Reverse ‘Allah’ decision as it leads to ‘severe oppression’, says Harun Yahya
(MM) – Prolific Turkish writer Harun Yahya urged Putrajaya today to reverse its ban on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims here, saying the decision was “based on illogical and theologically unacceptable reasoning”.
The writer — whose real name is Adnan Oktar — said such a ban would inevitably lead to an environment of severe oppression, despite Putrajaya’s repeated claim that it only applies to local Catholic newspaper the Herald.
“Such a decision cannot be accepted and defended even if it was directed at one newspaper or a single person,” said Oktar in an opinion piece carried by Indonesian daily The Jakarta Post here.
“This decision, which is completely against Islam, a religion of peace and brotherhood, must be reversed and there must be freedom of expression for everyone.”
Oktar has achieved a cult status among Muslims in Malaysia for his controversial rejection of Darwinism and the theory of evolution, having claimed the concepts deny the existence of God.
Oktar’s books, such as The Atlas of Creation and The Evolution Deceit, argue in favour of Islamic creationism, which believes that all humans are descended from Adam, the first human and a Muslim prophet.
However, his works have been denounced by the scientific community, who argued their lack of scientific evidence.
In his opinion piece, Oktar criticised the views of right-wing Muslim groups in Malaysia by saying that a prohibition on using the name “Allah” does not align with Islamic teachings and the international norms of human rights.
“For Muslims, peace is important because the word “Islam” comes from the Arabic letters “s-l-m” meaning peace. In the concept of peace, there is love, understanding, compassion, mercy and as much freedom as possible: there is freedom of faith, life, behaviour, ideas and speech, even for atheists,” he added.
“The religion of Islam supports such freedoms completely. Trying to change this religion of love into a completely different religion of cruelty and violence that has nothing to do with Islam, and trying to make life miserable for people through coercion and oppression, is completely unacceptable.”
This week, American religious scholar Dr Reza Aslan told local radio channel BFM in an interview that the world was “laughing” at Malaysia over the court ruling that he described as a “political decision more than anything else”.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has since questioned two BFM radio producers over the interview.
The Court of Appeal ruled last week against a 2009 High Court decision allowing the Catholic Church to refer to the Christian god with the Arabic word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its weekly paper, the Herald.
The court adjudged the usage of the word “Allah” as not integral to the Christian faith and said that allowing such an application would cause confusion in the Muslim community.
Churches in Sabah and Sarawak, however, have said that they will continue their age-old practice of referring to God as “Allah” in their worship and in their holy scriptures.
Several ministers also said recently that the 10-point solution issued by Putrajaya in 2011 — which allows the printing, importation and distribution of the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Christian bible, containing the word “Allah” — should stand, despite the appellate court ruling.
