By Dr Syed Husin Ali
The controversy around the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims continues to drag on and is still hot. A large section of people are angry, the government has lost direction and principle, and Umno leaders are clearly confused.
As we know, the Allah controversy has its root in the condition imposed by the Home Ministry, through the permit it issued for the publication of the Herald, a Catholic newspaper, forbidding it from using the word Allah for God.
The Herald took the issue to court and was successful. The decision by the court to allow Herald the use of Allah aroused concern and anger among a good number of Muslims. Undeniably, a large section of them are sincere and genuine in their concern.
Seizing Opportunity
The problem is that a small group, including some important Umno leaders have seized the opportunity to use the people’s anger for their own political advantage. They saw the possibility of manipulating this issue to mobilize Malay voter support for Umno-Bn and at the same time weaken Pakatan Rakyat.
These Umno leaders also felt that they could achieve several other objectives if the issue was handled well. One senior minister from Umno was very adamant that the issue could create a rift between PAS and DAP and precipitate the demise of Pakatan Rakyat.
They also felt that by using this issue they could mobilize support from different levels of Malay/ Muslim groups. This emotional issue is close to the heart of Muslims and certainly would help to drown other important issues like corruption, abuse of power, disappearance of two jet engines and also the murder of Altantuya that have long haunted these leaders.
When a Minister filed an appeal against the decision of the court and the PM gave a signal that opponents to the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims could demonstrate, they consciously or unconsciously made the issue bigger than what it really was. Muslims became angrier. The circumstances became conducive for the extremists to act.
Actually the court ruling to allow Christians to use Allah was confined only to the Herald. But it was interpreted and exaggerated as giving license to all non-Muslims – Christians and others – to use the word. It opened the opportunity to various extremists, including some Umno elements, to drum up racial sentiments. Little do Umno leaders realize that forbidding non-Muslims to use the word Allah would lead to forbidding them to sing the anthems of five states. These anthems use the word Allah.
Gazette and Law
The attitudes and actions of the Minister to appeal against the court decision and to allow demonstrations are against the Government Gazette P.U. (A) dated 16 February 2009. Amongst others this gazette states very clearly that publication, circulation and possession of any document or publication connected with Christianity that contains the words “Allah”, “Kaabah”, “Baitullah” and “Solat” are forbidden except when the words “FOR CHRISTIANS ONLY” are printed on the front cover..
Government leaders often pontificate the necessity of people to respect the law. Why is it they do not respect the gazette that their own government issued? Why is it that conversely they adopted a stand that could be abused by a handful of extremists – including those linked with Umno and Umno-controlled media – to stoke racial and religious flame amongst the people?
The irresponsible attitudes and actions of the Minister and Prime Minister have succeeded, for the time being, to drown the various issues haunting them and to draw some support from the Muslim community. But they failed to weaken, what else destroy the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
Positions of PAS and KEADILAN
PAS has taken a principled position similar to that of KEADILAN. Both stress that there is nothing to forbid non-Muslims to use the word Allah. But at the same time they have cautioned non-Muslims, especially Christians, not to do anything in their own interests that could cause unrest among Muslims and in the country. When he met about a hundred Christian leaders, Anwar Ibrahim stressed to them the same matter.
The position taken by PAS and KEADILAN was received well by DAP as well as Christians and other non-Muslim groups. Pakatan Rakyat did not break asunder as hoped for by some Umno top leaders and, in fact, has remained strong and intact.
The position taken by both parties are based on many factors, among them: (i) There is nothing in the Quran or Hadith that forbids non-Muslims from using the word Allah, (ii) The use of Allah among non-Muslims goes far back into history, including the time of Prophet Muhammad himself, and (iii) Allah for God has been used widely in different areas including this region, especially in Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia, without causing any problem.
Those who disagree counter argue that although there is no verse that allows, yet there are also some verses in the Quran that could be interpreted as forbidding the use of the word Allah by non Muslims. They emphasise that the Quran must be seen in its totality.
