The Christian Federation of Malaysia said it was "fed up" with the government's refusal to allow the distribution of Bibles.

The Christian Federation of Malaysia claims that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's promise that there would be no ban on the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible had been ignored by the authorities.

CFM, the umbrella body for almost all Christian groups in the country, said the premier decided last year that the scriptures would be allowed to be distributed freely, at least in Sabah and Sarawak.

This was communicated to CFM leaders by several cabinet members and their aides in December 2009, according to CFM's chairperson Bishop Ng Moon Hing.

Ng said that following the impoundment of another consignment of 5,000 copies of the scriptures last year, Najib was informed of the matter.

“When told about the continued impoundment of these 5,000 Bibles at a high-tea event last Christmas, (the premier) expressed surprise that the order to release the same held in Port Klang had not been implemented.

“However, nothing has been done by the authorities to ensure their release,” said Ng.

In all, Ng said that 30,000 copies remain impounded at Port Klang and the Port of Kuching. The Bible, in its Bahasa Malaysia form, is called Perjanjian Baru, Mazmur dan Amsal (New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs).

The rare rebuke by the Christian Federation of Malaysia signals growing impatience among the religious minority in a years-old dispute over the government's ban on the use of the word "Allah" as a translation for God in Malay-language Bibles and religious texts.

Christians were "greatly disillusioned, fed up and angered by the repeated detention of Bibles," the federation said in a statement. "It would appear as if the authorities are waging a continuous, surreptitious and systematic program against Christians in Malaysia to deny them access to the Bible" in the Malay language.

Home Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment, but the government has repeatedly denied being unfair. In another recent incident, the ministry acknowledged it had barred the entry of imported Bibles but denied they were seized, saying the importer had simply failed to claim them from the port.

The trouble stems from the government's stance that the use of "Allah" in non-Muslim texts could confuse Muslims and even entice them to convert. Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people are Malay Muslims, while 25 percent are ethnic Chinese and 8 percent are Indians. Ethnic minorities are mostly Christian, Buddhist or Hindu.

A court ruled in December 2009 that Christians have the constitutional right to use the word "Allah." The government has appealed the verdict, but no hearings have been scheduled.

The dispute caused a brief surge in tensions in January 2010, when 11 churches were attacked by firebombs amid anger among some Muslims over the court ruling.

Malaysia continues to be insulted ?

Image taken from Malaysiakini

The government-linked Malay daily Utusan Malaysia yesterday front-paged a report titled 'Malaysia continues to be insulted' (Malaysia terus dihina) showing Teo at the venue without a headscarf - commonly required when entering an Islamic place of worship - and commenting that she had worn a form-fitting kebaya pendek (traditional Malay dress).

It also alleged that Teo had given tazkirah (religious advice) at the surau.

Utusan crap as usual, trying to stir-up racial/religious hatred and animosity against our Muslim Communities in Malaysia.

The crime of causing religious disharmony carries a prison term of up to five years in Malaysia, what say you, Attorney General?

Meanwhile, Teo Nie Ching, the Serdang MP whose visit to a surau last Sunday drew verbal attacks, says she will be submitting an apology and an explanation to the Sultan of Selangor.

In a statement released this afternoon, the first-term MP also expressed regret that there were efforts to manipulate the issue to instigate unrest.

“I regret that this matter has caused unrest among Muslims in our country, and that the issue has been fired up by certain parties for political reasons,” said Teo.

Teo said in a statement that she had gone to the surau with the intention of handing over a Selangor government donation for repair of the fencing and to join in the breaking of fast with the surau committee and congregation.

"As I was invited to say a few words, I sincerely explained an education programme of the state government for the benefit of the people of Selangor.

"I regret that this matter has caused anxiety among Muslims and that the issue has been played up by certain quarters for political reasons," she said.

Teo stressed that her visit to the surau was not politically motivated and she had no intention to cause the sanctity of mosques and surau to be questioned.

She welcomed the advice and suggestions from all quarters on the matter and vowed to exercise greater caution so as not to create discomfort and misunderstanding among Muslims in the future.

Teo's presence at the surau led the sultan to direct the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (MAIS) to take immediate action against the surau committee which, according to a report, has been suspended.

Selangor Umno Youth today sent a memorandum to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim on the matter.

Its information chief, Safarizul Mustafa, said what Teo did should not be taken lightly because it went against the sultan's stated desire to uphold the sanctity of mosques and surau.

"We take seriously the matter of non-Muslim politicians and other individuals giving speeches at mosques and surau in Selangor as it is tantamount to ignoring the sensitivities of Muslims and can undermine public order and security," he told reporters.

Safarizul said the memorandum, among other things, called on the Selangor government to expel Datuk Dr Hasan Mohamed Ali as the chairman of the State Islamic Affairs and Malay Customs Committee for having allegedly failed to advise a non-Muslim elected representative of the DAP accordingly.

It also called for the chairman and members of the surau committee and the imam who had invited Teo and allowed her to give a talk to be expelled immediately.

In YAN (Kedah), Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom advised mosque and surau committees to refer to the respective state Islamic affairs councils on the matter of permitting non-Muslims into Muslim houses of worship.

He said every state had its guidelines in the matter and the mosque or surau committee or management should adhere to these regulations and not act arbitrarily.

Other houses of worship also had guidelines on allowing people of other religions into the premises, he told reporters after presenting tithes to poor people.

"We have no problem allowing people of other religions into mosques or surau. Some of our mosques allow non-Muslim tourists to enter their premises but have guidelines, such as women having to wear a headscarf and so on," he said.

In KEPALA BATAS, former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said all elected representatives should be more sensitive in matters concerning religion to avert tension among the races.

They should have an understanding of religious and racial harmony so as not to cause ill-feelings which could undermine it, said Abdullah.

In BESUT, the Religious Advisor to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Abdullah Md Zin, asked Muslim leaders in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat to advise their colleagues from the DAP to observe the rules on the use of Muslim houses of worship such as mosques and surau.

He said Islam required that women entering houses of worship should use a headscarf.

He also said that people of other religions should not enter the prayer area but could present donations or give speeches outside of it.

In IPOH, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said houses of worship should not be used to spread political influence in the personal or party interest.


Last year, two Muslims pretended to be Catholic, took Communion, consumed it only to spit it out later, have it photographed and have its image published in the Al-Islam magazine.

Acting on false information that the Catholic Church was converting Muslims into Christians had recently entered a Catholic Church service for the purpose of gathering information as to whether this was occurring.

They were also investigating whether the word 'Allah' was being used in church services. These men participated in the church service and even took part in the rituals that are strictly for Catholics and in doing so violated the sanctity of what Catholics hold very sacred. These men later wrote about their experience in an article entitled "Tinjaun Al Islam Dalam Gereja:Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad" which was published in the May 2009 issue or the Al Islam magazine.

