Author: Kam Weng Ng

Allah and Tuhan in Bible Translation

Why It is Not Possible to Substitute Allah with Tuhan in Bible Translation Muslims in other parts of the world (Arabs, Persians, North Africans, Pakistanis and Indonesians) have no objection and are not worried about getting confused when Christians use the word Allah. In contrast, some Malaysian Muslims claim to be confused; a strange phenomenon … Continue reading “Allah and Tuhan in Bible Translation”

Why It is Not Possible to Substitute Allah with Tuhan in Bible Translation

Muslims in other parts of the world (Arabs, Persians, North Africans, Pakistanis and Indonesians) have no objection and are not worried about getting confused when Christians use the word Allah. In contrast, some Malaysian Muslims claim to be confused; a strange phenomenon indeed.  This observation lends credence to the suggestion that the Allah issue is an artificial Malay issue and not a genuine Muslim issue. The truth is that the current orchestrated protests against the recent High Court decision to allow the Catholic Herald (and Christians) to use the word Allah must be seen as cynical manipulations by Malay politicians to gain votes from their community. Continue reading “Allah and Tuhan in Bible Translation”

Translating the Names of God

TRANSLATING THE NAMES OF GOD: Recent experience from Indonesia and Malaysia D. Soesilo Note – This is partial reproduction of the original article. Reproduced with permission from the author The Situation in Malaysia The situation in Malaysia in regard to the use of the divine names is different to that in Indonesia in one important … Continue reading “Translating the Names of God”

TRANSLATING THE NAMES OF GOD: Recent experience from Indonesia and Malaysia
D. Soesilo

Note – This is partial reproduction of the original article. Reproduced with permission from the author

The Situation in Malaysia
The situation in Malaysia in regard to the use of the divine names is different to that in Indonesia in one important respect, which has more to do with politics than with language. It is that some years ago some states and the federal government prohibited the use of the name  Allah  by non-Muslims.
It is partly fear of this that has led some organisations to make changes in the rendering of the names of God in Malay and Indonesian, in both their own writing and in quoting of Scripture. (Each time the word  Allah  “God” occurs, it has been consistently changed to  Tuhan “Lord”, with the result that there is no difference between the renderings of the two Hebrew names YHWH and Elohim.)
Continue reading “Translating the Names of God”

BULLSHIT, LIES & errors

BULLSHIT, LIES & errors The internet promises the rebirth of the Republic of Letters (circa 18th century) which comprises critically minded people from diverse linguistic, religious and national backgrounds who are bonded by open inquiry and the common quest for truth. But the sad reality is that the anonymity allowed in internet discussion platforms provides … Continue reading “BULLSHIT, LIES & errors”

BULLSHIT, LIES & errors

The internet promises the rebirth of the Republic of Letters (circa 18th century) which comprises critically minded people from diverse linguistic, religious and national backgrounds who are bonded by open inquiry and the common quest for truth. But the sad reality is that the anonymity allowed in internet discussion platforms provides a perfect cover for some intellectual juveniles seeking to misrepresent and abuse truth and thereby derail conversations that would otherwise lead to discovery of common truth. Indeed, in place of truth we find ample evidence of errors, lies and even bullshit all over the internet. Continue reading “BULLSHIT, LIES & errors”

More Academic Resources on Pre-Islamic Use of Allah

Rejoinder – Allah is Not a Personal Name: More Evidence Needed, Not Mere Assertions Again in response to some comments on the article “ Allah is not a Personal Name LINK I have decided to post my own rejoinder as a full post: Further comments on use of allah I am not concerned with how … Continue reading “More Academic Resources on Pre-Islamic Use of Allah”

Rejoinder – Allah is Not a Personal Name: More Evidence Needed, Not Mere Assertions

Again in response to some comments on the article “ Allah is not a Personal Name LINK
I have decided to post my own rejoinder as a full post:
Further comments on use of allah
I am not concerned with how Muslims understand Allah (whether personal or generic; that is their personal liberty that I have no wish to interfere). But the thrust of the argument of my articles is that the Christian use of allah is consistent with the centuries of usage among the various Semitic languages/dialects. This argument has not been addressed, much less challenged. Continue reading “More Academic Resources on Pre-Islamic Use of Allah”

Allah is Not a Personal Name

Allah is Not a Personal Name It is bad enough when the Malaysian government bans Christians from using the word Allah. It is worse when some misguided Christians (granted it is a small minority) agree that Muslims have sole proprietary rights to the word Allah, even though this capitulation amounts to surrendering their centuries old … Continue reading “Allah is Not a Personal Name”

Allah is Not a Personal Name

It is bad enough when the Malaysian government bans Christians from using the word Allah. It is worse when some misguided Christians (granted it is a small minority) agree that Muslims have sole proprietary rights to the word Allah, even though this capitulation amounts to surrendering their centuries old usage of the word Allah for worship and spiritual instructions.

Perhaps this capitulation results from a misunderstanding of Arabic grammar, that is, the view that Allah is a personal name. Allah, as such, refers solely to the individual Supreme Being whom Muslims (and no other believers) worship. Accepting this misunderstanding would give grounds to the Muslim’s (still contestable) demand that only they have the right to use the word Allah and its related terms.Such a capitulation must be vigorously resisted seeing how the Malaysian government unrelentingly prosecutes its ban against Christians using the word Allah. It is imperative that we analyze and correct this misunderstanding.

