O Allah, is this our fin de siècle?

Our own (Malay) closing of the century came 9 years later on 31^st December 2009. The judgment by Justice Bao Lau on 31^st December delivers to the Malays, their fin de siècle. In French the term means a closing of an age that can either mean degeneration or usher in an age of hope. Unfortunately it is not a signal for a hope for a better future for the Malays, but the beginning of a new age of despair.

Let me get this off my chest.

We begin 2010 with despair that the government has taken this issue very lightly. With due respects to the government lawyer handling this case, did the government view the case seriously? Or is this another case discounted as a tat frivolous and therefore requiring us to send just a junior to argue before the judge?

Is it a case of sending a second rater to argue before the judge against a team of first rate lawyers? Then, losing this case is the undoing of the government. Given the weight of the facts and the arguments put forth by the applicant's lawyers, the odds will be in favor of the more determined and brainier-powered legal team.

The law is an ass if we think it can be applied in vacuo. The laws of Malaysia for example, were made taking into account elements peculiar to our country and its needs. It follows therefore that when judges apply the law as regards Malaysia, they do so aware of their contextual relevance. They do so, without ignoring their contextual appropriateness. In practice this means, excluding extraneous factors which may be persuasive but irrelevant to our context.

The judge who ruled on the usage of the term Allah by Catholics in their magazine Herald did so out of context. The idea of bringing Allah before the courts is abominable as it is abhorrent. Despite the widespread usage of the term elsewhere in the Arab world or even closer to home in Indonesia, it is of no relevance to us. The judgment given by the court disregarded the most important fact in Malaysia- the contextual relevance.

In the Malaysian context, Allah has always been the god of Islam. Whose religion is this? It is the religion of the Malays. It is the religion of 15-16 million Malaysians as opposed to the religion of between 850,000 to 1 million Catholics. The judgment offends the sensibilities of 15-16 million people. It is causing much grief and resentment.

Is victory over the usage of the word Allah here in Malaysia, a form of satisfaction-giving retribution to the Malays? To the triumphalists, this legal victory is one form of saying FU! right into the face of the 'stupid' Malay?

The judge may have availed herself to an expansive research in the usage of the term Allah such as in Arab world or Indonesia or wherever she has chosen to- unfortunately they have no relevance to the habitual acceptance of the term by Malay Muslims here in Malaysia. It's an article of faith that Allah is the God of Islam and their (Malay) God. This is what I meant when I said this religion is jealously guarded by unreason. Beliefs and faith are not fully 'understandable' through rational reasons.

Indeed, Islam and Malay are synonymous. A Malay is defined as one who speaks the Malay language, practices Malay culture and adopts Islam as his religion. Hence when you make judgment on Allah which is the god of Islam here in Malaysia, you are also judging on the Malay. By taking over the term Allah, what have you done?

You take over the very being of a Malay.

You do that at what costs? Has the judge applied her mind on the costs that may arise out of this judgment? At the end of the day, this victory savored by the Catholics here in Malaysia, may in fact be just a Pyrrhic or Cadmean victory.

You bring Allah before the court means you bring the validity of being Malay before the court. What significance is it to us if the term Allah is used by people in the land of camel dung or nearer to our shores? It is inconsequential if it does not reflect our local context.

Its importance to us in the local context, overrides all other considerations. Because our being Malay is being determined by the judge.

I have no wish to extend the 'theological' debate about the recent court ruling regarding the use of the term Allah by the Catholic church here in Malaysia. Please remember, we are talking here in the Malaysian context. Please also stop saying that unless you are pious you are not to talk about this issue. We are not talking about what they term it in the Arab world or how they handled it in Indonesia. You don't have to be perfectly pious in order to earn the qualification to say something about this issue. Even the pious say the wrong things.

Debating about this issue has nothing to do with the level of personal righteousness. It has everything to do with what is right.

It is right for a minority group numbering not more than 1 million to mock the religion adopted and practiced and jealously guarded by more than 15 million in Malaysia? That is the real motive deduced in fact. That this insistence and zealotry to bring to court in order to get judgment for Malaysian Catholics to use the term Allah is yet another insidious attempt to ridicule and mock the Malays.

It does not even mater if people like TG Nk Aziz or lesser beings such as Khalid Samad or Zulkifli Ahmad saying that it's all right and permissible for Catholics to use the word Allah. They won't be able to ward off the accusations that they are willing to sell almost everything just to get into Putrajaya.