The men had consumed the 'communion' which is a white wafer which is blessed by the Priest in a Catholic ritual that dates back 2000 years. Via this ritual the 'white wafer' is supernaturally transformed into what Catholics believe to be Jesus Christ and when consumed allows Catholics to experience life after death. The 'communion' is held with great reverence and cannot in any way be mishandled or with a lack of respect. Even Catholics are not allowed to take home the 'communion' but are instructed to consume it immediately during the service. Catholics go through an elaborate process of preparing themselves to receive this 'communion' worthily and those who have not done so are advised to refrain from receiving it.

Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail said in a statement then that he decided not to prosecute the two men because "they did not intend to offend anyone. It was an act of sheer ignorance."

Is going to a surau to dispense aid for repairs to the surau in all innocence more reprehensible than for a Muslim to purposely go into a church and partake of communion and after that boast about it?

Mosque near Ground Zero? Have a little sensitivity

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is some sort of bigot. In a speech about the ground zero mosque and religious freedom, Bloomberg stipulated that "it is fair to ask the organizers of the mosque to show some special sensitivity to the situation."

Why do they, of all the sects represented in New York, have to show "special sensitivity"? Does the mayor demand "special sensitivity" of St. Paul's Church, the Episcopal parish a few blocks from ground zero? And who appointed him arbiter of "special sensitivity"? Where in the First Amendment does it give mayors the power to enjoin builders of churches, synagogues or mosques to show sensitivity, special or otherwise?

It must be that the mayor harbors a subtle animus toward Muslims that impels him to impinge on their constitutional rights in violation of all that this country holds dear. Or so one would conclude if Mayor Bloomberg's obtuse hostility to opponents of the ground zero mosque were turned against him.

The mayor unloosed a self-righteous oration about how critics of the project are disgracing the memory of firefighters who died in 9/11, among other offenses against truth, justice and the American way. But even he had to admit that there's something different about building a mosque so close to the site of a horrific, history-changing act of Islamic terrorism. What Bloomberg refuses to see is that those who want to block the mosque are demanding a truly meaningful gesture in "special sensitivity."

Namely, moving it elsewhere. If the founders of the project are as serious about interfaith bridge-building as they say, they'd be delighted to find a less controversial location. Rubbing hurt feelings raw is not an act of understanding. Stoking a religiously charged debate at ground zero is not a blow for tolerance. They are provocations, by people who are either witless or understand exactly what they are doing.

It is true that Islam as such is not responsible for 9/11, but symbolism and the sensibilities of New Yorkers and victims of 9/11 can't be discounted. When the Anti-Defamation League bravely bucked elite opinion to oppose the project, its national director, Abe Foxman, made an illuminating comparison with a Carmelite convent established outside Auschwitz in the 1980s.

Carmelites were not a cog in Adolf Hitler's death machine. Survivors of the Holocaust and Jewish groups nonetheless found the Catholic outpost offensive, which was enough for Pope John Paul II to ask the nuns to move. True interfaith bridge-building is made of such forbearance.

The organizers of the mosque, in contrast, relish their hot-button address. Feisal Abdul Rauf, the project's imam, wrote a book called "What's Right With Islam Is What's Right With America." But as former prosecutor Andy McCarthy points out, it was published in Malaysia under the more pungent title "A Call to Prayer From the World Trade Center Rubble: Islamic Dawa in the Heart of America Post-9/11" (dawa is Islamic proselytism). A noncommercial edition was published by two organizations that have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and promote Hamas.

Rauf himself won't condemn the Palestinian terror group. Asked about Hamas in a recent radio interview, he said, "Terrorism is a very complex question," the stock answer of anyone excusing terrorism. "I am a peace builder," he explained — so long as peace-building doesn't require saying a discouraging word about the Palestinian murderers of innocent Jews.

Even if Rauf has the best of intentions, a $100 million mosque is an open invitation to Saudi funding. Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute has documented how Saudi materials at American mosques exhort Muslims to spill the blood of infidels and Jews, in interfaith bridge-building Wahhabi-style. If the ground zero project relies on Saudi money, the desert monarchy will have pulled a perverse twofer — funding the radical version of Islam that created ground zero, then funding the mosque that outraged the families of the victims.

No thanks. Good taste and common sense should prevail, or what Mayor Bloomberg, in his surpassing wisdom, calls "special sensitivity."

- By Rich Lowry, Sun Journal.

Obama backs NY mosque and Muslim cultural centre project,

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama backed construction of a proposed mosque and Muslim cultural centre near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York -- a project opposed by U.S. conservatives and many New Yorkers.

"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said at an event on Friday attended by diplomats from Islamic countries and members of the U.S. Muslim community.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said.

Earlier this month a New York city agency cleared the way for construction of the center, which will include a prayer room, two blocks from the site of the Sept 11 attacks, popularly known as "Ground Zero."

"This is America and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable," said Obama, who has made improving ties between the United States and the Muslim world a cornerstone of his foreign policy.

About 2,750 people were killed on Sept. 11 when hijackers from the Muslim militant group al Qaeda crashed two passenger planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, an event that traumatised Americans and sparked the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the Bush Administration's "war on terror."

Families of those killed in the attacks have mounted an emotional campaign to block the mosque, saying it would be a betrayal of the memory of the victims.

Conservative politicians such as former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, a Republican former Speaker of the House of Representatives, have also called for the project to be scrapped.
Mark Williams, a spokesman for the conservative Tea Party political movement, said the center would be used for "terrorists to worship their monkey god."

With the rhetoric growing more heated, Obama decided on Friday to make his voice heard.

Obama was speaking during an Iftar dinner he hosted at the White House. Iftar is the evening meal when Muslims break their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

He said the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution had established the freedom of religion "and that right has been upheld ever since."

Al Qaeda also was not synonymous with Islam, Obama said.

"Al Qaeda's cause is not Islam -- it is a gross distortion of Islam," he said. "These are not religious leaders -- these are terrorists who murder innocent men, women and children."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has firmly supported the community center project as have many religious organizations in the city. However, 53 percent of New Yorkers oppose it, according to a Marist Poll this week.

At least one additional legal challenge looms but the city agency's Aug. 3 ruling will clear the way for construction of Cordoba House, which will include a 500-seat auditorium as part of a 13-storey Muslim cultural complex.

Since coming into office, Obama, a Democrat, has worked to reach out to Muslims, many of whom felt targeted by the "war on terror" and by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a speech in Cairo in June 2009, Obama called for a "new beginning" in ties between the United States and Muslims, saying that extremists had exploited tensions between Muslims and the West and that Islam was not part of the problem.

(Source)

Indonesia: Fatwa and public reasoning

It may not be surprising anymore, but every time the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) releases a new fatwa (edict), it raises wide public reaction, becoming big news in the media across the country.

