Faith Seeking Understanding, Intellectual Witness and Spiritual Renewal
Christian-Muslim Dialogue: Building a Common Society Published in Christianity Today LINK I wrote this article as a response to Chawkat Moucarry, “A Lifelong Journey with Islam.” LINK You may note the other responses by David W. Shenk, Evelyne A. Reisacher and Sunday Agang. These articles are part of the collaborative project between Christianity Today and … Continue reading “Christian-Muslim Dialogue: Building a Common Society”
Christian-Muslim Dialogue: Building a Common Society
Published in Christianity Today LINK
I wrote this article as a response to Chawkat Moucarry, “A Lifelong Journey with Islam.” LINK You may note the other responses by David W. Shenk, Evelyne A. Reisacher and Sunday Agang. These articles are part of the collaborative project between Christianity Today and The Lausanne Movement, The Global Conversation. Continue reading “Christian-Muslim Dialogue: Building a Common Society”
Sacred Language and Vernacular Translation of Scriptures: Why Some Muslims Just Cannot Understand/Accept the Use of “Allah” in the Alkitab (Bahasa Bible) I. Sacred Language and Religion of Diffusion Some Muslim activists have repeatedly charged Christians for having ulterior motives when they use the word “Allah” which include attempting to “deislamize Malay language” and to … Continue reading “Sacred Language and Vernacular Translation of Scriptures”
Sacred Language and Vernacular Translation of Scriptures:
Why Some Muslims Just Cannot Understand/Accept the Use of “Allah” in the Alkitab (Bahasa Bible)
I. Sacred Language and Religion of Diffusion
Some Muslim activists have repeatedly charged Christians for having ulterior motives when they use the word “Allah” which include attempting to “deislamize Malay language” and to proselytize confused Muslims. It is significant that these activists have not denied the fact that the Malay speaking churches have been using the word “Allah” in their liturgy and instructional materials for centuries. Still, these Muslim activists simply brushed aside the historical fact and the charge of ulterior motives is repeated ad nauseum. Wherein lies this visceral reaction that overwhelms, if not precludes rational discussion in the dispute over the use of “Allah”? Continue reading “Sacred Language and Vernacular Translation of Scriptures”
Foreign Vocabulary and Loan Words in the Quran: Historical Facts One repeated assertion by Muslim scholars defending the government’s ban on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians is that Quranic Arabic is the ‘purest’ and most appropriate language of divine revelation. As such, Christians are not allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ on … Continue reading “Foreign Vocabulary and Loan Words in the Quran: Historical Facts”
Foreign Vocabulary and Loan Words in the Quran: Historical Facts
One repeated assertion by Muslim scholars defending the government’s ban on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians is that Quranic Arabic is the ‘purest’ and most appropriate language of divine revelation. As such, Christians are not allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ on the assumption that improper usage of the word by Christians will lead to corruption of language – to use the emotive words of a Muslim scholar – it amounts to raping the soul of their race (“Pemerkosaan Jiwa Bangsa”).
Such an assertion is intellectually questionable. It is evident that there is no such thing as a pure language which would presuppose a self-contained and self-sufficient linguistic community, hermetically sealed from interactions with neighboring linguistic communities – a historical impossibility by any account. Indeed, the Arabic language coexisted and dynamically interacted with other cognate Semitic languages like Nabatean, Hebrew and Aramaic (Syraic) in its early history. We only need to point out the phenomenon of loan words in (Quranic) Arabic to prove the point. Continue reading “Foreign Vocabulary and Loan Words in the Quran: Historical Facts”
High Court Judgment: Home Minister Wrong in Four Crucial Areas The High Court ruling on the Allah controversy on 31 Dec 2009 by the learned judge Lau Bee Lan is a model of acute and coherent reasoning. The learned judge 57-page judgment found the government wrong in four crucial areas : 1) The Home Minister’s … Continue reading “High Court Judgment on Allah controversy: Home Minister Wrong in Four Crucial Areas”
High Court Judgment: Home Minister Wrong in Four Crucial Areas
The High Court ruling on the Allah controversy on 31 Dec 2009 by the learned judge Lau Bee Lan is a model of acute and coherent reasoning. The learned judge 57-page judgment found the government wrong in four crucial areas :
1) The Home Minister’s ban is illegal
2) The Home Minister’s ban is unconstitutional
3) The Home Minister’s ban is irrational
4) The Home Minister’s claim that the ban was to safeguard public security and order is without merit
Read full report at Religious Liberty Watch LINK
Allah and Conversions in Malaysia: The Facts! Muslim activists have claimed repeatedly that Christians in Malaysia refuse to drop using the word Allah because they want to confuse and convert Muslims, thereby posing a threat to national security. The claim is both groundless and insincere.
Allah and Conversions in Malaysia: The Facts!
Muslim activists have claimed repeatedly that Christians in Malaysia refuse to drop using the word Allah because they want to confuse and convert Muslims, thereby posing a threat to national security. The claim is both groundless and insincere. Continue reading “Allah and Conversions in Malaysia: The Facts!”
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 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.
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”
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
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”