Muslim greeting provokes anger
The Penang government may have to step in and settle another controversial issue if it is politicised.
Ong made the greeting on Thursday when addressing a group of university and college students at a forum in the State Legislative Assembly building here.
The event was about the role of the state government and the opposition. Ong was among several state assemblymen from Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional invited to speak.
The moderator was State speaker Abdul Halim Hussain.
When Ong began his address with the greeting, two Umno backbenchers Azhar Ibrahim, who is the Penaga state assemblyman and state opposition leader and Seberang Jaya state assemblyman Ariff Shah Omar Shah stood up among the mixed audience and demanded that Ong retracts the greeting as he was not a Muslim.
A brief commotion ensued among the three and it happened before some 50 stunned students.
Abdul Halim, sensing that the row was getting out of hand, intervened and asked Ong to continue with his speech but to refrain from using such a salutation since there are objections.
Ong continued but the exchange of harsh words had clearly rattled the audience including the young students.
Good faith
Ong, when contacted, defended his choice of address, saying he had used it before in other functions and he does not see anything wrong with it.
He said that it was a common greeting, used widely in the Arabic world, and there is literature which indicates that it is normal for a non-Muslim to utter such words in good faith.
He added that he called PAS religious scholar Mujahid Yusof Rawa for clarification.
He said that Mujahid seemed to agree that he (Ong) could use the greeting as long as it is made in good faith.
However, Ariff Shah argued that Ong should not have used the greeting as it was sensitive to some groups of Muslims.
“We are not ready for a religious discourse here but Ong as an assemblyman should have known better. The greeting is sensitive to some groups of Muslims. In any religion, there are extremists, moderates, liberals or conservatives groups. Although, both Azhar and me belongs to neither of those groups, we are still a group of individuals who believe it is improper for a non-Muslim to use the greeting.”
Ariff Shah said that Ong could have meant well but he should have just greeted “Hello, Salam Sejahtera or other forms”.
He added it was an acceptable practice among most Malaysians not to use the greeting if they are non-Muslims but apparently Ong is arrogant and insisted on using it without realising the implications.
Uncomfortable feeling
Religious customs and practices should be managed wisely in a multi-ethnic country like Malaysia, he said.
For example in Sikhism, its male adherents believe in keeping their hair and it is considered insulting to them if their hair were cut without their knowledge, Ariff Shah said.
Similarly to some Muslims, it is an uncomfortable feeling to hear a non-Muslim utter “Assalamu alaikum,” he said.
State Religious Affairs Council president Elias Zakaria said the greeting is an Islamic form of address and not just a common Arabic phrase.
There are other forms of Arab greetings similar to other western, oriental or Indian customary greetings, Elias said.
He added that Ong may mean well but he should have stuck to common norms such as “Salam Sejahtera or perhaps a Mandarin greeting.”
Elias said that it was important to set the record straight to avoid any misconception about the greeting.
He hopes the issue does not become politicised here.
According to Google search engine, Assalamu alaikum is defined as an Islamic greeting under the portal of www.muslimtents.com.
It says that Muslims all over the world use the Islamic form of greeting, Assalamu alaikum, which means peace be to you.
The very wording helps generate a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
It is also common in its shorter and longer forms to all Muslim communities wherever they happen to be.
Thus, when two Muslims meet who are total strangers to each other, the moment they use this greeting, they immediately feel that they have common grounds, even when they do not speak each other’s language.
mi1: First Allah and now Assalamualaikum
Assalamualaikum is meant for a group of people...Assalamualaiki is greeting a (one) man & Assalamualaika is greeting to (one) woman, ask any Arab...they should know better..I have been greeting people with Shalom..also meaning Peace be unto you...same as Assalamualaikum...sooo...Shalom...
when I was in Sudan, even a Sudanese Christian there uses the word 'Allah' to represent God. And when I'm back in Malaysia, a politician said the word 'Allah' could only be used by Muslims???????? A new fatwa? It was mentioned that it would confuse people. People? Which group of people?
All Malays please remember this - embracing Islam and being a Muslim does not make you a native speaker of the Arabic Language. Likewise, not all native speakers of the Arabic language are Muslims - there are Christians, Druzes and Jews amongst us.
The word ALLAH had been in existence before Islam. So, do not forget that ALLAH in English is simply God. If you insist that ALLAH is a Muslim God, you should also explain that TUHAN is a pagan deity for the Malays.
Allah is a word that Bahasa Melayu has adopted from Arabic. Despite the fact that Malaysia is a Muslim country, Malaysia refused to embrace Arabic as one of its official languages.
Therefore, no Malaysian authority has the right to determine/restrict the usage of any word that is purely Arabic in origin. That right belongs to the Arab League and its 22 member countries.
It's ignorant people in UMNO that give Muslims such a bad name
Problem is, the Malays here are so closed minded and bunch of hypocrites as they don't understand the actual and true preaching of Islam because they are ignorant and follow whatever people ask them to do even it is illogical.
1 comment:
The explanation in red font - that is awesome and 100% agreeable. Since I am a convert and have my faith. But being ridiculous in the name of god is totally erroneous and idiotic. God never determine how to address him nor how to worship him. We have created all this foolish cultures and religion dividers just to fulfill our satisfaction in the name of spiritual attainment.
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