Additionally, fatwas issued by clerics of neighboring countries like Malaysia are also paid wider public attention. Although it is not so clear, there seems to be a growing fatwa-phobia in our Islamized society.

The responses against fatwas have varied from time to time. Some look to expect the council to be more responsive in issuing fatwas to any socio-cultural events, changes as well as effects derived from the rapid developments in sciences, medicines or innovative technological products.

The others, conversely, also expect the same but only in order to be able to mock, ridicule and criticize the content and rationales and finally have a chance to undermine the role and position of Muslim clerics in society. While the rest take no any position whether pro or contra and simply do not care so much with what the council have discussed.

It raises a primary question on what is actually happening in this Muslim society as a whole in terms of its religious social life.

According to Jocelyn Cesari (2004), the meeting between Islam and democracy, on the one hand, engenders issues on equality and responsibility among members of the religious community, and on the other hand, faces the need to negotiate with the increasing secularization and individualization in the society as a whole.

Equality means that every individual inherits the same right to have a faith and express their religious beliefs without any restrictions from others as long as they do not violate the public interest. While responsibility is closely linked to the particular role of individuals played in the society, it has to be divided and distributed under an open agreement, a kind of a new social contract.

In this context, religiously communal institutions, for example the MUI, seem to face a big problem with two former societal issues above. The MUI council is an exclusive organization that only Muslims with specific criteria can join and give her opinions.

Its authority to issue religiously legal opinions regulating or restricting particular social behavior intersected with the basic principle of the freedom of expression in religious practices in a democratic-secular society.

The fact that Indonesia is not an Islamic state, the role of the ulema is always limited in intervening with society. Fatwas not only have have no legal power to coerce people to obey; self-appointing religious leaders is continuously challenged.

The massive availability of Islamic material knowledge particularly through the Internet provides every ordinary Muslim a wide variety of information as well as choices such as which sects or schools of thoughts or fatwa they’re likely to follow.

Fatwas, as legal religious opinions, loses their authority and are thoroughly questioned and openly contested in public.

As a result, why does society still need clerics to issue fatwas if every single answer to every question related to religion can be found using search engines.

The question is related to the increasing secularization and individualization in the society. I will not explain the term secularization as an ideology to make a sharp division between the religions versus the state, public versus private, or as the state policy in governing the religious life of its people.

Secularization is highly related to the individualization process experienced by the society or simply its synonym generated in the modern era. The spread of mass education, the growing number of middle-class people and the opened opportunity to access any information has made everybody become independent and free to articulate their opinions and to remove themselves from communal constraints.

In the religious life, the secularization qua individualization is manifested in the tendency among individuals to follow an opinion or a practice chosen from many available choices, or to seek an alternative after not having been satisfied.....more

(From The Jakarta Post)

Radical American-Yemeni Islamic cleric Imam Anwar al-Awlaki puts cartoonist Molly Norris on execution hit list for caricaturing Prophet Muhammed.

Radical American-Yemeni Islamic cleric Imam Anwar al-Awlaki has singled out 'Everybody Draw Mohammed' cartoonist Molly Norris as a 'prime target', by putting him on the execution hit list.

According to the New York Daily News, in "Inspire," an English language Al Qaeda terrorist magazine, Awlaki damns Norris and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of Prophet Muhammed.

Awlaki, who also had been cited as inspiring the Fort Hood, Tex., massacre and the plot by two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers, singled out Norris as a "prime target," saying her "proper abode is Hellfire."

The other cartoonists, authors and journalists in Awlaki''s crosshairs are Swedish, Dutch and British citizens.

"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved," Awlaki wrote in the magazine.

"A soul that is so debased, as to enjoy the ridicule of the Messenger of Allah, the mercy to mankind; a soul that is so ungrateful towards its lord that it defames the Prophet of the religion Allah has chosen for his creation does not deserve life, does not deserve to breathe the air created by Allah and enjoy a life provided for by Allah. Their proper abode is Hellfire," he added.

FBI officials have notified Norris and warned her they consider it a "very serious threat."

Norris initially grabbed headlines in April when she published a satirical cartoon on her Web site that declared May 20th "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" as a way to mock Viacom and Comedy Central''s decision to censor an episode of "South Park" that showed the Prophet Mohammed dressed in a bear suit.

Soon after, the topic exploded on the Web with the start of a Facebook support group for Norris.

In response, Pakistan blocked access to the social networking site as a fiery pro-and-con debate raged worldwide.

Norris eventually backed away from her cartoon and cause.

"I regret that I made my cartoon the way I made it," she said then.

(Source)

Malaysia's bloggers condemning the outrage over the use of the word “Allah”

Haris Ibrahim, creator of the blog 'People's Parliament', said that those who accuse Christians who use the word 'Allah' during their worship of spreading confusion, should look inwards instead.

“If it can supposedly confuse the Muslim community, doesn't that give the impression that their own faith is weak and lacking?

"But if it is, isn't it common sense to strengthen their own faith, instead of affecting other communities.

“Islam is about justice. Minorities should be relieved and happy, because they will know that the Muslim majority would not infringe their rights,” he said.

Speaking at an annual gathering 'Bloggers Universe Malaysia' (BUM 2010) in Subang Jaya, Haris said that even if Malaysian Muslims cannot grasp the concept of the holy trinity of the Christian faith, Prophet Muhammad and other prophets during the early Islamic civilisation had accepted its use.

“And don't go back to challenge what the Prophet said by banning whatever that was allowed by Himself.

“If anyone disagrees, I challenge them to come out and show me the hadith for it,” he said in the session titled 'The Allah issue: Various Perspectives'.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad from PAS commented that the issue of the banning itself is selective.

“If the government really does not want the non-Muslims to use the word 'Allah' then why not remove it from the Negeri Sembilan state anthem?

“This is because there is nothing wrong with (the use of the term by non-Muslims) fundamentally.

"It is only when people start being emotional about (the issue) - further spurred by the media, specifically Utusan Malaysia - (then) it becomes a problem,” he said.

However, pro-Umno blogger Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi disagreed, saying that the minorities should be accepting to the needs and wants of the majority.

“If the (Malay-Muslim) majority is uncomfortable with the usage of the word 'Allah', then the minority should stop pursuing it. That is the true meaning of racial harmony,” he said.

He further added fuel to fire to the predominantly multiracial, urban participants of the meet by asserting that the word 'Allah' is reserved exclusively for Muslims and no one else....more

Should Christians be allowed to say 'Allah' in Malaysia?

Father Andrew Lawrence pulls a fat red binder from a shelf inside his cramped office, where he edits a weekly Roman Catholic newspaper. Inside the binder are reams of documents from its decade-long dispute with Malaysia's government over the right to refer to God as "Allah," as Muslims do.

For a small paper like the Herald (circulation: 14,000), such a legal case can be ruinous. But the row has spiraled into a litmus test of tolerance and political maturity in this multifaith country of 28 million people.

