AUG 22 — The controversy about the use of the name “Allah” in the “Alkitab”(Bible) of Malaysian Christians, especially for those residing in east Malaysia, seems to be boiling over. Muslims are divided about the decision to allow its use, disregarding the question if everyone IS entitled to such a decision considering our status as laypeople of religion.
Too many cooks spoil the pot, and now the discussion, if not contained or put on a moratorium, could cause jeopardy. The main gist of the discussion so far has been a back-and-forth “yes” and “no”, when sadly, what is sorely needed is the understanding about the background where the views of each side is coming from.
The Christian communities of Malaysia are diverse in terms of racial representations, spoken languages and denominations. It is curious that we have not heard anything from the lay Christians. Dominating the discourse, Catholics have been at the forefront of this debate, unsurprisingly due to their organised network of global missionaries. The Evangelical Christians also lend their support to the cause of the indigenisation of Christianity in Malaysia by expressing their support for the strengthening of Bahasa Malaysia through the use of the Malay language in the Bible. (Refer to “Kuching Declaration” 1989)
However, the grassroots situation might not reflect the prose of Church leaders. Aside from the Christians of east Malaysia, the majority of Christians in the Federal Territory are not known to prefer Bahasa Malaysia as their choice language of conversation and prayers. Malaysian church leaders like to cite Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim country as an example, yet Malaysia is not like Indonesia. The Christian populace from among the Chinese-Malaysians, Indian-Malaysians and the Eurasians (Portuguese, etc.) do not speak Bahasa Malaysia at home and it remains to be seen how many actually prefer to attend church services in that language.
The use of an “Arabic” term for God in “Alkitab” might result in a de-Christianisation of the Christian population in Malaysia in the long term. Church leaders should be responsible towards their own flock if they truly care about survival before launching an ambitious plan for proselytising — and there is nothing surprising here either. We are well aware that proselytising is one of the key tenets of the Christian faith. Yet, history has shown that many Christian minority groups existed for thousands of years by maintaining their own survival strategies. A case in point is the Coptics of Egypt and the Assyrian Christians.
These are the very group of Christians who conduct their prayer services in their native tongues — which include the original word “Allah”. However, the Middle-Eastern Christians are also known as Orthodox Christians, and their historical development took a different route from the Western churches that later branched into several other denominations such as the Protestant and Unitarian. The Western churches of Rome came out of the ashes of the conversion of pagan Rome, strengthened by the apostle Paul into what we recognise today as the Catholic Church based in the Vatican. The Eastern Orthodox Church of the Arabs did not pass through that Latin route — and so have a closer connection with Jesus’ original language of Aramaic. They have every right to maintain the word “Allah” — and they must pronounce it properly as well.
The Christian Arabs were under intense pressure to maintain the religion of their forefathers, while the dominant society around them was proselytising Islam — da’wah being an Islamic principle that is observed by a Muslim empire. These Muslim empires were respectful of the rights of the Christians to maintain their faith, yet they all live in separate quarters as can be seen from the separate quarters existing in Jerusalem today. This living arrangement must have kept the Christian Arabs especially the young from being confused by the theology of the dominant group, especially when both groups speak the same language and call the same deity “Allah”.
The situation is different for us here in contemporary Malaysia. Our children can clearly differentiate between the religions based on certain factors including the language of worship. People have a right to worship in the language that they speak at home, and not a language that is specially accommodated in order to achieve certain organisational objective. What every Malaysian needs is the security and peace that comes from worshipping God in the language that conveys their fears and joy, if that is so permitted by their religion. Leaders should be mindful not to place unnecessary confusion to their flocks, and to people of other religions as well. True knowledge is a blessing of God that should not be tampered with only to regret it when it is too late. Our leaders should exude wisdom in securing peace and harmony for our nation by implementing amal (virtuous deeds) with adab (propriety).
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.
