not polemics but dialog to resolve allah controversy

7/29/2019 Not Polemics but Dialog to Resolve Allah Controversy

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Resolving the Allah Controversy: Going Beyond Polemics and Call for Constructive

DialogueOriginally published at Krisis Praxis Blog on January 17, 2013

http://www.krisispraxis.com/archives/2013/01/resolving-the-allah-controversy-going-beyond-polemics-

and-call-for-constructive-dialogue/

Proposition 1: We respect the right of PAS to spell out clearly its theological position on Allah.

Proposition 2: We respect the right of people of different faiths to interpret their holy books and

profess their faith in their mother tongues.

Proposition 3: We must go beyond polemics in addressing the Allah controversy.

Proposition 4: We invite Muslim leaders to engage in constructive dialogue with Christian

leaders to resolve the Allah controversy

The official statement released by Pas Ulamak Syura Council (USC) on 13/1/2013 has caused

confusion and concern. LINK - http://bm.harakahdaily.net/index.php/headline/15915-majlis-

syura-semua-boleh-guna-tetapi-tidak-boleh-terjemah-nama-allah

The statement affirms that,

Kalimah Allah adalah kalimah khusus yang Allah menamakan diri-Nya Allah. Kalimah itu tidak

boleh diterjemahkan ke dalam mana-mana bahasa dunia kerana tidak menepati kehendak

sebenar dari kalimah ini. Demikian juga tidak boleh kalimah asing hendak diterjemahkan

kepada kalimah Allah.Oleh kerana itu, menterjemah kalimah God atau Lord dari mana-mana kitab agama bukan Islam

kepada perkataan Allah tidak dibolehkan kerana ianya salah dari segi makna dan salah guna,

tidak menepati kehendak sebenar yang boleh membawa kekeliruan yang nyata. Oleh kerana itu

ia hendaklah dicegah

- Translation: The holy word Allah is used specifically by Allah himself to name himself

Allah. The word cannot be translated into any language in the world because it does not meet

the real requirements of this word. Similarly other foreign words cannot be translated intoAllah.

Therefore, translating God or Lord from any non-Muslim religious books into the wordAllah is forbidden because it is wrong in terms of meaning and use, does not fulfil the actual

requirement and can bring confusion. Therefore it must be prevented.

It is noted that Abdul Hadi Awang, the President of PAS earlier stated that Islam cannot prohibit

non-Muslims from using the word Allah (Penggunaan Kalima Allah dated 7 Jan 2010). He


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cited a few Quranic verses (Surah Luqman 31: 25-26; Surah Az-Zumar 39: 38; Surah Az-

Zukhruf 43: 9, 87) to demonstrate that even the Quran assumes that both Muslims and non-Muslims use the same reference to Allh even though there was theological disagreement:

Perkataan Allah disebut oleh orang Arab atau pengguna bahasa Arab yang menganut berbagai

agama, sama ada penganut Yahudi, Kristian dan penyembah berhala sejak dahulu kala. Al-Quran

menyebut secara jelas bahawa penganut agama-agama itu menyebut dan menulis perkataanAllah.

He concluded,

Kesimpulannya, kita tidak boleh melarang mereka menggunakan perkataan Allah di kalangan

mereka sendiri, dalam ibadat mereka dan amalan mereka, walau pun salah maksud dan

maknanya yang asal mengikut bahasa kita (In conclusion, we can not prohibit their use of the

word God among themselves, in their worship and practices, even though the original purposeand meaning is wrong according to our language).

Hadi Awang added, Demikianlah keterbukaan Islam terhadap kebebasan beragama denganbatas sempadan yang tidak menegangkan hubungan dalam masyarakat berbagai agama (Such is

the openness of Islam towards religious freedom with boundaries that do not strain relations in amulti-religious society).

It seems there are inconsistencies between the USC and President Hadi Awang. Clarificationfrom PAS should be forthcoming.

Meanwhile, should the Malaysian church respond to the present confusion?

1) We respect the right of PAS to spell out clearly its theological position on Allah.

The USC has spelled out clearly its position and this deserves respect. Still, our response is that

with all due respect, we do not agree with its theological interpretation of the word Allah. PAS is

entitled to hold the view that only Muslims have understood and used the word Allah accurately.But by the same token Christians are also entitled to hold to their view of God and to use the

word Allah accordingly.

The issue is not that Christians and Muslims hold different views of God. Religious difference

has existed since the dawn of mankind. The issue is whether we are prepared to respect the right

of people of other faiths to uphold their own religious conception of God.

2) We respect the right of people of different faiths to interpret their holy books and profess their

faith in their mother tongues.


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Muslims have every right to interpret the Quran and profess their faith in any mother tongue,

whether it is Arabic, English or Malay. Likewise, Malay-speaking Christians should have thesame right to interpret the Malay Bible (Alkitab) and profess their faith in Malay in their mother

tongue.

Muslims will not accept and rightly feel offended if Christians were to tell them how they shouldprofess their faith. Conversely, Christians have the right to reject any Muslim telling them howthey may profess their Christian faith.

Freedom of religion is an inalienable and fundamental right. Freedom of religion is authenticprecisely because people are entitled to uphold different belief systems. Muslims have every

right to believe that the word Allah is specific to the God of Islam and that people of other faiths

are not using the word Allah rightly if judged according to criteria internal to Islam. By the same

token Malay speaking Christians have the same right to use the word Allah in the Malay Bible(Alkitab) even though their idea of God may not be consistent with Islam.

Muslims have the right to disagree and even critique those who hold to different ideas of God orAllah. For example, PAS statement explicitly critiques and rejects the Christian concept of God

as unsuitable when used with the word Allah. However, Christians take no offence at the critiqueas intellectual integrity entails a critical reception of truth claims.

However, religious differences must be addressed with sensitivity. There should be nomisrepresentation of the beliefs of another religion. It is desirable that leaders from both the

Christian and Islamic community meet together and exercise their statesmanship to resolve

amicably their difference through fair and frank discussion.

3) We must go beyond polemics in addressing the Allah controversy

Both Christianity and Islam are rich religious traditions that require nuanced and careful

understanding. This being the case, it would be inappropriate to rely on public pronouncements,

fatwas and press statements to help believers from both sides to arrive at mutual understanding.

Indeed, the brevity and generality of such pronouncements means they are easily misunderstood.Regrettably some politicians have exploited the controversy for their political agenda.

4) We invite Muslim leaders to engage in constructive dialogue with Christian leaders to resolvethe Allah controversy

It is imperative for religious leaders from both the Christian and Muslim community (regardlessof whether they represent UMNO or PAS) to engage in constructive dialogue to resolve the

Allah controversy in a spirit that is consistent with the ethical and spiritual aspiration of their

respective religious traditions.


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Leaders from the Malaysian church would readily welcome dialogue with Muslim leaders.

Hopefully such dialogue would restore good will and harmony to our beloved nation.

Sura 29:46 al-ankabut (The Spider)

And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere

disputation) unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say We believe

in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God andyour God is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam). Yusuf Ali translation.

1Peter 3: 15-16. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reasonfor the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, sothat, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to

shame.

not polemics but dialog to resolve allah controversy

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