bible-blackandwhite
Credit to | http://indianinthemachine.wordpress.com

In the Sun on Monday, March 21, 2011 I read with dismay about how insensitive the Barisan Nasional government is of the religion of other people. It reads:

Stamping desecrates Bible, say Christian federation

By Karen Arukesamy

PETALING JAYA: As far as the Christian community is concerned, they will not accept the 35,100 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles after the government imposed new conditions for their release from Port Klang and Kuching port.

Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) chairman Bishop Ng Moon Hing said in a statement that the new requirement that the Malay language Bibles are stamped means they have been desecrated [meaning ‘to treat something sacred with violent disrespect’].

He said Christians could not accept the released Bibles which have now been stamped with a serial number, official seal and the words ‘… for the use of Christians only, by order of the Home Ministry’.

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander is a well known proverb. So how would the Minister feel if someone were to desecrate the Quran? The desecration of the Bible clearly shows that our government does not respect the religions of others in multi-racial Malaysia. Are the rest of us – who are not born a Muslim because we are not Malays – second class citizens? It certainly looks that way to us who are the rest of the people of this nation.

This should be a warning to all of us that the Barisan Nasional government has been in power for much too long, so much so that they think they are not answerable to the people of this country. For sure this is definitely not a government for the people. They have shown by their deed in desecrating the Bible that they are a government for themselves only. It is so because of self-interest and it is also blatantly clear that they do not respect the feelings of others who are not of their ilk.

In the next election, the people will know what to do. For the sake of the country, so that we do not sink further into the abyss of a dictatorship, we must all do our duty – indeed it is our patriotic duty – to vote the Barisan National out of office thus removing the people’s mandate from such selfish despots to govern this nation, and to replace them with a government for the people. I am sure the opposition will gladly accede to the people’s request.

However, if the opposition can’t deliver, we will exercise the power of the people’s vote again at every election until there comes a time when we can all live in a truly democratic Malaysia. We do not want totalitarianism being forced down our throat by a dictatorship because we are smart enough to know that any government, even a democratic one, would inexorably metamorphose into a dictatorship if allowed to overstay its hold on power.

I am not a Christian but I have read the Bible for my enlightenment. I also find it to be great literature. In order to allay some misconceptions about the Bible, I give below my insight on it which I hope may help those who are not Christians to understand and appreciate Christianity’s point of view.

Landmarks in the Law
Landmarks in the Law

Lord Denning in his book Landmarks in the Law, on page 313, tells us how the Old Testament in the King James Bible was translated into English:

The Old Testament was originally in Hebrew. It was translated into Greek. The Greek was translated into English by William Tyndale. It takes up three-quarters of the Authorised Version of the Bible.

I wonder why Denning said that. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of manuscripts in Hebrew and Aramaic found in caves near the Dead Sea (between 1946 and 1956) and believed to have been written between about 100 B.C. and 68 A.D., provide biblical evidence that the scriptures the Old Testament and the New Testament were originally written in Hebrew.

I suppose Denning must have known that the New Testament were already translated by the Protestants who belong to the Churches of Western Christendom that are separated from the Roman Catholic Church and who adhere to principles established by Luther, Calvin, etc., in the Reformation. The British Protestants must have the English translation, albeit in Old English, of the New Testament.

At page 314, Lord Denning went on to say:

The New Testament is not accepted by the Jews. It is rejected by them. It has had even greater influence than the Old Testament. It contains the life and teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ who was a Jew and of all the 12 apostles who were Jews and the Letters of Paul who was a Jew.

The Authorized Version, an English translation of the Bible published in 1611 under James I who was king of England and Ireland (1603-25) in succession to Elizabeth I of England. He was also James VI, king of Scotland (1567-1625) in succession to his mother, Mary Queen of Scots. This version is also called King James Version, King James Bible. This is the version commonly used by English speaking Christians. But there are other translations of the Bible in modern English and other languages as well.