The "Allah" row stirs strong emotions here in part because it is as much about race and language – and politics – as it is about religion. It also exposes the historical divisions between west and east Malaysia, where the majority of the country's roughly 1.4 million Roman Catholics live.

For centuries, Christian Malay speakers have prayed to Allah, the Arabic word for God. In neighboring Indonesia, a majority Muslim country with a near-identical language, the use of "Allah" by Christians is uncontroversial, as it is across much of the Middle East.

"It isn't complicated. We use it in our churches. It's part of our prayers," says Father Lawrence.

Opponents say that Christians can use other Malay words for their translations and should leave "Allah" for Muslims. "For me, 'Allah' shouldn't be used by other religions. If they use 'Allah,' our kids might get confused," says Nur Fadilla Zaaba, a resident.

The government has also used this argument, saying that it increases the risk of conversions of Muslims, which is illegal in Malaysia. The High Court rejected this and other similar arguments, pointing out that the Herald is sold only to Christians and "had never intended or caused any conflict, discord of misunderstanding" in its use of "Allah."

Opposition lawmakers claim that Malaysia's coalition-run government, dominated by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), uses the "Allah" issue to rally its base among Malay Muslims, who make up about 55 percent of the population.

Khairy Jamaluddin, a UMNO executive, argues that the party is trying to tamp down communal tensions. He says comparisons with Indonesia are misleading, as Islam has taken a more syncretic path there. "Malay Muslims have linguistic, religious, and ethnic ownership of the word because of the way that it came to Malaysia. For it to be used for a Christian God, it is an affront to them," he says....more

- The Christian Science Monitor.

1Malaysia women's group 'Sisters in Islam' sued over 'Islam' in name

Muslim activists filed a lawsuit against a Malaysian women's group, asking it to remove the word "Islam" from its name on the ground that it misleads people to believe it speaks for all Muslims.

The suit against Sisters in Islam, one of the most well-known non government groups in this Muslim-majority country, comes after it angered conservative Muslims by criticizing Islamic Shariah laws that allow the caning of women for offenses such as drinking alcohol.

Dewan Pemuda Masjid Malaysia's (Masjid Youth of Malaysia) executive director, Mohd Taqiuddin Abdullah, filed the summons at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Registrar's Office through Sahlan & Associates.

In the originating summons, Dewan Pemuda Masjid sought a declaration that the respondent's legal name was not Sisters in Islam.

It also sought for an order prohibiting the respondent from using Sisters in Islam as its name and identity in any pamphlet, correspondence, publication and/or statement, whether in the Internet, print or electronic media, until it was legally allowed to do so.

The applicant further sought for an order forcing the respondent to remove the name 'Sisters in Islam' from its website, printed materials and publications and to prevent the respondent from distributing printed materials which used the name Sisters in Islam. until the respondent was legally authorised to do so.

The applicant also sought for costs and other reliefs, but did not state the amount.

In his supporting affidavit, Taqiuddin claimed that SIS Forum had breached the Companies Act 1965 by using the name 'Sisters In Islam' as its organisation's name in its activities.

He claimed that based on the respondent's 'Memorandum Of Association', it was not stated that the organisation's objective was to look after the interest of Muslim women, but was more oriented towards secular feminism which supported the policy of equality between men and women.

Numerous Muslim groups have in recent months accused Sisters in Islam of misinterpreting religious principles, highlighting a divide between Muslims who demand strict enforcement of Islamic morality laws and others who fear religious intolerance is threatening the moderate practice of their religion.

Hamidah Marican, executive director of Sisters in Islam, declined to comment on the case, saying the group's lawyers need to study the suit before they can issue any statement. However, she defended the group's work as being "driven by the tenets of the Quran and Islam."

Established in 1988, Sisters in Islam has long been the most outspoken advocate of reforms involving Muslim laws that allegedly fail to protect the rights of women, such as regarding polygamy and child marriages. Its official name is SIS Forum (Malaysia), but it uses Sisters in Islam on its Web site and publications.

Sisters in Islam's troubles with other Muslim groups began last year when it tried to stop authorities from caning a woman who was sentenced by an Islamic court for drinking beer in public. Since then, three other Muslim women have been caned for having extramarital sex, the first time the punishment has been carried out on Malaysian women.

Hijrah Spirit In Line With 1Malaysia Concept ?

Hijrah, in essence, is a process of transfer to a better situation. It is not meant to find a comfortable place where one would relax and stop endeavor. Rather, it is a search for an environment more favorable to continuous and constructive effort. Immediately after reaching Madinah, the Prophet undertook an all-embracing process to establish a faithful and strong society. This is a significant aspect and important lesson to learn from Hijrah.

Read more here.


"The Hijrah spirit practised in Islam is in line with the 1Malaysia concept which is a continuous effort at strengthening unity among the people."


"Najib said the concept of brotherhood and unity was created by the Prophet at the start of Hijrah (flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD) in a holistic manner regardless of colour, background and position."

"The Medina community at the time was of different races and religions, and living a life of peace and harmony based under the Medina Constitution that placed importance on unity, protecting Islam as a religion, providing social justice and religious freedom to people of all faiths, and protecting the minorities," he said.

-- BERNAMA


Attacks on churches in 1Malaysia, provoked by a simmering and, to many outsiders, absurd controversy about the use of the word Allah, leaving one gutted by fire and others vandalised.

The government had ruled that the word must not be used except to refer to God as worshiped by Muslims.

Many of those protesting at the Christian use of Allah had hardly been aware of the usage before the public row, for they do not buy Christian newspapers and they do not live in Borneo, where the papers mostly circulate.

When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made the Hijrah from Makkah to Madinah, he did not just transfer his residence or took shelter in another city, but as soon as he arrived in Madinah he began the transformation of that city in every aspect.

It is important for us to study and reflect on the things that he did in Madinah. There are many lessons for us in that history and we can learn many things for our life.

1. Masjid (Mosque): The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) first established a Masjid for the worship of Allah. He himself worked in carrying the stones and building that small, humble but most powerful structure. This was the beginning, but soon other Masajid (mosques) were established in Madinah.

2. Madrasah( Islamic school and educational institution for the community):. The first school under the supervision of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the school of Suffah. Later many other schools were opened. According to Maulana Shibli Numani, there were nine schools opened in Madinah alone in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

3. Mu'akhah: He established brotherly relations between the Muhajirun (Muslims who migrated from Makkah) and the Ansar (residents of Madinah who helped the Prophet and his Companions). Masjid and Madrasah were not enough; what was also important was to have good relations between Muslims. They should have their brotherhood on the basis of faith, not on the basis of tribes as they used to have prior to Islam.

4. Intercommunity and Interfaith Relations: Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also established good relations with other communities living in Madinah. There was a large Jewish community as well as some other Arab tribes who had not accepted Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prepared a Mithaq (a covenant or a constitution) for relations between these communities.

