Who is confused over Allah?
Christians are not confused. Some Muslims, not all, are.
K Pragalath, FMT
In delivering his verdict yesterday, Justice Zawawi Salleh stated that there would be confusion among Muslims and Christians if Catholic publication The Herald continues to translate God as Allah.
“If the word Allah is to be employed in the Malay versions of The Herald to refer to God, there will be a risk of misrepresentation of God within Christianity.
“This is because the Christian concept of God as symbolised by the Trinity is absolutely and completely dissimilar to the concept of Allah in Islam.
“The potential for confusion is not confined only to Muslims but also to Christians,” said Zawawi in his written judgment.
The decision to block The Herald from using Allah’s name was a unanimous decision made by Zawawi Salleh, Apandi Ali and Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim.
Going by the various Christian groups that opted to seek a legal recourse in this case, I do not see Christians as being confused over the usage of Allah. In court yesterday were representatives of different Christian denominations.
Father Lawrence Andrew and Emeritus Archbishop Soter Fernandez are Catholics. However Council of Churches general secretary Hermen Shastri is Methodist. Sidang Injil Borneo that had a watching brief in court belongs to the Evangelical Christian Church.
Now that I have established that the Christians are not confused over Allah’s name, let’s look at the Muslim groups.
There were, among others, the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (MACMA), Malay rights group Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA).
ISMA’s second vice president (II) Abdul Rahman Md Dali even accused Christians of “constantly hatching plots to separate Islam from the Muslims”.
Media reports stated there were about 200 Malay Muslim crowd at the steps of Palace of Justice that performed prayers, thanking Allah for a judgment that favoured them.
However it must be noted here that the Muslim groups and the 200 odd crowd do not represent the majority of the Muslims. Groups such as Perkasa would not gel with Muslim NGOs such as, for example, Sisters in Islam.
So now, who is confused? And why is there such a confusion when Islamic studies have been part of
the education system for a Muslim student from young? Aside from that Muslim students have to attend religious classes.