The Authorized Version of King James is printed in old English which most Malaysians cannot understand. This explains why the Bahasa Malaysia Bible is popular because of the educational system of this country where most of our people can read and understand the National Language but not the English language especially when it is in the English of the time of James I in the seventeenth century.

REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad | Protesters hold placards that read "Don't Challenge Islam" in a protest against the "Conversion to Islam" forum held by Malaysian Bar Council in KL August 9, 2008.
REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad | Protesters hold placards that read "Don't Challenge Islam" in a protest against the "Conversion to Islam" forum held by Malaysian Bar Council in KL August 9, 2008.

But what really riles me is for the Home Minister to say that the Bible is “for the use of Christians only“. What business is it of him to fear for my conversion to Christianity? In a democracy I should have the right to choose the faith I want to believe in or not at all – I have freedom of choice and I will not stand for any pipsqueak bully, for that is what a dictator really is, to tell me what faith to believe in. What business is it of him to tell me what Bible I can read or cannot read?

Reading is knowledge and it also gives me a great understanding of the religious beliefs of others. That is the trouble with the puerile mentality of the composite Barisan National party. They cannot even tell the difference between what is right and wrong; they even relish in their own wrongdoings as in the Perak takeover of a legitimately elected state government. It is because of the BN that we even have an animal farm system of government – all animals are equal but the pigs under Napoleon the head pig are more equal than others.

But I am digressing. The Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin bin Hussein had the gall to add insult to injury when he said:

The practice of stamping was standard protocol and not done to ‘deface’ the Bibles. He said the need for serial numbers was to identify the specific Bibles which were held back.

After he mentioned that the act of stamping and serialization was standard protocol, he said; see The Star, Wednesday 23 March 2011:

For example, Qurans imported into the country are also checked to ensure they are authorized, and are stamped with serial numbers before they are released.

And now (in the Star, 23 March 2011) they say:

The BM Bibles currently impounded in Kuching and Port Klang will be released with the words ‘For Christianity’ stamped clearly in Ariel font, size 16, in bold. No other words or serial numbers will be stamped on the Bibles.

Whether it is stamped ‘For the use of Christians only’ or ‘For Christianity’ it is still desecration of a Holy Book. The dictionary meaning of a Christian is ‘a person who follows the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ’ and Christianity means ‘the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ’. Therefore, this is a false argument and the dictionary word for ‘a false argument’ is sophism.

The Home Minister is not even a Christian and he wants to ensure that the Bibles we read are the authorized ones. Did he think he is King James I of England but does he know that James I was a bad king who alienated Parliament by his assertion of the divine right of kings? But Christians the world over have never had their Bibles censored by Big Brother. There are myriad translations of the Bible acceptable by Christian society.

Anyway, the word ‘authorize‘ means ‘to allow someone to do something with official sanction‘. When James I came to the throne of England there was no English translation of the ‘Old Testament’. The Bible of the Church of Rome i.e. the Roman Catholic Church during the Roman Empire was in Latin. The Pope spoke in Latin and the language of the Church then was Latin. Nowadays the Bible of the Catholic Church can be in any language, although at the Vatican, I think they still use Latin.

The desecration of the Bible is insensitivity of the highest order. It should be enough to bring down the Barisan Nasional government in the next General Election. He forgets that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. It is not that, I think, that Christians would return the desecration of their Holy Book in kind. I know they would not do that. They would not demean themselves. Modern Christianity is a religion of love and forgiveness. Not since the Crusades in the Middle Ages (between 1000 and 1450) have Christian nations waged holy wars. Not even Napoleon or Hitler who were described the Antichrist by Nostradamus nor those who fought against their evil or the warring factions in the First World War had ever called their conflict a holy war.