It's more important for us to consider what the ordinary Muslims here in Malaysia, given the level of understanding and personal appreciation of their religion think. They are thinking, here is another step in the long list of measures designed to undermine the religion of the Malays.

It is simply incredible to expect 16 million Malay Muslims to tolerate that decision. You may say the word Allah has been used for the last 400 years and what not. Or you may even say, just to win points in an argument, that Arabs don't have issue with the usage of the term Allah by non Muslim Arabs. But we are not in the Middle east and thankfully so. We are in Malaysia where we must learn to accept reality.

Two brothers of differing religions can co exist- one Muslim and the other Christian. But it's far-fetched to imagine the brother who is Christian, using the term Allah in the household. The interest of preserving peace overrides the interest of a freedom to use the term Allah.

Sure, we are not stupid- but we are not about to prove we are NOT stupid by allowing part of our soul to be auctioned before the court.

Don't the Christians want to jealously guard their religion from being infused by a conventionally accepted non Christian term? Hasn't the word Allah been always associated with the religion of Mohammad? What happened to the Father, son and Holy Spirit? Would Christians now accept if these are now re termed as Oh Ayah, Anak Ayah and Hantu Kudus and have them said in prayers? Wouldn't our insistence that these terms be translated as such, be an affront to god fearing Christians?

The reality is the court ruling is perceived as a direct challenge and affront to the sense of Muslim. Malays cannot understand the insistence that Catholics be allowed to use the term Allah when referring to their god. In practice, Allah has always been associated with the religion of Islam and to read some esoteric meaning into it so that it can be treated as a universal term by Christians here is simply wrong.

It is wrong because it will be interpreted as designed to cause offense to Muslim sensitivity. We can't expect 16 million Muslims to sit idly by and accept the ruling without coming up in arms. Do Catholics in Italy, France refer to God as Allah?

While thinking about this issue, I received an e mail from husband and wife team who are lawyers. Both are Muslims and I surmise they are not too exalted about the court ruling. The e mail is a short statement about the issue from the Muslim Lawyers Association of Malaysia.

BLASPHEMY MOST FOUL

In the days leading to the decision of the case brought by the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop applying to use the word Allah in the Malay version of the bible, the Muslim community sat muted whilst being schooled by the non Muslims on their own religion. At the helm of this muted movement were politicians including their ulamas, political alliances and Muslim intellectuals who all agreed that it is permissible for the use of the word Allah in the Catholic weekly Herald publication.

The first effect that we shall see from the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court dated 31.12.2009 allowing the Church to use the word Allah in their Malay language publication is the birth of Allah's son. From now onwards, the Christian God in this new publication shall be referred to as "Allah" and Jesus Christ as "Anak Allah".

The Muslim calendar, ie the Maal Hijrah for the year 1431 shall be well remembered by all Malaysians as the year where the trinity of Allah accompanied by "Anak Allah" shall be celebrated in the books of the Christians in the mother tongue of the largely Malay muslim populace and marked by the lunar eclipse event. In Surah Al Ikhlas, verse 1-4, Allah says ' Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; 2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute. 3. He begets not, nor is he begotten; 4. And there is none like unto Him.

For the unlettered and unschooled in Islam, verse 3 simply means that Allah "does not give birth", nor is "Allah given birth to". It is incumbent for all Muslims, both lettered and unlettered, to uphold the sanctity of the concept of monotheism in Islam and never to allow Allah to be portrayed as having the attributes of a human being, the ability to beget a Son of which the echelons of the political community using Islam as their brand name in Malaysia have so easily facilitated and consented.

Those responsible for allowing this event to take place shall have to answer in their graves and in the hereafter for committing the greatest of all sins, "shirk" or polytheism of the highest degree. No argument can justify the usage of "Allah" and "Anak Allah" in any kitab here; yet those in a position to prevent this occurrence has shamelessly come to the defence of The weekly Herald to teach us how to pray to our ONE GOD.

What is the rationale for using the word "Allah" in the Christian books and how does this promote racial integration or even "One Malaysia"? If anything, this event draws the divide between the races even more. It is a deep shame that we have to live with for the rest of our lives, losing a battle that need not have been fought at all. It is not the fault of the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop that we lost our pride and identity, we are our own doing. The pride of our community today fell due to treachery by those who fought and won political battles using the name of Islam. In the Quran, Allah warns us most of all against people who sell their religion. Allah says in the Quran, "..do not sell my religion for a paltry sum..". In this case before us, the situation involved is even worse, they sold their religion for free.

Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar

Presiden

Persatuan Peguam Peguam Muslim Malaysia