept of Christian is doesnt same of what many Christian practise in Arabs.MOst of East Christian (Eastern Church) based on Iskandariah.They believe in Unity - One God.
So from Unity means No father,son & holy Ghost.like what Islam did.SO they didnt opposite to believe Allah swt & Jesus pbuh.
But in Roman Catholic they dont beliefs of Unity concept.They beliefs Trinity concept - Father SOn & Holy Ghost in One Godhead,for a concept the threefold personality of the one divine being.
It is totally opposites of what Islam beliefs.

Islam is believe One GOd who is Allah subhana huwataa'la,believe in all prophets & rasul as messenger from Adam pbuh - Mohammad sallallah alahi wassalam,believe in all Kitab from Torah,Zabur,Injil & Al Quran.

Thats why Malaysian Ulama' make a statements do not agree with it.

wassalam

 

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum sister dianne,


Thank you for the information.


The vast majority of Christians nowadays [Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants] believe in the Trinity as the fundamental principle of Christianity. You could be right about Unitarian Christians being dominant in Alexandria many centuries ago, but that's not the case anymore.


If you read post #1 on this thread, you'll understand why I posted this news about Catholics in Malaysia demanding the right to use the name "Allah".


There's an American sister in this forum [Shannonx] who's father is a Catholic. He believes that Allah is completely different than God Almighty who sent Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus [peace be upon them all].


What do you think his reaction would be when he finds out that Catholics in Malaysia are fighting for the right to use the name "Allah"??!!


This might lead him to be more open minded about Islam, and start seeking knowledge from good trustworthy sources and not the biased mainstream American media.


Regards,

Bluegazer

Wassalamu Alaikum