To cap it all, the Home Minister showed his true colours when he reveals the true reason for the desecration of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia. He refers to:

… the use of ‘Allah’ in non-Muslim publications …

Catholic newspaper banned from using the word "Allah"
Catholic newspaper banned from using the word "Allah"

Can anyone claim proprietorship to the use of the English word ‘Allah‘ where English is a foreign language in Malaysia?

I have said this before. The word ‘Allah’ is an English word since the 16th century. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Edited by C.T. Onions, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1979 reprint, says this:

Allah the deity among the Mohammedans. XVI – Arab. Allah, for al-ilah, i.e. al AL, ilah god = Aram. elah, Heb. eloah (Early forms in Eng. Writers are Alla, Allah, Ala, allough, Alha.)

‘XVI’ stands for ‘the sixteenth century’. So that this tells us that the etymology of the word ‘Allah’ in English had been used in the English language since the sixteenth century. In Arabic it is ‘al-ilah’ meaning ‘The God’. In Aramaic, it is ‘elah’. In Hebrew, it is ‘eloah’.

In the Collins English Dictionary for the word Allah, it gives the etymology of the Arabic word for God:

[C16: from Arabic, from al the + Ilah god; compare Hebrew eloah]

‘C16’ means ‘the sixteenth century’. The word ‘Allah’ in the dictionary is from the Arabic al the + ilah god, so that in Arabic al ilah means ‘The god’. In Hebrew ‘God’ is ‘eloah’.

If you do not already know, Arabic is the language of the Arabs who is one of a branch of the Semitic race. Aramaic pertains to the northern Semitic languages, the biblical name for ancient Syria. And Hebrew is a person belonging to the Semitic race descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Jewish is their language. Source: The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.

Also in the same Dictionary of English Etymology you will find:

Semite Hebrew, Arab, Assyrian or Aramaean, regarded as a descendent of Shem (Gen. X): see The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.

So that we now know that neither Arabs nor Jews would pronounce the word for their God as “Allah”. The Arabs would pronounce the name for their God as “al-ilah”. The Jews would pronounce the name for their God as “eloah”. The word “Allah” is an English word (as seen in any English dictionary) and is a mispronunciation of both the Arabic and the Hebrew word for God. The pronunciation and spelling of this word “Allah” is distinctly English because it is a word accidentally invented by the British people because they have mispronounced a Semitic word.

Before Bahasa Malaya, now Malaysia, there was no National Language. The Malay language is the language of the Malay race. They could have used the Arabic word for God with the correct Arabic pronunciation and make this a word in the National Language for the God of Islam. Instead they plagiarized the English Word “Allah” into the National Language. Now they say we cannot use the English word “Allah” because the National Language has now claimed proprietorship of the English word “Allah” and, therefore, it is now the Nation’s word for the God of Islam which only Muslims can use.

But why must they insist that they must use an English word for the Islamic God when there is always available an Arabic word for the Islamic God as understood by all Muslims?

NH Chan, a much respected former Court of Appeal Judge, is a gavel of justice that has no hesitation in pounding on Federal Court judges with wooden desks for heads. Retired from the Judiciary to become the People’s Judge. Wrote the explosive “Judging The Judges”, now in its 2nd edition as “How To Judge The Judges”. Once famously hinted at a possible “case match” between lawyer and judge by remarking that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (see Ayer Molek Rubber Company Berhad & Ors v Insas Berhad & Anor [1995] 3 CLJ 359). We need more people like NH Chan. That’s why you should buy PASOC and his book.

NH Chan, a much respected former Court of Appeal Judge, is a gavel of justice that has no hesitation in pounding on Federal Court judges with wooden desks for heads. Retired from the Judiciary to become...