Continue reading “Allah is Not a Personal Name”

KAIROS PUBLIC FORUM: THE REAL JESUS CHRIST OF HISTORY

KAIROS PUBLIC FORUM THE REAL JESUS CHRIST OF HISTORY Jesus of The Bible versus Jesus of the Documentaries (National Geographic/Discovery /BBC) Date: Friday, 20 November 2009 Time: 8.30pm – 10.30pm Venue: Hall 1, Dream Centre 2 Jalan 13/1, Seksyen 13 46200 Petaling Jaya Selangor, Malaysia

KAIROS PUBLIC FORUM

THE REAL JESUS CHRIST OF HISTORY

Jesus of The Bible
versus
Jesus of the Documentaries (National Geographic/Discovery /BBC)

Date: Friday, 20 November 2009
Time: 8.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Hall 1, Dream Centre
2 Jalan 13/1, Seksyen 13
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Continue reading “KAIROS PUBLIC FORUM: THE REAL JESUS CHRIST OF HISTORY”

Dialogue on Islam and Christology: Reports and Comments

Seems like the following summaries of my dialogue with Dr. Louay Fatoohi at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies on August 13 2009 are being sent around the Internet. http://ameia-kl.blogspot.com/2009/08/islam-and-christology.html LINK http://www.iais.org.my/details.php?content_id=226 LINK I have problems with the summaries at a few points but at least they give a rough idea of what transpired … Continue reading “Dialogue on Islam and Christology: Reports and Comments”

Seems like the following summaries of my dialogue with Dr. Louay Fatoohi at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies on August 13 2009 are being sent around the Internet.

http://ameia-kl.blogspot.com/2009/08/islam-and-christology.html LINK

http://www.iais.org.my/details.php?content_id=226 LINK

I have problems with the summaries at a few points but at least they give a rough idea of what transpired in the dialogue. I did not consider posting further comments on the dialogue, but now that these summaries are being circulated, I will just fine-tune them with a few caveats. I will post a full response only if it turns out that the book is widely received by the reading public and the academia. Continue reading “Dialogue on Islam and Christology: Reports and Comments”

Beer and Tyranny of Majority

The authorities from Shah Alam City Council declared that  “the sale of all alcoholic drinks including beer will not be allowed at Muslim-majority areas”. The logic underlying this declaration goes as follows: 1) The majority population has the right to decide whether a cultural practice is acceptable 2) Muslims are the majority in Shah Alam … Continue reading “Beer and Tyranny of Majority”

The authorities from Shah Alam City Council declared that  “the sale of all alcoholic drinks including beer will not be allowed at Muslim-majority areas”. The logic underlying this declaration goes as follows:

1) The majority population has the right to decide whether a cultural practice is acceptable
2) Muslims are the majority in Shah Alam
3) Muslims decide what is culturally acceptable and prohibited in Shah Alam
4) Muslims cannot accept sales and consumption of alcohol
5) Therefore the sales of alcohol is not allowed in Shah Alam

How to we challenge this logic? You may read my response at the following site: http://libertysentinel.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/to-beer-or-to-bear-with-the-tyranny-of-the-majority/ LINK

Sacrilegious Acts by Unbelieving Spies in Church

How should  Christians respond when unbelievers surreptitiously come to church to spy out their activities? What if they commit acts that are reasonably deemed to be offensive if not sacrilegious to Christian worship. Should Christian rely on the authorities to enforce punishment under the Penal Code? For a brief reflection read: LINK Sacrilegious Acts by … Continue reading “Sacrilegious Acts by Unbelieving Spies in Church”

How should  Christians respond when unbelievers surreptitiously come to church to spy out their activities? What if they commit acts that are reasonably deemed to be offensive if not sacrilegious to Christian worship. Should Christian rely on the authorities to enforce punishment under the Penal Code?

For a brief reflection read: LINK

Sacrilegious Acts by Unbelieving Spies in Church

Response to Prof. Dzulkufli Abdul Razak Misreading of the Malay Bible

Tan Sri Prof. Dzulkufli Abdul Razak, Vice Chancellor of University Science Malaysia wrote an article on the use of ‘Allah’ in the Malay Bible, Alkitab (Bahasa Indonesia version) in the SUN on 11 March 2009. LINK It would have been easy just to dismiss this article since its premise is flawed from the word go: … Continue reading “Response to Prof. Dzulkufli Abdul Razak Misreading of the Malay Bible”

Tan Sri Prof. Dzulkufli Abdul Razak, Vice Chancellor of University Science Malaysia wrote an article on the use of ‘Allah’ in the Malay Bible, Alkitab (Bahasa Indonesia version) in the SUN on 11 March 2009. LINK

It would have been easy just to dismiss this article since its premise is flawed from the word go: He compares the Malay translation with the New King James Version when the base text of the Bahasa Indonesia version has never been any English version. Indeed the Alkitab makes it clear that it is based on the Biblia Hebraica text for the Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament and the Nestle Aland text for the Greek New Testament. Continue reading “Response to Prof. Dzulkufli Abdul Razak Misreading of the Malay Bible”