Using ‘Allah’ in Bible ‘nullifies’ Trinity, Jakim suggests

(MM) – Malaysia’s foremost Islamic authority has again questioned local Christans’ use of the word “Allah” today, suggesting it nullifies their religion’s concept of the Trinity.

In its weekly Friday sermon today, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) also warned Muslims against supporting “freedom without borders” and human rights causes, which it said are backed by “enemies of Islam” in the country, whom it failed to identify.

“Islam denies and rejects the belief based on Trinity… The huge question arising here, why is there a need to use the word ‘Allah’ in the Bible, since when used it will directly nullify the concept of Trinity that they practise,” Jakim asked in its sermon ahead of a much-anticipated court ruling on the government’s appeal against the Church’s right to the Arabic word on Monday.

The sermon however did not exactly explain how using the word “Allah” in the Bible would nullify the Trinity concept, which refers to the three divine personifications of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — which forms part of the belief system of the Christians, especially Catholics.

“Its usage is clearly make Muslims confused, doubt and mistake the identity of Allah and destroy the akidah (faith) of the ummah (community),” Jakim said in its Malay text.

The local Catholic Church has challenged in court to publish the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its weekly paper, prompting a tussle between Malaysian Muslims and non-Muslims for the past five years for the right to use the Arabic word to call their respective gods.

JAKIM also drew a parallel between Muslims’ holy pilgrimage of haj and the unity of its community today, as it calls Muslims nationwide to unite amid the “Allah” row appeal decision next week.

“As we all know, the Allah word issue will be heard again in the Court of Appeal this October 14. So, as Muslims who are obedient to their religion, let us unite to reject any efforts to deny our rights as Muslims,” said the sermon here.

“It is wajib (obligatory) for Muslims to take the best care and if there are any elements of insult or misuse towards the word, it must be restricted according to the provisions of the law enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” Jakim said, of the “Allah” word.

“Believe it, defending the sanctity of Islam by not allowing others to insult it is requisite.”

Muslims in Malaysia will celebrate Aidiladha next Tuesday, which commemorates the willingness of their prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his firstborn son following God’s command. It also marks the end of the haj, the Muslim pilgrimage.

JAKIM also warned Muslims in its sermon today against supporting what it called “foreign ideologies”, which it referred to as “isms”, naming capitalism, communism, socialism, and liberalism as examples.

“Assuming those ideologies as being better than Islamic taching can bring to syirik (idolatry),” stressed Jakim.

An official sermon for the Aidilfitri celebration in early August had also warned Muslims nationwide against a conspiracy by “enemies of Islam” to manipulate them through such ideas, which also included feminism and positivism.

In its Aidilfitri sermon, Jakim told Malaysian Muslims to put their faith before all other considerations, amid alleged religious attacks masked as the freedom of expression by non-Muslims nationwide.

“Believe it, the moment Muslims lose their belief, their guidance brittle, and lose their sensitivity towards Islam, that will be the moment enemies of Islam have waited for,” Jakim said in its sermon on August 30, without elaborating on the identity of its “enemies”.

Following the uproar then, Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom denied claims the government was attempting to paint Christians as enemies of the Muslims, after being questioned by Beruas MP Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham.

The “Allah” row first erupted in 2008 after the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit for publishing Christian references to God as “Allah”, prompting the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.

The Church has argued in court that the word predates Islam and that Christians’ right to use “Allah” in a non-Muslim context was affirmed by the government’s own 10-point solution issued in 2011.

The 2009 High Court decision upholding the Catholic Church’s constitutional right to use the word “Allah” had shocked many Muslims that consider the word to only refer to the Islamic God.

It also led to Malaysia’s worst religious strife, with houses of worship throughout the country coming under attack.

Christians make up Malaysia’s third-largest at 2.6 million, according to statistics from the 2010 consensus while Muslims are the country’s largest religious group at 61.3 per cent of its 28 million people.