Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Pakatan Rakyat should intervene in non-exclusivity of "Allah" usage case

It would be good if Pakatan Rakyat, or the PKR, DAP and PAS should also intervene in the Catholic Herald case....

WHY? Because all Malaysians would really like to know what Pakatan Rakyat's position is on the matter, and as such they should intervene in this case as well...

Speaking at this ceramah taking this position or that is not enough (for after all, we know politicians - and how many cater to the crowd, changing positions depending on their audience..)

What is that case all about?

The applicant Roman Catholic Archbishop of KL Murphy Pakiam, had on March 19, filed for a judicial review against the internal security minister and the government over an order that banned the Herald from using the word "Allah" in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

The government believes the word is exclusive to Muslims and threatened to close down the newspaper if it defied the prohibition.

The archbishop, on behalf of the weekly, is seeking several declarations from the court.

Among them, the Herald wants the court to declare that the decision to prohibit it from using the word "Allah" in its publication is null and void and that the Herald is entitled to use the word in the publication and that the word "Allah" is not exclusive to the religion of Islam. - The Malaysian Insider, 9/7/2008 - "Catholic Herald suit attracts more parties"

7 State Islamic Religious Council from the Federal Territories, Perak, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor, Kedah, Johor.

Malaysian Gurdwaras Council have applied to intervene...

We are still waiting for maybe the rest of the Christian Churches in Malaysia to intervene...

Before the 2008 General Elections, during campaigning period..

The PAS candidate in my area was very clear that the word "Allah" was not for exclusive Muslim usage only - hence the other religions can also use it.

Sadly, the PKR candidate was NOT THAT CLEAR - he said that he was not well-versed in theology BUT in his personal view, he saw no problem for Christians and others to use the word "Allah"

Anwar Ibrahim -- ye, the de facto leader of the Pakatan Rakyat - what is the position of the Pakatan Rakyat on this matter? Is it the same as the position of the Barisan Nasional??

Pakatan Rakyat - do not HIDE and avoid making a STAND now on this very important issue..

Pakatan Rakyat - Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PAS and DAP should also intervene...

Same too with regard to those BN political parties who some say may hold a very different view from the BN government - if you do not, then clearly MIC, MCA, GERAKAN, .....all do take the BN government's position...

Taking a stand and a position on a matter like this is not easy ---- but it must be done.

Or, is the position of the State Religious Councils of Perak, Penang, Selangor and Kedah - the position of the Pakatan Rakyat?

This is a REAL issue - so make a stand.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Allah" is a unique name. It cannot be translate to "God". "Tuhan" or "Rab" in Arabic can be translate to "God" .The meaning of word "Allah" we can get it from 99 names of Allah. One of the meaning is" Allah is One God" or "Ahad" in Arabic or "Esa" in Bahasa. Christian Catholic believe God is 3 in 1. Father , Son and Holy Ghost. That why "God" cannot be translate to "Allah" but it suitable for "Tuhan" because "Tuhan" can be 1,2,3 or more depend on the religion.

Nostradamus said...

Jeyklls and Hydes in Malaysia. Are you? (Answers below)

Jeyklls dan Hydes di Malaysia. Adakah anda? (Jawapan dibawah).

Posted at http://Patek1472.wordpress.com.

Samuel Goh Kim Eng said...

It's more than a question if other religions can also call their God correctly by that commonly used name
It's also a subtle form of formal religious 'domination' by declaring exclusivity in the public use of the name
It's an excuse that followers will be confused when they are refused monopoly in the usage of such a historical name
It's kind of strange that those who are enlightened and liberated have no problem at all in the sharing of the same name

(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng - 230708
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Wed. 23rd July 2008.

Anonymous said...

There is a BIG VERY BIG difference if Pakatan and DSAI comes to power vs the current BeeEnd power structure and you should highlight it in your blog.

If DSAI ever comes to power, people should not worry, because DAP and PAS comes to power also as EQUAL partners. Lim Kit Siang and Tok Guru will not just let DSAI do as he wants.

This will truly be a check and balance govt. Likewise , PAS cant do as they want without angering DAP and also DAP cant do as they want without angering PAS. Because if any of the 3 walks out of Pakatan, Pakatan Rakyat will fall as the Govt. So , all 3 parties work together!...No one single party can call the shots, ie PAS cant simply 'impose' the Islamic state concept without DAP agreeing............DAP cant simply take away the constituionally protected 'special rights' without PAS agreeing.....and finally DSAI cant do as and what he pleases without Lim Kit Siang and Hadi Awang in concurrence....becoz with Pakatan Rakyat, any of the 3 walking away, they will fall!...............that is REAL check and balance and a true coalition



That is the difference vs DSAI 10 years ago when he was in BeeEnd.

now compare above with the situation In BeeEnd,................ everybody knows Badawi and Najis can do as they want. UMNO rules BeeEnd as Superme King. All the rest, MCA, MIC, Gerakan etc etc etc are just running dogs and prostitutes for their masters in UMNO! That is why you have corruption galore!..u call whats happening now in BeeEnd a coalition of partners????


That is the real difference between a Pakatan Rakyat Federal Govt and the current corrupt govt we have.

Anonymous said...

Catholic Christians believe in ONE God - not 3 God.

In fact, Christians, Jews and Muslims are all from the same root and they all believe in ONE God.

Hindus too believe in One God - they believe that their one God appears at different places different times taking different forms...

Greeks however believed in a whole family of Gods -- Zeus, Hera, Apollo, ....

Anonymous said...