37 replies on “Bible Desecration Shows Puerile Insensitivity”

  1. And even if Bible being printed in malay in future, no one bothers to read as it was being tampered centuries ago ! Everyone knows except many idiots in this blog ! If you read Bible it is like reading a story book..nothing interesting & mystical but if you read the mighty Al-Quran, you'll get goosebumps & the fact that Al-Quran are being taken care of extremely & put to the highest level of respectable way shows how special it is. And look how Bibles are being shuffled at the back of the seat at many Church ! I dont understand why christian have to bother us now ! Insecurities ? Desperate? Where those money can bring you to? In this world muslims are being bullied & what not…in the land of Masyar do show your greatness ! …when most of you are being pushed towards to the other side separated from the muslim groups….most of you yelled eerily out of terrible fright…at this time no more chances left ! at that time kindly who your colour okay ? talk big & like smart a** .

    1. Marissa
      Firstly you say that Atheists should shut up because they are neither here nor there. I assume from this you mean since they don't believe in God they should have no right to comment. So, since you don't believe in the Christian God that would mean you have no right to comment on a Christian issue…. such as this.
      Secondly, reading the Bible "it is like reading a story book". I would agree, and why I rejected Christianity as a young child (around 8-10 years old). I felt the 'stories' were no more believable than the moral stories of Hans Christian Anderson or Grimm. Yes, there might be some moral or message that is good, but that does not make the story itself true. But to say that the Quran is less fanciful than the Bible is just ludicrous. As an independent observer, and having read both the Quran and the Bible, I can tell you they are as believable as each other, which for me is not at all.
      Thirdly, you say that Christians show insecurities and are desperate. Yet in the next sentence say that Islam is being bullied. surely that is a sign of insecurity. The fact that Bibles are not allowed to be printed in Bahasa Malay shows the insecurity of the local Muslim leaders that they must believe that their 'flock' is so weak in faith that if they are able to read the Bible they will convert.

      As someone once said, religion poisons everything

  2. All of you here are truly GOD ! I really dont understand how Chinese can actually made comments abt Islam. Most of my Chinese friends dont even know their own god let alone how to pray. As for an atheist, they should really shut up coz they neither here nor there. I was once being offered a sum of money if i converted to Christianity…they came to my house & start influencing me with their slow talk & money wise talking..what the hell is going on? Can all of you use brain over here? Use common sense & start finding out the truth before saying something for the sake of being egoistic? For sounding right? Go out there & start searching…& be sincere to your ownself..! by the end of the day your fate is in your hand not your well-wishers….I am a muslim. proud to be one! and I know from the deepest of my heart & mind, I am at the right path and my last word coming out from mouth at my deathbed is definitely 'ALLAH'.

  3. It is ordinary nowaday in Malaysia. They plagarize everything, use it for some time and then call it its own. The word Allah was a reference to the allmighty, not to the muslims alone. But this is so typical nowadyas here. My friend was in Kelantan some time back where he decided to go to to the "pasar malam". When he saw "vadai", he being an Indian naturally wanted to get some. But to his surprise, the makcik asked him" kamu orang pun makan vadai?". Imagine that! Well, its same with Tun M. When he entered the University in Singapore to study medicine, the denotes his race as Indian. Just by sleeping and breeding with a Malay lady, the mamak became Malay!

  4. These are good comments by well educated and matured people of Malaysia…I'm proud of u guys….but in the end it will never end…i personally thinks we should respect each other…this is all a big mix-up of misunderstanding…christians should acknowledge that the word "allah" can be easily be changed to "god", the muslims should also be more sensitive towards other as this was started by the indonesians and the lack of proper "Malaysian Bible"…the real fight here seems to be whos more dominant in this country… religion teaches us to love and respect each other…we humans should have a proper sit down and good talks bout this and not just instigate each other…BTW as always fight the corruption!!!!!Down with the regime…enough of this…1Malaysia my ass!!!!..it's 1BN bullshit only…may eachs' god/s bless us…peace..monkey out1

  5. See what “Desert Dogma” has done to the intellect of man? 2000 plus years of indoctrination can distort reality for even those who claim to be intelligent.

    WE NEED A NEW NAME FOR GOD THE ALMIGHTY —— “CHILL OUT” – THAT SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT FOR THIS AGE!!!!