5. Cleaning the City: Yathrib (previous name of Madinah) was a dirty city. When the Sahabah (Prophet's Companions) came from Makkah to Madinah, many of them got sick and did not like that city. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them to clean the city and remove its dirt and filth. `Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “We came to Madinah and it was the most polluted land of Allah. The water there was most stinking. (Al-Bukhari, 1756)

6. Water System in the City: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked the Sahabah to dig wells in different parts of the city. It is mentioned that more than 50 wells were opened in the city of Madinah and there was enough clean water for every one.

7. Agriculture and Gardening: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged the Sahabah to cultivate the land and make gardens. He told them that any one who would cultivate any dead land, would own it. Many people started working and cultivating and soon there was enough food for every one.

8. Poverty Eradication: In a short period of time it happened that there were no poor people in Madinah. Every one had enough and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to give gifts to coming delegations.

9. Safety, Security, Law and Order: Madinah became the safest city in the world. There were very few incidents of theft, rape, drunkenness or murder and they were immediately taken care of.

In short, Hijrah teaches us that wherever Muslims go, they should bring goodness to that land. Muslims should work for both moral and material goodness of the society.

(Source)

God row spells change ahead in Malaysia

Good Can't exist without Evil or The absence of Good is Evil ?

Two pig's heads were found at a Malaysian mosque close to a neighborhood hit by an ethnic clash nine years ago following a series of arson and firebomb attacks on churches.

The discovery of the pig heads -- an animal considered offensive to Muslims and whose consumption is prohibited -- could further inflame tensions in the mainly Muslim country, prompting police to issue a stern warning against stirring up emotions.

Eleven churches, a Catholic school, a Sikh temple, two mosques and two Muslim prayer rooms so far have been hit by arson and vandalism attacks in recent weeks over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians.

The mosque is located near a neighborhood which in 2001 was hit by an ethnic clash that reportedly left six people dead.

It seemed to come out of nowhere, it ran its course within a fortnight and the damage inflicted was mild compared with religious conflicts in other parts of the world.

The attacks were provoked by a simmering and, to many outsiders, absurd controversy about the use of the word Allah. Below that, they suggest deep and long-running tensions in a country that has successfully bottled them up for 40 years.

The row over whether Christians should have the right to use the word Allah to refer to their god in Malaysian-language bibles and liturgy is just the latest in a series of manifestations of a rising current of conservative Islam.

In other incidents last year, a 32-year-old mother was convicted for drinking a can of beer, and Muslim demonstrators outraged Hindu opinion by marching with the head of a dead cow, an animal sacred to Hinduism, to oppose construction of a temple.

But these are symptoms of deeper fissures in Malaysian society that are not religious so much as ethnic.

Malaysia's success since its independence from Britain in 1963 has been to neutralise the rivalry and mutual dislike between its small majority of Malays (who by law are Muslim) and its Chinese and Indian minorities (who are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh). Relations between Malays and Chinese have been marked by outbreaks of mutual antipathy rooted in racial dislike.

The Malay view sees Chinese as clannish, patronising, greedy, dishonest and opportunistic.

While BN's UMNO is not a party of fundamentalist Islam, but as its racial base erodes it has attempted to curry favour with ultra-conservative Muslims in the hope religion may fill the ideological gap left by Malay nationalism. A shrewder leader, such as Mahathir, would not have let the Allah row assume the dimensions it has.

But his successor as prime minister, Najib Razak, has stoked it. When a court ruled on December 31 that the ban on the use of Allah by Christians was unconstitutional, he had an opportunity to drop the whole thing.

Instead, his government appealed against the decision, and the attacks followed. The physical damage that the attacks have caused may have been minimal, but the damage to the cause of racial harmony in Malaysia is impossible to calculate.

From The Washington Times:"Thank Allah it's Friday"

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Catholic churches in Malaysia are being firebombed after a court ruling in that country permitted the use of the word Allah as a generic term for God. Some adherents of the religion of peace are pushing back hard against any notion of a vanilla Allah.

The matter has been adjudicated in this country as well. Judge David F. Hamilton, President Obama's first judicial nominee, faced some drama last year during his confirmation for the federal appeals court because of a controversial decision he wrote in 2005 addressing the legally acceptable name of God.

In Hinrichs v. Bosma, Hamilton, as a U.S. district judge, instructed Indiana legislators to "refrain from using Christ's name or title or any other denominational appeal" during invocations and instead use "nonsectarian" names for God. In a post-judgment order, Judge Hamilton stated that Allah was among the acceptable nonsectarian terms, but a nondenominational invocation of Jesus was not. So, by Judge Hamilton's confused logic, it is acceptable to say "Thank Allah it's Friday," and coins could reasonably bear the slogan "In Allah We Trust," but lawmakers pondering important policy choices could not ask "What would Jesus do?" because the First Amendment forbids it.

Judge Hamilton is a squishy liberal judicial activist with a left-wing agenda - in other words, a perfect Obama court appointment. But his knowledge of Allah leaves a lot to be desired. The generic Arabic word for small-g god is al-ilah. There is no small-a Allah. To Muslims, the word Allah is the proper name of the God of Abraham. It is as sectarian for them as Jesus is for Christians.

Judge Hamilton is safely ensconced for life on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, so the question of his suitability for the bench is moot, but the reality check going on in Southeast Asia is instructive. Perhaps Judge Hamilton should have asked Malaysian Muslims if Allah is a generic term. The Muslim-majority country recently began enforcing a law dating back to the 1980s that bans the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims. The government was concerned that Christians, who make up about 9 percent of the population, would try to make their faith more palatable to potential converts by using language familiar to them.

Allah had been used as a generic term for God in the Malay language for more than 400 years, and after the government cracked down on a Catholic newspaper for using the term, the church sued. On Dec. 31, Malaysia's high court overturned the law and freed Allah for use by anyone who wanted to utter the word. Since then, at least eight Christian churches have been firebombed, and others have been desecrated. The radicals are making their opinion known about what they see as trademark infringement by the country's Christian minority.

The situation in Malaysia underscores the need for clearer thinking about religion in our own country. Judge Hamilton's sloppy scholarship that made Allah a nonsectarian term fits neatly into the liberal worldview that seeks to homogenize faith rather than accept religious diversity. It's clearly not up to an American district judge to determine what the word Allah means or whether it is an acceptable substitute to refer to a generic god. Judges should understand that First Amendment injunctions against establishment of religion could as well apply to their own decisions when they try to define which names of deities are sectarian and which are not.

Because we live in America, the Land of the Free, we can - at least for now - say, "Thank Allah it's Friday." But it's probably a pretty sectarian bunch who would want to do so.

In the name of .....?

Two surau were set on fire, police said, following a spate of violence against churches triggered by a row over the use of the word "Allah".

