{"id":12269,"date":"2012-12-28T16:12:37","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T08:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teresakok.com\/?p=12269"},"modified":"2012-12-28T16:12:37","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T08:12:37","slug":"allah-debate-let-court-decide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269","title":{"rendered":"Allah debate: Let court decide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/category\/nation\/2012\/12\/28\/allah-debate-let-court-decide\/\">By Joseph Tawie<\/a><\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Free Malaysia Today<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>KUALA LUMPUR | Dec 28, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Both Barisan Nasional and opposition leaders have been urged to restrain from making comments on the use of the term \u201cAllah\u201d in reference to God and to allow the Court of Appeal to rule on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>The government appealed a 2009 High Court decision favouring the church based on the the Federal Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>In making this appeal, Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian said: \u201cPolitical expediency should not and must not dominate the debate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe basis for arguing whether non-Muslims can use the word \u2018Allah\u2019 to refer to God must rest on its context, etymology, and the relevant laws surrounding it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToo much is at stake for it touches on the very heart, soul, and spirit of one\u2019s belief and faith regardless of what one believes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI, therefore, urge those with differing viewpoints to exercise restraint, tolerance and goodwill. We must be reminded that we are indeed treading on holy ground. This is not to suggest that we must avoid discussing it at the appropriate forum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He further urged BN and the opposition to agree to a common moratorium not to use the Allah or Alkitab issue in the forthcoming general election.<\/p>\n<p>Some 10 percent of Malaysia\u2019s population are Christians but they are the collective majority in East Malaysia\u2019s Sarawak and Sabah.<\/p>\n<p>In both Sarawak and in Sabah, the Malay speaking bumiputera Christians rely mainly on the Indonesian Bible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChristians of other ethnic communities like the Ibans in Sarawak refer to God as \u2018Allah Taala\u2019 or God Most High in their Bible known as the Bup Kudus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey rely on the Malay language or Indonesian Bible known as the Alkitab, which uses the word \u2018Allah\u2019 to refer to God. The word is of Arabic origin, which predates Islam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Misplaced proposition<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/?attachment_id=162558\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a>Bian who is Ba Kelalan assemblyman further explained that the first portion of Christian scriptures translated into Malay was done in Indonesia for the Gospel of Matthew in 1612, four hundred years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was one year after the authorised version of the Bible was translated into English known as the King James Version (KJV). The Malay translation was also the first non-European language translation of the Bible. Surely we can treasure this rare heritage as Malaysians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome have suggested that this is an East Malaysian problem and therefore the word \u2018Allah\u2019 can be used there while over in the peninsula, the word should be \u2018Tuhan\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis proposition is misplaced as it suggests we have two \u2018Malaysias\u2019 instead of 1Malaysia. This is dangerous for national unity,\u201d Bian warned.<\/p>\n<p>He also reminded peninsular leaders that tens of thousands of East Malaysian Christians were working in the peninsula and this did not include a sizeable Orang Asli community who were also Christians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo we want to deny them their constitutional right to refer to God as Allah as they do back home?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEast Malaysian Christians have been using \u2018Allah\u2019 to refer to God for generations. This has never caused confusion among Muslims before or after the formation of Malaysia in 1963.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy should this cause confusion now after half a century?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed out that Rukunegara used \u2018Tuhan\u2019 and not \u2018Allah\u2019 to refer to God just like the Indonesian Pancasila.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn terms of common usage, this is a reasonable expression. However, in the Biblical context, the word \u2018Tuhan\u2019 refers to Lord and not God or Allah.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is, therefore, not acceptable to ask Christians to switch the two words and take them to mean what they do not mean in their liturgy and worship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne cannot force someone of another religion to change words in their Holy Scriptures simply to satisfy believers of another religion. This is wholly untenable,\u201d he lamented.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nCourt\u2019s decision<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bian reminded that the \u2018Allah\u2019 issue was still in court and that the Court of Appeal is yet to rule on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was three years ago on Dec 31, 2009, that the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in favour of the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, who is the publisher of Herald, that even though Islam is the religion of the Federation, this does not empower the government to prohibit the use of the word \u2018Allah\u2019 in the Malay edition of the Herald.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt also found that the word Allah was not exclusive to Muslims. The High Court decision was a decision made in the light of our religious rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government has appealed against this decision and the Court of Appeal is yet to rule on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>But for now, the High Court has spoken clearly on the issue and in the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should respect our legal system and allow the law to take its course,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Joseph Tawie Free Malaysia Today KUALA LUMPUR | Dec 28, 2012 Both Barisan Nasional and opposition leaders have been urged to restrain from making comments on the use of the term \u201cAllah\u201d in reference to God and to allow the Court of Appeal to rule on the matter. The government appealed a 2009 High&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1595,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law-n-order","category-legal","category-religion"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Allah debate: Let court decide - TERESAKOK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Allah debate: Let court decide - TERESAKOK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Joseph Tawie Free Malaysia Today KUALA LUMPUR | Dec 28, 2012 Both Barisan Nasional and opposition leaders have been urged to restrain from making comments on the use of the term \u201cAllah\u201d in reference to God and to allow the Court of Appeal to rule on the matter. The government appealed a 2009 High...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TERESAKOK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-28T08:12:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Teresa Kok&#039;s Office\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Teresa Kok&#039;s Office\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Teresa Kok's Office\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/efb89fece3da1aaa22884b6c1b5bb63d\"},\"headline\":\"Allah debate: Let court decide\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-28T08:12:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269\"},\"wordCount\":797,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Law n Order\",\"Legal\",\"Religion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269\",\"name\":\"Allah debate: Let court decide - TERESAKOK\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-28T08:12:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?p=12269#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Allah debate: Let court decide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/\",\"name\":\"TERESAKOK\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TERESAKOK\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/cropped-Blog-Header-2023-v2-01-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/cropped-Blog-Header-2023-v2-01-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2555,\"height\":965,\"caption\":\"TERESAKOK\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/efb89fece3da1aaa22884b6c1b5bb63d\",\"name\":\"Teresa Kok's Office\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/teresakok.my\\\/?author=1595\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Allah debate: Let court decide - TERESAKOK","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Allah debate: Let court decide - TERESAKOK","og_description":"By Joseph Tawie Free Malaysia Today KUALA LUMPUR | Dec 28, 2012 Both Barisan Nasional and opposition leaders have been urged to restrain from making comments on the use of the term \u201cAllah\u201d in reference to God and to allow the Court of Appeal to rule on the matter. The government appealed a 2009 High...","og_url":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269","og_site_name":"TERESAKOK","article_published_time":"2012-12-28T08:12:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Teresa Kok's Office","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Teresa Kok's Office","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269"},"author":{"name":"Teresa Kok's Office","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#\/schema\/person\/efb89fece3da1aaa22884b6c1b5bb63d"},"headline":"Allah debate: Let court decide","datePublished":"2012-12-28T08:12:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269"},"wordCount":797,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg","articleSection":["Law n Order","Legal","Religion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269","url":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269","name":"Allah debate: Let court decide - TERESAKOK","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg","datePublished":"2012-12-28T08:12:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/YB-Baru-bian-5-300x199.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=12269#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Allah debate: Let court decide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#website","url":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/","name":"TERESAKOK","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#organization","name":"TERESAKOK","url":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-Blog-Header-2023-v2-01-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-Blog-Header-2023-v2-01-scaled-1.jpg","width":2555,"height":965,"caption":"TERESAKOK"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/#\/schema\/person\/efb89fece3da1aaa22884b6c1b5bb63d","name":"Teresa Kok's Office","url":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?author=1595"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12269"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12286,"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12269\/revisions\/12286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}