    It doesn’t matter what name you call the Almighty, “it is your intent, your focus and your action that will determine the result.”

    That is the true meaning of GOD – Generate-Organise-Destroy that is how the Universe works.

    To reach a higher level of consciousness Mankind must learn to wean itself off mind numbing dogma and embrace Spirituality. That is the essence of all Religion.

  6. @everyone above: I actually think this issue can be further simplfied without referencing historic determinism. The simple fact is this: if we stand by and allow 'them' to tell us what we can and cannot say, if we say nothing while 'they' claim a word, if even just a word, for their own exclusive use and no one elses, what assurance do we have that they won't reach further and claim ownership for even more things? The message must be sent (and not being a Christian, I fight this fight not for the love of God but for our fundamental right to speak and live as we see fit as long as it does not infringe on others' rights) that we will not stand for this kind of stewardship. Reference dystopian works of fiction and extrapolate: How would you like to live in a world where only a chosen people can speak a certain language or use certain facilities just because the others (meaning us) simply sat by and did nothing when nominal force was first imposed? Does this issue now look closer to what it actually is? Discrimination. That one ugly word that is, apparently, written as the first clause of our much heralded constitution. No sir. We will not stand for this.

  7. Me the martian: Thanks for understanding. Btw, I am not a Christian. I just feel the need to defend everybody's right to mean different things with any word they use.

  8. @ streetman: exactly! what an outrage. but never mind lah..non-muslims can think what they want since they think they are RIGHT..no need to consult us about islamic history. pakai cheap dictionary also can kan…can throw wealth of history and literature literally down the toilet.

    @ pang: i do not read the malay bible, i read the king james' version and thus am not aware of the word Allah being used. it says God throughout. if that is the case, then i have to concede that christians have precedent in using the word. i had thot the sudden demand for the word is absurd – but if there is historical evidence that it has been used – then it doesnt matter what it means to you to what it means to me.

    @ monkey business: always has been. always will be.

  9. “In those nations which attained higher historical significance, the flowering of their national life coincides with the highest development of their religious consciousness."- in Karl Marx's article entitled the leading article in no.179 of the Kolnische Zeitung in his very boring book On Religion

    i suspect our govt believes in this statement and decided to adopt this very cool 'veneer' of religious consciousness and go apeshit-excited with their implementation of their religious consciousness.

    this problem at hand is political. im sure everyone can see it. our govt has realized that our country has very little cultural identity and well to make ourselves recognizable lets all become very very staunch pious muslims that are afraid of christians. Since all christians are anxiously converting your little innocent muslim sheep and we're secretly circulating our bibles to ensure all muslims read the word and shall be saved by the grace of jesus christ amen! hallelujahmuahhahaa!

    lâ ilâha illâ allh- "there is no god but allah"

    and the other allah that the christians decided to put in their bible and is not really allah so dont get confused kids.

    and well as malaysians, we are not pleased that you, the govt are trying to make islam your big fat trump card and show yourselves as pious and allah fearing. stamping "For christians" is not going to earn you any political pahalas with the rakyat. not to say that we all object to your islamic-god-fearing agenda but alienating the non-muslims is very very un-one Malaysian. Shame on you defying the all-great 1MALAYSIA concept.

  10. Me the martian: Why would Christian protest the ban 20 years ago? 20 years ago there was no ban against the use of the word Allah by malay-speaking Christians. I believe this policy came about in the late 80s or early 90s but the then Minister responsible assured the Christian leaders it won't be enforced if some compromises were made, for eg. using the term "For non-Muslims only" on their publication. So Christians then agreed. As you can see, many people really don't protest because they really honestly want to play nice. That was until Syed Hamid Albar fella banned the publication for using the word "Allah", thus reneging on the assurance of the previous Minister. Seeing how the government is using the legal apparatus to prevent them from uttering a name close to their hearts (even when they DON'T prevent anyone else from uttering the same name), they have no choice but to take it to the courts.