Eleven churches across the mainly Muslim nation have been pelted with Molotov cocktails, stones and paint in recent weeks, in attacks that have escalated ethnic tensions.

The two surau, or Muslim prayer halls, both in Muar, Johor, with one sustaining serious damage when came under arson attack early this morning.

The church attacks broke out after a December 31 court ruling that overturned a ban on non-Muslims using "Allah" as a translation for "God." The ruling has been suspended pending an appeal.

The row is the latest in a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being "Islamised."

Police said they had arrested eight people over the first of the church attacks, a firebombing that gutted the ground floor of an Assemblies of God church in suburban Kuala Lumpur.

Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.

Arabic speaking non-Muslims, including Christians, have for centuries used “Allah” as a translation for “God.”, but our government maintains that “Allah” is an Islamic word and use by non-Muslims could confuse Muslims into converting to those faiths.

Reactions, opinions, thoughts, comments - all came fast and furious, some which spoke objective, level-headed truth, some which spread dishonest, ignorant lies.

But the young, Christians and Muslims alike, have a better head on their shoulders, and they are the people whose eyes have been glued to both the new and traditional media to sift through the articles and commentaries to see the biggest picture of all: The burnings are actions not condoned nor tolerated by any religion, least of all Islam, and many sincerely believe that the use of 'Allah' to refer to God is not a matter resolved by violence.

So, Why in God’s Name?

Cry, my beloved country, whether or not it could have been "staged", the world is watching, not Avatar, but Malaysia, the 1Malaysia.

"who wants to be tolerant, we want to be respected."

Lawyers represent the Herald have said their offices were ransacked in the latest attack apparently linked to a dispute over the use of the word "Allah" to describe God.

A church in southern Johor state was also attacked with unknown assailants throwing red paint at the building before dawn.

A day earlier a Sikh temple was attacked, apparently because Sikhs also refer to God as "Allah".

At least eight other churches have been firebombed or vandalised since the court ruling allowing the Malaysian Catholic weekly newspaper, the Herald, to use the word "Allah" to refer to God in its Malay-language edition.

There is no law prohibiting the use of 'Allah' among non-Muslims, the Malaysian Gurdwaras Council said today.

Its president Harcharan Singh said the preamble to the Selangor Non Muslim Enactment 1988 states that the law is meant to control and restrict the propogation of non-Islamic religious doctrines and beliefs among persons professing the Islamic faith.

"There is no law to stop non-Muslims from using it in their own publications meant for members of their own faith," said Harcharan.

He said High Court judge Lau Bee Lan made it clear in her judgment that the publication or use of the term 'Allah' is only prohibited if it is meant to propogate non-Islamic faiths to Muslims.

Malaysia is a country with a lot of diversity. It is a plural society.

This diversity is God’s will. The Quran says that if God wants it He could have made you one community. He said: We made you tribes and nations so that you may know one another.

It is God’s will. It is, therefore, not enough to tolerate others. We must respect them. As one prominent scholar said in one conference "who wants to be tolerant, we want to be respected."

In Islam the word, therefore, is respect, not tolerate. Who are we to tolerate? This is God’s will for me to be here. So it is for Muslims to understand that because Allah wanted Christianity, wanted Judaism, and Buddhism and atheists and anarchists to be here it is for them to respect God’s will. To respect means "I acknowledge the fact that you are here, I acknowledge the fact that you have to be respected – and more than that – I am asked by Allah that I have to know you, which is a two-way process of acknowledgment. Respect is to acknowledge you and know you that you are different and to know about you. My knowledge towards you is an act of respect." So, tolerance is not enough. We must remember that diversity is God’s will.

If you travel around the world, in the Arab world, "Allah" is used by all Christians – Coptics and others. To us, Allah is the one God who sent us the prophets Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. When we use Arabic, we say "Allah", when speak in English, we say "God" and when we speak French, we say "Deus".

The point is the substance and the substance is one God. We are using the language to say it. Some of the scholars coming from the literalist trend, the Salafiya-al Harfiyat, say that Allah is a very specific name.

The majority of the Muslims are using the word "God" when they speak English and the other words in other languages. Allah is not the God of the Arabs but Allah is the only God of all human beings. This is what we are saying.

When we speak other languages, you change by knowing what you are talking about and we understand that He is like nothing we can imagine Him to be. Therefore we cannot describe Him. So when I speak English, I do not have a problem saying "God" and in French I say "Deus" and that’s it.

When the Christian Arabs speak Arabic, in their Bible, they use "Allah" to speak about God. So, you cannot deprive them using this as this has been the case for centuries and in Arabic, God is Allah.

The Roman Catholics among them do not use "Allah" to describe Jesus. There is no problem there. And my understanding of their general hypothesis is that the Trinity is Three in One but they are not confusing the three dimensions of One God. If that is not a problem for them neither is it for us.

But we must also be aware that the Christians, depending on traditions that they are following, are promoting the concept of the Trinity. Each group has its own truth or understanding of it.

- Professor Tariq Ramadan

Professor Tariq Ramadan is a European Muslim who advocates reform in Islam and promotes interfaith dialogue. Born in Switzerland and the grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood founder, Hassan Al Banna, the European academic has been named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most important innovators of the century.

1Malaysia's Monopoly on Allah

Over the course of the past week, nine churches in Malaysia have been firebombed, by muslim extremists who object to the Christian community's use of the word "Allah" in their prayers. The dispute came to a head on Dec 31st when the high court of Malaysia ruled in favor of Catholics using the word in the Malay edition of their weekly newspaper.

What's particularly perplexing about this is that the Islamist political party PAS actually supports the right of Christians to invoke Allah by name, whereas the ruling political coalition UMNO is pushing for Allah to be reserved for muslims only. This is essentially a classic case of an incumbent political party, after suffering significant setbacks at the polls, invoking religion as a base-rallying prop and exploiting and stoking religious tensions for pure political gain (and in that regard reminds me of the Ayodhya issue in India whose repercussions on undermining religious tolerance continue to this day). The irony of a moderate party out-Islaming the Islamists is not lost on UMNO party veterans, like Tengku Razaleigh, who are aghast and speaking out at the naked cynicism of their party:

THE 'Allah' controversy has produced a 'milestone moment' in Malaysian politics, as ruling party Umno took a stance more extreme than even Islamist party Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), said Umno party veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah yesterday.

'PAS is holding onto the more plural and moderate position while Umno is digging itself into an intolerant hardline position that has no parallel that I know of in the Muslim world,' he said.

Tengku Razaleigh's strongly worded speech was delivered at the luncheon address at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies' Regional Outlook Forum in Singapore. In it, he highlighted the reversal of roles for Umno and PAS through their reactions to the 'Allah' controversy.

Umno had for years claimed to be the voice of moderate Malays, while PAS more often made the news for wanting to impose strict Islamic laws.

