Preacher argues the ‘Allah’ case
An Islamic preacher argues why he disagrees with Christians using the word Allah and reprimands Muslims for not understanding their own faith.
G Vinod, FMT
Amid threats of burning Malay-language Bibles due to the use of the word Allah, one Islamic preacher reasons why he disagrees with Christians using the Arabic holy word to refer to God.
Saba Islamic Media preacher Shah Kirit Kakulal Govindji, in a YouTube video, said the generic word for God in Arabic is not Allah, but Ilah or Rab.
The 22-minute video, taken during a ceramah session at the Al-Azim mosque, shows Shah Kirit saying that he disagrees with Christians using the word Allah to refer to God as the holy word is a unique name conferred in the Quran.
“When you say in English, ‘man is a thief’ and translate it into Malay it becomes ‘lelaki itu seorang pencuri’.
“But can you translate that same sentence into ‘Shah Kirit itu seorang pencuri’. Does it reflect the same meaning as the English sentence earlier?” he asked.
Shah Kirit then quoted the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 28, where Jesus has said that,” For my Father is greater than I.”
“So can I change the word Father to Allah and say, for Allah is greater than Jesus? Would the Christians agree to it?” he said.
Shah Kirit also disagreed with arguments that it was all right for Christians in Malaysia to use the word Allah as even Indonesians do it.
“We are talking about Bahasa Malaysia here, not Indonesian. If that’s the case, the Indonesians call their primary schools as Pancasila. Shall we change the names of our schools then?” he asked.
While he agreed that Christians in Arab countries use the word Allah to refer to God, Shah Kirit said that it was due to the cultural factor.
“Besides, they are referring to Bibles in the Arabic language. We re talking about Malay Bibles, not Arabic,” he said.