    You claim you are protesting the word because it carries different meanings. Hey, please lah, the word "love" carries different meanings even for two lovers in the same relationship. Every word carries different meanings to different people, some words happen to have wilder possibilities. Words like "culture", "patriotism", "truth", "god" all have very different meanings. Are we going to use the legal apparatus to prevent other people now from using these words according to their meanings? This is absurd. Everyone is entitled to his/her opinions about the meanings of these words and his/her application of the same words. ESPECIALLY WHEN THEIR USE OF THESE WORDS DO NOT DEPRIVE SOMEONE ELSE FROM USING IT ACCORDING TO ANOTHER MEANING OR APPLICATION.

  11. sigh, the word Allah is english? does mean the quran which was written and read by the muslims since 1400 years ago and full of word Allah written and pronounced as Allah in romanised spelling, this borrowed from english? Hail to prophet Muhammad saw who taught his followers one english word he picked up in 600 AD. and a big word too. the GOD OF MUSLIMS. . .

  12. Arguments about semantics aside, it’s frustrating that Malaysians are still unwilling to clearly separate matters of state from matters of religion. There is far too much cross-pollination between the public and private spheres, and there’s a distinct lack of political will in both Barisan and Pakatan to change the status quo.

    Ideally, Malaysians should slowly but surely move towards removing recognition for a single state religion. This will encourage greater fairness and transparency. But if that’s too radical, perhaps they could take a page from Indonesia’s constitutional framework. The country recognises six official religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. It’s far from the perfect solution (minority faiths are still marginalised), but at the very least, this offers less of a religious monopoly.

    It’s one thing to to debate and dissect and insult Allah in the private sphere. It’s another thing completely to bring Allah into public sphere and allow the government to run riot with all kinds of 5th-century legislation. It’s neither desirable nor condusive to a modern, multicultural Malaysia.

  13. i am not protesting on behalf of those with weak faith. faith is a personal matter which i have no way of knowing what it is like for other people. i am protesting the use of the word because it carries different meanings. and no, i obviously haven't attended local church services to know that the word has been widely used. now i wished christians have protested 20 years ago so that we wont have to deal with this today.

  14. Snuze, there isn't a Bahasa Malaysia bible. As far as I know, the publication laws in Malaysia forbid printing and publishing of Bahasa Malaysia bibles. So all malay-language bibles here are imported from Indonesia and hence they are Bahasa Indonesia. No matter the history of the intent behind the original translators of Bahasa Indonesia bibles, the point is that Allah has become the mainstay of what malay-speaking Christians in this region call their god. Would you tell a person who has called his father "Papa" all his life to stop calling him "Papa" because your child calls you "Papa" and this might confuse your child into calling another person "Papa"?

    Anyway, the most fundamental question to ask in this instance, as it is with most acts of censorship, is what is the crime committed here? How can you punish someone because you ASSUME he might have intentions to convert someone else? It is one thing to prevent crimes, but it is quite another to force someone to change what he calls his god to something else just because you fear he might convert someone else — and wait, why is that a crime too?? In the end, you have proven nothing, you have assumed guilt in instances when no crime has been committed. And until you prove his guilt, he remains innocent.

  15. I am wondering, if the Bahasa Malaysia Bible was adapted from the King James version, why is there insistence on the use of the word "Allah" to denote the Lord God. I am pretty sure in all the time I've flipped through the King James Bible, there was no Allah in use.

    However, if the Bahasa Malaysia Bible was adapted from the Indonesian Bible; which featured the word "Allah", I will understand. After all, the Indonesian Bible was designed to proseletyse to the Muslim majority under the Dutch East India Company rule in those days. Or even if the Bahasa Malaysia Bible was adapted directly from the Coptic Bible, which is in Arabic and features "Allah" to indicate God. It is, after all, in their original language.