The UMNO leadership is appealing to the Malysian royalty for support of their stance. PAS, for its part, invokes classic Islamic doctrine in supporting the use of Allah by Christians, as per their status as People of the Book in the Qur'an itself:

"PAS would like to state that based on Islamic principles, the use of the word Allah by the people of the Abrahamic faiths such as Christianity and Judaism, is acceptable," said Hadi in a written statement which was read out by Information Chief Idris Ahmad.

"However, the word Allah must not be misused or abused so as not to affect racial and religious harmony in the country," he added.

Hadi also urged all parties not to politicise the matter for political mileage.

"PAS strongly objects to any aggressive and provocative approach that can lead to tension in society," he added.

The UMNO position forbidding Allah to non-muslims is indeed nonsensical (and cynical) - the Qur'an itself is quite clear on the matter:

And do not dispute with the followers of the Book except by what is best, except those of them who act unjustly, and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our Allah and your Allah is One, and to Him do we submit. [ 29:46 ]

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. [ 2:62 ]

Had God not driven back the people, some by the means of others, there had been destroyed cloisters and churches, oratories and mosques, wherein God's Name is much mentioned. [ 22:40 ]

The UMNO's response? The Home Ministry secretary-general Mahmood Adam made the utterly incomprehensible assertion that "Malays are different from (Muslims in) other countries."

It should be noted that despite the utter incoherence from the UMNO, Malays in general seem loath to allow religion to be used as a wedge factor. There are various student groups that are acting as shills for the UMNO party line, but muslim NGOs are offering their help to the Christian community in protecting churches from further attacks:

Muslim groups in Malaysia are offering their help to prevent any further attacks on Christian places of worship amid a spree of attacks on churches in the multi-ethnic, Muslim-majority Asian country, The Star reported on Sunday, January 10.

"This is an offer of peace and goodwill," Nadzim Johan, the executive secretary of the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM), told a news conference.

"We don't want our Christian brothers to be in danger."

PPIM is one of 130 Muslim NGOs that vowed to become the "eyes and ears" of the government to shield churches against attacks.

It seems clear that the naked motive of the UMNO, and its abuse of Islam for political gain, is going to cost them dearly in the next election. In that regard, their entire cynical embrace of religious intolerance has backfired; far from bringing PAS supporters to them, they have pushed moderate Malays away, and it's the PAS and other Islamist opposition groups that will benefit. It should be noted that UMNO has been playing this card for decades. While the response from PAS is encouraging, a legislative arms race between UMNO and Islamist opposition parties to out-Sharia each other bodes ill indeed for Malaysia's future.

- Aziz Poonawalla
beliefnet- city of brass

The recent church bombings are a symptom of Najib lagging reform.

A church in Seremban was attacked today, bringing the total number of churches targeted since Friday to eight.

- malaysiakini


The fire-bombing of a number of suburban Kuala Lumpur churches over the past few days have highlighted the delicate balance of ethnic and religious interests in this generally peaceful, Muslim-majority nation. But just as importantly, the incidents have focused attention on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's leadership. After only nine months in office, he is facing a major challenge to his authority.

The church attacks are directly related to a recent High Court decision permitting non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" in Malay-language publications. For many Muslim Malays—and especially those from Mr. Najib's party, the United Malay National Organization (Umno), the decision constitutes an unprecedented affront to Malay dignity and Muslim sensitivities.

Yet other Malay Muslims, principally from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim, perhaps mindful of their mounting political support from the country's sizeable minorities, have rejected this approach. Even Mr. Anwar's conservative Muslim party coalition partner, Parti Se-Islam Malaysia, has surprised middle-class Malaysians by joining the voices of moderation. Hadi Awang, a prominent leader of that party, chose to visit a wrecked church Saturday in a show of sympathy.

Mr. Hadi's gesture is important, and not only as a sign of respect for freedom of speech and religion. With large Chinese, Indian and Christian Bornean minorities, Malaysian politics has long been a deft exercise in power-sharing and mutual tolerance. The country's political landscape is in the process of being redrawn as Umno, once the arbiter of middle-of-the-road Malay decency, lurches towards an atavistic and extremist future.

This is all the more unfortunate given Mr. Najib's well-meaning—if ineffectual—attempts to move his party back to the center. His record since his accession to power in April last year has generally been positive. Understanding the extent of popular disenchantment with the Umno-led, National Front government after their drubbing in the March 2008 national polls, the prime minister has launched a number of reform initiatives, especially on the economic front.

In anticipation of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Najib, who is also Finance Minister, announced a major service-sector liberalization in April 2009 that centered around scrapping certain provisions of the pro-Malay, affirmative-action New Economic Policy. The NEP, a mainstay of Malaysia for decades, was long seen as an impediment to foreign and local investment.

The prime minister is also embarking on a major reformulation of the Malaysian economy, recognizing the need to push the country into more innovation-driven, high-value industries and sectors. Moreover, to tackle the perennial problem of red-tape, Mr. Najib's administration is slated to deliver a series of "National Key Result Areas" directives to various ministries this year, which will ostensibly guide reforms and ensure better delivery of public services. Malaysians have responded positively to these initiatives. The prime minister's fondness for fancy abbreviations, such as the 1Malaysia slogan, is ridiculed by detractors, but it reflects his results-oriented approach.

However, Mr. Najib's deep roots in the ruling Malay elite (he's the son of a former premier) have also imbued him with an innate conservatism and caution when it comes to handling communal issues as well as the civil-liberties agenda. Here, catchy and upbeat slogans like the 1Malaysia campaign are not enough. Malaysians want root-and-branch institutional reform. Public trust in the police and the judiciary remains extremely limited. While Mr. Najib has indicated a willingness to curtail the ruling coalition, the National Front's interventionist approach in the economic sphere, he has been unable to loosen his government's stranglehold on the media and civil society....read more here.

More churches have come under attack in Sarawak, Perak and Malacca

“…It’s interesting to observe that, in rejecting the Athenian’s erroneous concept of God, Paul did not reject the word they used for God, Theos, which was the common Greek word for God. Some Christians unthinkingly say 'Allah is not God.' This is the ultimate blasphemy to Muslims, and furthermore, it is difficult to understand. Allah is the primary Arabic word for God. It means 'The God.' There are some minor exceptions. For example, the Bible in some Muslim lands uses a word for God other than Allah (Farsi and Urdu are examples). But for more than five hundred years before Muhammad, the vast majority of Jews and Christians in Arabia called God by the name Allah. How, then, can we say that Allah is an invalid name for God? If it is, to whom have these Jews and Christians been praying? And what about the 10 to 12 million Arab Christians today? They have been calling God ‘Allah’ in their Bibles, hymns, poems, writings, and worship for over nineteen centuries. What an insult to them when we tell them not to use this word ‘Allah’! Instead of bridging the distance between Muslims and Christians, we widen the gulf of separation between them and us when we promote such a doctrine. Those who still insist that it is blasphemy to refer to God as Allah should also consider that Muhammad’s father was named Abd Allah, ‘God’s servant,’ many years before his son was born or Islam was founded!”