They cannot deny history. But they are of the view that although Allah is freely used in other areas, it is not appropriate to use it in Malaysia because of its unique cultural background. They believe that the “Malay stock” has its own specific character arising from its language and culture.
What is regarded as the “Malay stock”? From socio-cultural views, isn't Indonesia part of this stock? What about the traditional communities in Sabah and Sarawak? But because of pressures, the government has now decided that Christians from the two Malaysian states can continue to use the word Allah. The same decision has been extended to the Federal Territory, presumably because they have non-Muslim majority. What about the major towns that are dominated by non-Muslim population? The Umno-led government has displayed the height of political opportunism?
Arguments of Opponents
There are several arguments raised by those opposed to allowing non-Muslims to use the word Allah, among them: (a) Allah has a special cultural and linguistic meaning for the Malays, (b) The use of Allah by Christians will easily enable them to proselytise among the Malay/Muslims and convert them, and (c) There is a hidden strategy, nay even a conspiracy among Christians, especially Catholics, to attract more Malays to Christianity by using the term Allah.
Argument (a) falls flat in view of the fact that the government has changed its mind again and allows for Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to use Allah and further extend this to the Federal Territory and Penang. Clearly the government took this position because of political consideration. What about the big towns where the majority populations are non-Muslims too? The government has proven itself to be thoroughly unprincipled and opportunistic in this matter.
As for argument (b), it shows there are Muslims who lack confidence in the strength of religious conviction of their fellow Muslims. It is true that there are many Muslims in this country who do not have strong faith in or deep knowledge of Islam. Those religious and Ngo leaders who are so vehement in defending the use of Allah for Muslims only, need to work much harder. They should carry out missionary and educational activities that can instill spiritual strength among the Muslim “ummah” at large.
In Sabah and Sarawak, although Allah has long been used by Christians, only a handful of Muslims have been converted to Christianity. One of the reasons is that despite their lack of knowledge on Islam, their faith is strong enough to make them remain as Muslims. Imagine what the position would be if besides the strong faith they also have good spiritual knowledge on Islam provided by activities of the religious leaders with the material help of the government.
On the other hand, it is said that in Sabah and Sarawak the number of Kadazandusun and Iban who have embraced Islam is rather big. The Muslims are a majority in this country and the Constitution is clear that non-Muslims are not allowed to convert Muslims to other religion. So why is there this unnecessary feeling of fear?
As regards (c), it is no surprise that any religion would like and try to increase its followers. But it must be remembered that in such countries like Indonesia, which is often put up as an example, the expansion of Christianity was because of other factors and not due to the use of Allah being allowed. Perhaps the main factor is the welfare and educational work carried out by the Christian missionaries among the local people. Of course they seemed to have unlimited funds at their disposal.
What should be done?
Why is it in this country there is not much efforts and activities by Muslim activists in Ngo and government to uplift the faith and knowledge in Islam among the Muslims? Why is it they do not concentrate especially on the poor and marginalised, the majority of whom have strong faith but weak knowledge on Islam? Why is it Muslim missionary workers have little impact on the aboriginal communities? Pray explain why the government is not very enthusiastic to provide more financial help to Muslim missionaries who want to spread the message of Islam?
The various religious groups inside and outside government should carry out more intensive welfare work among the poor and marginalized. They should pressurize the government to provide greater assistance to the missionary workers and Islamic educational institutions at all levels. After all, shouldn’t Umno that claims to be the champion of the Malays and Islam should do more?
Even if the Christians may have their own hidden agenda vis-à-vis the use Allah, their activities will be legally constrained. There is a specific provision in the Malaysian Constitution that forbids activities to convert Malay/Muslim to other religions. The Malay/Muslim should cease to have an inferiority complex and imagine that they are always under siege and do not have the power to do anything.
Finally, the Christian churches can do something significant to defuse the racial and religious flame that seems to have been fanned by extremist elements to spread. How wonderful it would be if their top leaders can give assurance that they have no secret agenda and strategy and that the church will not use Allah to expand their influence.
22 January, 2010
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