The tradition of using the word Allah to reference the Christian God predates Islam itself. It is an Arabic word, and is still used by Arabic Christians when referring to their God. The Muslim protesters in Malaysia want Christians to use the term Tuhan instead. This creates a whole array of difficulties in translation though, because the terms Tuhan (Lord) and Allah (God) are not strictly interchangeable. Indeed, there are many times in the Bible where the term “Lord God” is used, clearly delineating two distinct words. (to learn more about this, please read this excellent article by Dr Ng Kam Weng)
Why is this causing such a panic, and why should we be concerned? Over 60% of the Muslims in the world come from the Asian-Pacific corner of the world. It also contains the most rapidly growing sector of Islam, and some of the most brutally-repressive theocratic regimes in the world, several of whom are now flush with western money after drastic economic expansions.
Does this mean the UN should add Malaysia to some terrorist list? No. But it should give us pause that such a trivial matter as the proper word for God from one religion to the next is causing an uproar of these proportions. What dire message does this send to adherents of freedom or religion and speech in Malaysia? What message does it send the world?
4 Comments
Dear Alex,
The latter half of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century brought about one of the most passionate and calamitous series of wars that Europe had ever experienced. Alex, would it be ignorant of me to ask if the current issues in Malaysia consist of a specific similarity to the problems that Europe once had?
As always, great article! And, thank you for your many contributions to KTF Media Group. We are very fortunate to have you with us, going on 2-years.
Great article.
Do avatars show up on KTF?
apparently.
The moment I saw this site was like wow. Thanks for putting your effort in making this article.