--excerpted from BUILDING BRIDGES by Fouad Accad (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, p. 22). (Source)

Since Friday, at least seven churches have been attacked with petrol bombs.

In Taiping, Molotov cocktails were hurled at two churches and the guard post of a school, SM Convent.

Perak police chief Zulkifli Abdullah said there was no damage to the All Saints Church, the oldest Anglican church in the country, while the school's guard post suffered only minor damage.

"There were black marks on the wall (at All Saints). We believed there was a small fire earlier but there was no damage as the wall was intact,".

According to Bernama, he said the church keeper realised the incident at 7.30am and reported the matter to the police.

Police, who went to the scene, found two black spots on the church wall and two broken bottles believed to have been used in the incident, he said when contacted.

On the incident at SM Convent, he said, the school's security guard realised the incident at about 3.30am.

He added that police believed the incidents were perpetrated by opportunist individuals out to take advantage of the current issue.

He said police had stepped up the monitoring of houses of worship in the state.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has appealed for calm.

"The public need not worry, and they must not be influenced by reports on the Internet or (rumours circulating) through SMS," he added.

Black paint splashed on Melaka church

According to Malaysiakini correspondent Humayun Kabir, St Louis Church (below), which sits adjacent to SM Convent was also struck with a bottle containing flammable liquid but with little damage.

In Malacca, the Melaka Baptist Church in Durian Daun was splashed with black paint.

In Miri, some windows were broken when stones were thrown at the Good Shepherd Church.

Miri OCPD said the police cannot ascertain whether this case is related to those that happened in the peninsular.

Hermen Shastri, secretary-general of the Council of Churches, said officials had stepped up security in the wake of the fresh attacks.

"The attacks show they are more just a prank as it does not appear to be a major (attack), someone is trying to send a signal that they are unhappy," he said.

Over the past two days, four churches in the Klang Valley were hit by petrol bombs.

The Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati, the Assumption Church and Life Chapel Church, both in Petaling Jaya were attacked by unknown assailants between midnight and the early hours of Friday morning.

Yesterday, it was reported that the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Petaling Jaya was also attacked.

The Metro Tabernacle Church was worst hit - the ground floor of its three-storey building was completely gutted, while the other three churches suffered minor damages.

Why are the Christians claiming Allah?

The Malaysian “street” needs an education. The Malaysian High Court’s decision to overturn a three-year ban on the use by Christians of the word Allah was correct – based both on the freedom of Malaysians to practice their faiths, and also based on the facts. Unfortunately, public protests and violence over the decision has led to its suspension pending the hearing of a government appeal.

This is a political debate in Malaysia, not a religious one. My opinion is probably not going to be of much use in that political debate. And far be it from me to interfere in the Malaysian judicial process. But, please, I hope our sometimes ultra-sensitive Malaysian friends will entertain one simple fact: In Arabic, “Allah” means “God”, for Christians and Muslims alike. Every Sunday, millions of Arabic speaking Christians around the world (including in Muslim majority countries), hear the word “Allah” in their Sunday liturgies. Even in colloquial Arabic, “Allah” is used by Christians in any number of everyday expressions.

I’m not a religious scholar. But I can attest to having attended many such services, including my marriage and the baptisms of my children – all of which were performed in both English and Arabic. “Allah” is also used routinely by Malaysian Christians (this is not some new innovation), and by Indonesian Christians (to far less controversy).

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib’s statements that the Malaysian government will do all it can to prevent attacks on Christians over this issue is welcome. But it is the least the government can do. The absence of violence is important; so is the freedom to practice the religion of one’s choice. The government should lead by example and drop its appeal.

When considering the political trends in Malaysia, all should understand that this debate over the word “Allah” is about limiting Christian practice, not protecting Islam. And at any rate, as Indonesia’s dear departed Gus Dur was known to say, God doesn’t need to be defended anyway.

- Walter Lohman

"Allah" controversy : 1Malaysia is a grand illusion !

1Malaysia’s goal is to preserve and enhance [the] unity in diversity which has always been our strength and remains our best hope for the future.

- 1Malaysia PM

The row over the use of the word Allah has escalated into violence, three Christian churches in have been attacked amid tensions over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims in the country.

Muslim groups held protests after Friday prayers against the court overturning the "Allah" ban, despite a warning from Musa Hassan, the country's police chief, but have received the tacit blessing of the prime minister.

He said people could express their views as long as it was done properly and in accordance with regulations.

Hundreds of Muslims held banners in Friday's protest, some reading 'Do not challenge the Muslims', and chanted slogans for about half an hour before dispersing.

At least two churches have received threats by phone today as Muslims protest against a court ruling allowing Christians to use the word 'Allah', church leaders said.

Anwar Ibrahim, would be justified in asking why his reform rallies so often seem to be an exception to this ruling; the Hindu organisation Hindraf was told that their desire to deliver a petition to the prime minister of the day fell outside of the right to "express views", and suffered tear gas, water cannon and the arrest of many of its leaders when they tried; and yet Muslim rioters were defended by the home minister during the now infamous "cow's head incident" last year, despite dragging a severed cow head, an animal sacred in Hinduism, which they stomped on and spat at under the gaze of the riot police.

The prime minster has denied accusations that the move against the Catholic church was politically motivated, but has yet to offer a plausible explanation as to why his government decided to act on the issue in the first place.

Minister in the prime minister's department, Nazri Aziz, has offered this:

"We have to take into consideration the culture and nature of Malaysia. What is considered normal in the United States and Europe is not necessarily normal here."

Ten police reports were also lodged by the NGOs to express their disappointment over the use of the word in the publication.

In the police report, Dr Ma'amor said the NGOs requested for an investigation into the publisher and that the publication stop using the word.

Najib: Government cannot stop people from gathering at mosques tomorrow to protest against a court decision !

Malaysiakini reported that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said today the government cannot stop people from gathering at mosques tomorrow to protest against a court decision which had allowed the Christian publication Herald to use to term 'Allah'.

"We cannot stop them if they want to congregate in mosques," said Najib, when asked if the government was practising double standards in handling demonstrations.

However, he stressed that the gatherings should be confined to the mosque compound and he hoped that it will not spill over to "something more serious".

Najib said he hoped that there would be "minimal" protests tomorrow as to not cause tension in the country as he wanted the matter to be resolved through the courts.

"We should take the attitude that the matter should be resolved through the court in an amicable way. We should not raise the tension levels in this country," he said.

Several Muslim-based organisations plan to stage a demonstration tomorrow to protest against the use of the word "Allah" by other religions.