‘Allah’ not exclusive to Muslims, stresses Dzulkefly
Dzulkefly Ahmad disagrees with Haron Din’s statement that “Allah” is exclusive to Muslims. Nevertheless he welcomes the difference in opinions.
Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT
PAS leader Dzulkefly Ahmad today stressed that the party’s collective stand on the term “Allah” was that it is not only exclusive to Muslims, but could be used by those of other faiths.
He was responding to PAS’ deputy spiritual leader Haron Din’s insistence today that “Allah” belongs exclusively to Islam, contradicting Pakatan Rakyat’s official stand that non-Muslims have the right to use the Arabic word to describe their god.
“What is important is the collective stand of the party and majlis syura (the party’s highest decision-making body), and the collective stand of Pakatan,” Dzulkefly told FMT.
However, he said Haron was entitled to express personal views that may not necessarily coincide with the collective stand of the party.
“Anyone of any standing and leaders of any discipline can state their own particular stand. In short, he is free to state his own views.
“I, for one, will not criticise him nor vilify him for stating a different view. I have seen so many differences and variations in Muslim scholarships,” he added.
Dzulkefly explained that the Islamic religion encourages differing opinions through discourse and scholarly debates.
“The Islamic discourse and scholarship is willing to accept differences by even a single voice or by a few,” he said.
“In fact, we celebrate differences. All arguments to me are logical,” he added.
Dzulkefly reiterated that the party’s collective stand was to allow non-Muslims to use the term “Allah”, however he urged those who do use the term “not to abuse it”.
“Allah celebrates the plurality of religious belief. As such, we allow the use of Allah by people of other faiths provided they do not abuse it,” he said.
“I believe this is a very objective and principled stand,” he added.
