The below is taken from letters to Malaysiakini. It has a very clear explanation on the use of the term ‘Allah’ by Christians. The letter is written by Dr SK Teoh
and published on Jan 7, 10 in Malaysiakini.
Malaysians are naturally anxious about the recent controversy about the ‘Allah’ issue. However, many are not fully aware of the facts of the case, thus giving rise to unnecessary concerns and fears.
1. The word ‘Allah’ is an Arabic word meaning ‘God’ and has been used by Christians long before the 7th century and is currently used by Christians in Arab-speaking countries. Thus the term is not the monopoly of Islam.
2. During the translation of the Bible, Christians follow the principle of using the term in the local language for God. The Hebrew term for God is ‘El’ or ‘Elohim’, the Greek word is ‘Theo’, French is ‘Dieu’, and ‘ShangTi ‘ in Chinese.
In English, ‘God’ is used and never has ‘Allah’ appeared in the English Bible. This will answer accusations that the term ‘Allah’ was never found in the Bible.
3. The Bible had been translated in the Malay language as early as 300 years ago, and the term ‘Allah’ was chosen as it was the word used by the people in the region. Thus, the Malaysian church did not introduce the term only recently.
4. Twenty million Indonesians use the Al-Kitab where the term ‘Allah’ had been used in a country with 90% Muslims who have not been ‘threatened’ in the last 80 years. Why the fears in Malaysia?
5. Bahasa Malaysia Bibles and publications have been restricted for use only within the churches and have been prohibited from being available in public areas. Christians have reluctantly accepted this restriction over the last 30 years. During this time, there was never any evidence that Christians have intentionally ‘confused’ the Muslims.
6. However when the authorities stopped the printing of Bahasa Malaysia and even Iban Bibles, and prohibited the Catholic Herald (which is only sold within the churches), there was no choice but to go to the courts for a solution. There is no intention to ‘provoke’ any sentiments.
7. With the national language policy over the last 50 years, Malaysians (especially Christians from Sabah and Sarawak) are more familiar with the use of Bahasa Malaysia in churches, and the term ‘Allah’ has become part of their vocabulary.
It is thus necessary for Christians using Bahasa Malaysia and other indigenous languages to use the therm ‘Allah’ in Bible studies, prayer and worship.
1 Corinthians 15:58 (New International Version)
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
This verse seems to speak to me when I was struggling with all those things that don’t make sense.
Stand firm. Not in our stance but rather in our faith.
I believe and I pray that the Lord will guide our church leaders on what to do next. I have faith that our Lord Jesus will find us a path that’s best for us.
Didn’t they persecute and put our Lord on the cross to silent Him? Didn’t He rise again? Therefore, if we are strong in our faith, nothing can shake us.
Just now, I was a little disturbed. So many weird comments are coming in. They probably make sense to those who wrote and expressed their thoughts. Therefore, I let them pass through.
I am not going to bother. And I know one of these days, I may get into trouble if this thing escalates. For the Bible said, give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. I never see my writings as accidental. I have read back some of those old posts I wrote and I know they are not my work.
Otherwise, how could one random post I write about doormats get the attention of the CM many months ago?
Today, when I looked back at things I wrote two years ago, after some religious tolerance forum, I realised that my work has not been in vain. Yes, I write many nonsensical stuffs but there are nuggets of wisdom in those. Today, some of those pages are viewed over and over again.
I do not know who reads them but the stats showed that some of these pages are often found by random surfers. May they be enlightened. I do not care which faith they profess. I have always been respectful of others’ faiths. I shall leave it to the Lord to do the rest.
Two days ago, we were asked if we wish to participate in collecting feedback regarding the Allah issue. I offered to do it. Now, we aren’t supposed to discuss it because by doing so, it means we are in contempt of the court.
Do you find it awfully funny that they can challenged it and yet, we cannot even speak about it? Anyway, there are still options for us to cover this issue. But right now, I am not sure how much I am willing to put my neck out. My fear is the repercussion it may cause the church in whole.
So, I shall take the person’s words yesterday, Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5). And to those illiterate, ignoramus, I am not talking about grabbing the piece of land we are standing on. It is about the kingdom of Heaven.
I met Fr. Fabian yesterday and told him that my video is up on Malaysiakini and at the point when I was telling him, there have been 11K views. He was just downloading the video at that time and haven’t watch it yet.
He asked me, “Did you get the part about humility and be grateful to God?”
Sometimes, we humans have a certain wavelength with certain people and less receptive to others. With Fr. Fabian, I am all ears and eyes.
I told him, “Yes, that’s my focus. It is all about peace.”
Praise the Lord that I have the foresight to film this humble piece. It has been viewed almost 19,000 times on Malaysiakini.tv. I hope there are some people who had been enlightened that though the court ruled that The Herald can continue their Bahasa Malaysia version with the term Allah, we are not jubilant or jumping with joy. Yes, we feel happy and relieved that there is finally some fair judgement.
But we are reminded to accept it with humility and be grateful to God.
And praise to God that He has granted me the skills to show that our Catholic faith promotes peace and only peace. It has been overwhelming to me.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. The shopping malls are all decked with Christmas trimmings. The Christmas carols, both solemn and corny types are playing in the air.
To me, there is a huge difference between the Christmas we Christians know and the commercialized Christmas. As I grow in my Christian journey, the differences have become more noticeable and I am glad and praise the Lord that I notice them.
I think it was last year that I learned about the meaning of the Christmas crib. I was in Mount Miriam then and the nuns have the crib in stages. I read and learned about the journey Mary & Joseph took. Day by day, the camels, oxen and sheeps were added to the crib. Baby Jesus was only included at His birth.
Many years ago, when I first embraced Christ, I went through a period of outside looking in. I remembered a year when I was awfully lonely for no reason. I was neither here nor there. My family members do not celebrate Christmas. I was too new as a Christian to know the meaning of Christmas and I couldn’t find it in my heart to celebrate except for the corny stuffs of roasting turkey and etc.
Thank God, as the years go by, now I find more meaning to Christmas. Father Fabian delivered a very strong message to the congregation. Much later, I overheard some folks talked about it being a harsh one. But me, Father Fabian kicks ass and I am glad he delivered this Stay Awake reminder to all of us.
Let’s see….I think I have moved in to this new place for almost a month now. There are still old stuffs left in my old apartment and some of them are actually my treasured stuffs. They are old stuffs but very important to me still. Things like old photo albums and gifts.
Over the weekend, we tried to move a few boxes over and finally, hubby gave up and is going to hire a lorry to move the rest because there is no end to it. It is hopeless to ask me to pack because when I go through the things, I want to pack everything. Meanwhile, he could just throw everything without a blink of an eye.
How I wish moving is as easy as getting a new phone line or Directv. For my phone line, we used back the same name which ended up with a lot of problems. But for our cable tv, we applied for a new account using my name because the company we had is going to charge us more if we shift than for new installation.
It doesn’t make sense. Why are companies like Direct TV made it so easy for their subscribers but not mine. Unfortunately, I don’t live in California or I would be able to get the quick and fast service of Direct TV in California.
Anyway, I have moved house so often enough, I have begun to detach feelings for any place. It is a here today, gone tomorrow. No big deal, no sentimental value to the place. I will just carry a few important things with me that remind me of my late son and the rest can poof for all I care.