First lawyers ask for the Executive to butt out of the Judiciary. Now you are asking them to intervene.
Jekyll and Hyde indeed.

Anonymous said...

The worst time to intervene is while Pakatan Rakyat is not in charge, since the MSM will point to the supporting party as 'enemy of Islam' (if DAP intervenes) or 'traitor of Islam' (if PAS intervenes).

Anonymous said...

Allah IS exclusively for Muslims, wether they are Umno or PR supporters. If you guys want to pray to Allah, leave other gods or dieties behind first. I always wonder why non Muslims have hard time to understand this simple concept.

Mohd

Anonymous said...

Charles, I hope you do not mind me pointing out to anon. #1 (and a lot of people) that the word Allah has been used in the High Malay Bible since 1818. And the meaning of Allah has been explained by Farish Noor as well. I took the liberty to copy Farish Noor article on my blog as well.

So many of the irresponsible sites have made it like it is only recently we Catholics are 'claiming' the use.

Anonymous said...

In the article "Is PAS a Past Phobia among Christians?" by David Anthony, which appeared in the April issue of CANews: "PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang ... said: “They (non-Mulims) can use the word Allah freely..."

However, the question posed by Charles is based on the assumption that PAS, PKR and DAP are separate and autonomous entities and so have differing stands on this and other issues.

While this may be true for say, the more contentious Hudud/Islamic State issue; [to which I may point out Anwar went on record in the same publication's February 2005 issue as saying, that he agrees with the Islamic state concept "in the classical context ... but in the present context I'm comitted to the Constitutional framework."] for most, if not all, other issues, one must, when viewing Pakatan Rakyat, take the entity as a whole.

Therefore if one "department" takes a 'stand', it should be construed that this must also be the common stand of Pakatan Rakyat. We have extended this 'courtesy' to BN for the last 50 years, so why not accord PR the same?

Further, the question asks specifically, what, "Anwar Ibrahim -- ye, the de facto leader of the Pakatan Rakyat..." stand on the matter.

I would make an informed guess that Anwar would not be so anal [no pun intended] a to make a fuss about how non-Muslims choose to refer to God the way BN and their sycophant wolves in Arabic clothing are.

In the meantime, just to inform that both the Herald and CANews have recieved written warnings from the Home Ministry [KDN] not to publish political, human rights and social justice issues and instead stick to "issues pertaining to your religion only."

The warning letter came after two written notices and, if uncomplied with, will be followed by a "show cause" letter as a precursor to suspension/termination of publishing license.


CANews’ lawyers have responded in writing to KDN to explain the Catholic-Christian meaning of the term “religion”, which includes matters of rights, justice and truth.



The KDN warnings came a few days before Information Minister Shabery Cheek was quoted in Bernama [20 Jul '08] as saying, “The govt. never meddles in news selection.”

CANews has in the recent past published issues covering among others, the 2008 Elections, the Royal Commission’s proposal for judicial reforms and the recent petrol price hike.

ANEEL DAVID KANNABHIAN

Anonymous said...

CHARLES HECTOR wrote in his post on his e-group, "Pakatan Rakyat should intervene in non-exclusivity of "Allah..." : "What is the position of the Pakatan Rakyat on this matter?" [see full question below] *** I also posted this on your blog's comments section and your full article on my blog http://deadalienx.wordpress.com ***
In the article "Is PAS a Past Phobia among Christians?" by David Anthony, which appeared in the April issue of CANews: "PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang ... said: �They (non-Mulims) can use the word Allah freely..." However, the question posed by Charles is based on the assumption that PAS, PKR and DAP are separate and autonomous entities and so have differing stands on this and other issues. While this may be true for say, the more contentious Hudud/Islamic State issue; [to which I may point out Anwar went on record in the same publication's February 2005 issue as saying, that he agrees with the Islamic state concept "in the classical context ... but in the present context I'm comitted to the Constitutional framework."] .

For most, if not all, other issues, one must, when viewing Pakatan Rakyat, take the entity as a whole. Therefore if one "department" takes a 'stand', it should be construed that this must also be the common stand of Pakatan Rakyat. We have extended this 'courtesy' to BN for the last 50 years, so why not accord PR the same? Further, the question asks specifically, what, "Anwar Ibrahim -- ye, the de facto leader of the Pakatan Rakyat..." stand on the matter. I would make an informed guess that Anwar would not be so anal [no pun intended] a to make a fuss about how non-Muslims choose to refer to God the way BN and their sycophant wolves in Arabic clothing are. In the meantime, just to inform that both the Herald and CANews have recieved written warnings from the Home Ministry [KDN] not to publish political, human rights and social justice issues and instead stick to "issues pertaining to your religion only." The warning letter came after two written notices and, if uncomplied with, will be followed by a "show cause" letter as a precursor to suspension/termination of publishing license.
CANews� lawyers have responded in writing to KDN to explain the Catholic-Christian meaning of the term �religion�, which includes matters of rights, justice and truth.

The KDN warnings came a few days before Information Minister Shabery Cheek was quoted in Bernama [20 Jul '08] as saying, �The govt. never meddles in news selection.�
CANews has in the recent past published issues covering among others, the 2008 Elections, the Royal Commission�s proposal for judicial reforms and the recent petrol price hike. More developments as they arise.

Aneel David Kannabhiran
http://deadalienx.wordpress.com


............................................................................................................................thought i heard a rumbling calling to my nametwo hundred million guns loaded with satan crying take aim -john fogerty............................................................................................................................