biru2000
You do not need to do extensive research to determine that the word Allah is not an integral part of the Christian faith. The Pope doesn't use it, the Christian Archbishops, Cardinals and Priests in the western world do not use it and they will never use it. None of their original Bibles and Scriptures have mentioned Allah as their god. So we fail to understand why the Malaysian Christians are so obstinately adamant to use the word.
They say they have been using the word for more than 100 years. So what? Have they ponder for once, that maybe, they have been using the wrong word to refer to their god. Have the East Malaysian Christians do extensive research to find out why their forefathers somehow or other got attached to this word? Maybe at that time their forefathers are blinded by the Christian missionaries who are so desperate to spread the Christian faith, that they do not care what name the natives refer to their god, as long as they embrace the religion?
I suggest that the Malaysian Christians organize an international conference inviting all the learned Christian scholars and leaders in the world and debate among themselves what name they should call their god. Unless they have decided on one, they should not be talking about constitutional rights.The above is a reader's response to the debate in Malaysia where the Appellate Court has ruled that the word "Allah" is strictly for use by Muslims and that the weekly Catholic paper is banned from using "Allah" to refer to God in their Malay language section of the paper.
"Allah" is used to refer to God in the Malay language Bible as well as in the Bibles of some native languages of Malaysia in the same way that the English Bible uses the term "God" to refer to the Almighty.
It is hard to argue with the likes of biru2000. Allah, as used in some Christian Bibles, is merely a term to refer to God. It is a name that came into the Arabic language from the Syriac. Allah is not the name of the God of the Bible.
The Allah of the Bible may share the same name as the Allah of the Quran, the Allah in the Sikh scriptures, and the pagan Allah of the Kaa'bah in the city of Mecca, but are they one and the same? Of course not! Each of them does not share the same attributes and neither the same message. The message of the Allah of the Bible is grace and salvation through the death and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ!
References:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/10/14/allah-remains-exclusive-for-muslims/
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/court-of-appeals-findings-on-allah-issue-unnatural-says-malaysian-bar/