    After all, in Bahasa Malaysia, Allah has always been deemed to indicate God as worshipped by Muslims. In Bahasa Malaysia, Tuhan or Dewa or Semangat Leluhur or Roh Kudus has been used to indicate the Higher Being addressed by people not of the Islamic faith. So pardon us Malaysian Muslims if we find this insistence a little suspect.

    The "grave offense" that is the chop indicated on the Bible, I do think that at the end of the day, it does not demean the Bible in any way at all. It remains a Holy Book that carries the message of Jesus Christ. Besides which, since when does a chop ever stop anyone from reading "forbidden" material?

    Just ask any underage kids who click "Yes, I am above 18" to enter a porn site.

  16. Well written and great research done.

    In response to me the martian on his comment, I would like you to know that the word "Allah" has been used actively within the Christian society and church long ago especially among services held in our beloved Bahasa Malaysia. Therefore, there is not reason to debate about how long Christians have been using the word "Allah" during their worship.

  17. @me the martian on 27 March, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    I have attended church in the smaller town in Peninsular Malaysia, and whenever we have bahasa sessions, we worship to Allah. That is more than 20 years ago by the way.

    So please do not claim what you are not certain of.

  18. I don't mean to imply that the law banning Malay-language Bibles have been around for a century. That was introduced not too long ago I believe — not sure when. But it effectively prevented meaningful local translations.

  19. Dear Me The Martian, Allah has been used by Malay-speaking Christians in this parts of the world for as long as they have been using the Indonesian translation of the Bible. And that is about a century long I believe. As a result of a law that bans the publication of Malay-language Bibles (and by extension, the translation of it), the Malay-language Bibles therefore had to be imported from Indonesia. So they didn't do it just now. And by the way, the name Allah, is a derivative of the Hebrew word for god, which is Elohim, as it appears in the Hebrew Bible. The word itself was borrowed from even earlier pagans who used Elohim to refer to gods (plural). So in essence, Jews, Muslims and Malay-speaking Christians do seem to be referring to god by the same word.

    I wonder why some Muslims don't protest over other religion's use of the words "tuhan" or "agama"? If their argument is that persons who are weak in faith could be confused that "Allah" could refer gods other than Islam's god, won't the same persons also be confused that "tuhan" or "agama" refers to other to other non-Islamic tuhan or agama?

  20. Honourable Sir,

    I ALWAYS ENJOY reading your excellent and judicious thoughts.

    In this article, I fear there is a slight factual error.

    In this paragraph,

    "I wonder why Denning said that. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of manuscripts in Hebrew and Aramaic found in caves near the Dead Sea (between 1946 and 1956) and believed to have been written between about 100 B.C. and 68 A.D., provide biblical evidence that the scriptures the Old Testament and the New Testament were originally written in Hebrew"

    The Scriptures of the Old Testament was originally written chiefly in Hebrew with a little Aramaic in some part, and the whole New Testamant in Koine Greek.

    Thank you for your attention.

  21. Correction: The New testament was not written in Hebrew. The original manuscripts were written in Greek.

  22. all these abrahamic beliefs and how their followers behave has convince me heaven may not be paradise.

    i may consider hell.

  23. Agree totally on what's said – Imagine if it's done to Quran or other religious scriptures – what's the meaning of democracy & freedom of religion anymore??

  24. Look at the picture of Muslim girls carrying placards saying "Jagan cabar Islam." Islam treats the Muslim females less than human, definitely not equal to Muslim man. See how stupid these Muslim women are.

  25. i think the bible should be released. but i still do not think Allah should be used by non-muslims. why now? why not 20 years ago? if this is about muslims giving in to non-muslims then we still do not understand each other. i do not understand why non-muslims have to use the word now. as if non-muslims dont have a word for god 20 years ago. and i am bit riled up because the means different concept of god in islam and christianity.

Comments are closed.