And So Be It

"In the context of a pluralistic society, religious sensitivities, especially related to Islam as the religion of the federation, should be respected."
Malaysian king, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'zdzam

Malaysia's new King Abdul Halim inspected an honor guard during the welcoming ceremony at Parliament Square in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Mr. Halim, 84, the ruler of northern state of Kedah, took the oath of office to become Malaysia's 14th king, a largely ceremonial post  - The Wall Street Journal

In Malaysia, a 'secular' Islamic country, Muslims represent 61% of the population, Buddhists 20%, and Christians bring up the rear with 9% of its population. Abdullah Zaik, head of a Muslim-Malay rights organization feels Malaysian Christians should set aside their 'stubbornness' in the name of national unity. They must respect Islam, and it seems they do not do so sufficiently, in claiming their heritage right, though Christians, to refer to Allah as God in their scriptures.

A leading Islamic Malaysian scholar, Mohd Sani Badron, states that the use of "Allah" for "God" must be curtailed to absolute extinction. It is only Muslims and Muslims only who have the right to speak of Allah, to use that sacred name. Others doing so commit blasphemy. And in using Allah for God, the ages-old custom "erroneously represents the two religions as equal", and quite obviously, in so doing causes Islamic anger.

Another leading Malaysian cleric states that Christians in his country who resist a new ruling of the highest court of the land which issued a judgement denying Christians the use of the word "Allah", are deliberately "trying to cause chaos", and in so doing, raise the possibility of ... disharmony. And here we thought that it was only China that was transfixed by the need for social "harmony", abhorring "splittists".

Non-Muslims labour under the misapprehension that the word Allah refers to a universal god. It clearly does not. It refers to the one true god of a transcendentally superior religion, one which has, through its perfection, superseded all others. And, despite that for centuries Arab and Malaysian Christians have been accustomed to reading in their Bibles the name of the deity whose son was Jesus, as Allah, they may no longer do so.

When the judgement came down on Monday, Muslims gathered before the court in a group waved signs and celebrated: "Unite in defending the word Allah. Fight to the last drop of blood." Admittedly, Muslims are very good in distinguishing themselves by fighting to the last drop of blood; theirs and everyone else's.

In Malaysia, government officials claimed that the word "Allah" in a Christian context might be capable of confusing good Muslims to the extent that it might cause them to become ... Christians. And though the Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia appealed to use the word, their activism caused arson and vandalism to take place, on both sides.

Malaysia does have a National Development Policy. That policy gives preferential treatment in schools, jobs and housing to the majority Malays and indigenous tribes, protecting them from the competition of non-native Malays, identified as Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians. This is the Malaysian version of 'affirmative action'; enabling not the minority, but the majority.