January 08, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — The umbrella body for all Sikh temples in
Malaysia has said it is saddened by the Selangor Sultan’s latest decree
banning non-Muslims in the state from using the word “Allah”.
The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) added that any move to stop
non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” in a religious text would be a
restriction on Sikhs from practising their religion.
“The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) is saddened to note that a
decree has been issued by His Highness the Sultan of Selangor that
non-Muslims in the state are banned from using the word Allah as it is a
holy word exclusive to Muslims.
“The MGC is further dismayed that no exceptions have been made in the decree,” MGC president Jagir Singh said in a statement.
Sultan Sharafuddin (picture) has called for an
emergency meeting with state Islamic religious officials to bar
non-Muslims from using the Arabic word for god, the Selangor Islamic
Religious Council (Mais) said today.
The statement from the state’s highest Islamic authority came today
despite a High Court ruling in December 2009 that the word “Allah” was
not restricted to Muslims and the Catholic Church had the right to
published the word in the Malay section of its weekly newspaper, Herald.
Besides Christians, Sikhs also use the word “Allah” in religious texts.
“The MGC wishes to educate Malaysians that the word ‘Allah’ is an
integral part of the original text of the Sikh Holy Sri Guru Granth
Sahib Ji and Allah has been used numerous times in the original text to
refer to the omnipotent, omnipresent, compassionate and merciful one
God,” said Jagir.
He said that any curtailment of the use of the word Allah in the
original text will be tantamount to prohibiting Sikhs from reading their
holy book and practising their religion as enshrined in the federal
constitution.
Despite the Selangor Sultan’s latest decree banning non-Muslims in
the state from using the word “Allah”, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) confirmed
today its stand on the controversy, insisting that Islam does not
prohibit others from using the word.
Explaining the federal opposition’s position, PAS president Datuk
Seri Abdul Hadi Awang told a joint press conference with PR leaders here
that Christians and other non-Muslim communities should not abuse the
word to spread confusion among Muslims but this did not mean they were
not allowed to use the word.
“Islam does not stop those of other faiths from using kalimah
‘Allah’ in their practice, although [in the usage of the word by
non-Muslims] it does not refer to the original meaning of the word as
according to the al-Quran,” he said, reading from a statement
.
The “Allah” storm was reignited recently when Lim Guan Eng, the
opposition DAP’s secretary-general, raised the controversial “Allah”
issue in his Christmas message urging the federal government to lift its
ban on the word published in the Malay bibles shipped in to Sabah and
Sarawak, who form the bulk of Malaysia’s 9.2 per cent Christian
population.
In recent years, the Christian and Muslim religious communities have
been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter
group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds
that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim god.
Shipments of the Alkitab, the Malay-language Bible catering to the
Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Bumiputera Christians, were blocked or
confiscated at ports, before the government finally bowed to pressure
and released them in 2011.
Comment _ Pakatan had greed that non Muslims are allowed to use the word ALLAH, so what is BN's stand or does BN has any stand at all????
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