Faith Seeking Understanding, Intellectual Witness and Spiritual Renewal
Speech Act Revelation: Bible and Quran Thesis – By definition, an agreement involves at least two parties. It would be a very odd covenant in which one party knows what the other party desires, but does not know who the other party really is. Just imagine entering a covenant with someone via faxed messages or … Continue reading “Speech Act Revelation: Bible and Quran”
Speech Act Revelation: Bible and Quran
Thesis – By definition, an agreement involves at least two parties. It would be a very odd covenant in which one party knows what the other party desires, but does not know who the other party really is. Just imagine entering a covenant with someone via faxed messages or the Internet…Put in religious language, divine revelation is deficient if it is only given as a textual message. Continue reading “Speech Act Revelation: Bible and Quran”
The Glory of Eastern Christianity The story of the triumph of the early church over the Roman Empire continues to inspire Christians today. How can we not marvel at the courage of the martyrs who calmly faced the lions? The religion of the weak and poor literally conquered the empire – symbolized by the … Continue reading “Persecution and Destruction of Eastern Christianity Under Islam”
The Glory of Eastern Christianity
The story of the triumph of the early church over the Roman Empire continues to inspire Christians today. How can we not marvel at the courage of the martyrs who calmly faced the lions? The religion of the weak and poor literally conquered the empire – symbolized by the conversion of none other than Emperor Constantine himself. Surely Tertullian was right when he declared that the martyrs’ blood is the seed of the church. Continue reading “Persecution and Destruction of Eastern Christianity Under Islam”
Top Court Throws Out Hindu Mother’s Conversion Challenge Malaysia’s highest court (the Federal Court) abdicated its duty to exercise sound and courageous moral judgment when it relied on technicality and rejected an application by a Hindu mother (Shamala) to the Court to rule against her husband’s unilateral conversion of her children to Islam. LINK
Top Court Throws Out Hindu Mother’s Conversion Challenge
Malaysia’s highest court (the Federal Court) abdicated its duty to exercise sound and courageous moral judgment when it relied on technicality and rejected an application by a Hindu mother (Shamala) to the Court to rule against her husband’s unilateral conversion of her children to Islam. LINK
Refutation of Muslim Scholars’Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 3/3 Translation Issues To buttress their case, Mohd Sani and Mohd Aizam provide several examples which allege that Christians are inconsistent in their usage of the word Allâh and this results in confusion for both Christians and Muslims. However, their claim of inconsistency shows little understanding … Continue reading “Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 3/3”
Refutation of Muslim Scholars’Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 3/3
Translation Issues
To buttress their case, Mohd Sani and Mohd Aizam provide several examples which allege that Christians are inconsistent in their usage of the word Allâh and this results in confusion for both Christians and Muslims. However, their claim of inconsistency shows little understanding of the translation skills required in the translation enterprise that demands the ability to make distinctions when a particular word assumes different shades of meanings (semantic range) in different contexs. This is especially true of Semitic words. For example, the Hebrew word, ruach, can take the following meanings, depending on the context: wind, breath, vital powers, feelings or will. That Mohd Sani seems unaware of these dynamics of translation will be evident when we discuss the translation of élöhîm in Old Testament. Continue reading “Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 3/3”
Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 2/3 Allâh is Certainly Not a Proper Noun/Personal Name Introduction: Allâh and Other Loan Words in the Quran for God The fundamental and contested presupposition in the present dispute on the use of Allâh is whether there are words so exclusively defined by a single … Continue reading “Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Argument in the Allâh Controversy. Part 2/3”
Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 2/3
Allâh is Certainly Not a Proper Noun/Personal Name
Introduction: Allâh and Other Loan Words in the Quran for God
The fundamental and contested presupposition in the present dispute on the use of Allâh is whether there are words so exclusively defined by a single linguistic system that their usage is reserved for that linguistic system alone. In this regard, scholars like Dr. Mohd Sani Badron, Prof Khadijah Mohd Hambali and Mohd Aizam operate on the assumption that Quranic Arabic and subsequently, Bahasa Malaysia have sole proprietorship over certain words (especially the word Allâh) since these words been ‘purified’ (Islamicised) for the purpose conveying Islamic truths. As such, they call for Christians to be banned from using the word Allâh as improper usage of the word by Christians will lead to corruption of revealed truth. Continue reading “Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Argument in the Allâh Controversy. Part 2/3”
Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 1/3 (Part One of Three Parts) The Court of Appeal may appear tardy in taking up its review of the High Court decision that ruled in favour of the Catholic Herald (and Christians) concerning the right to use the word Allah. However, the government has … Continue reading “Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 1/3”
Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy.
Part 1/3 (Part One of Three Parts)
The Court of Appeal may appear tardy in taking up its review of the High Court decision that ruled in favour of the Catholic Herald (and Christians) concerning the right to use the word Allah. However, the government has been actively mobilizing its scholars to disseminate arguments to buttress its position of banning Christians from using the word Allah. Presumably, their arguments will influence judges to favor the government in future hearings in the Courts . Continue reading “Refutation of Muslim Scholars’ Arguments in the Allah Controversy. Part 1/3”
Allah or Tuhan in the Rukun Negara? – A Separate Issue from Allah in the Alkitab Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang was reported by Bernama (22 March, 2010) to have called on the government during a debate in the Dewan Rakyat, to amend the first Rukun Negara from belief in God to belief … Continue reading “Allah or Tuhan in the Rukun Negara?”
Allah or Tuhan in the Rukun Negara? – A Separate Issue from Allah in the Alkitab
Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang was reported by Bernama (22 March, 2010) to have called on the government during a debate in the Dewan Rakyat, to amend the first Rukun Negara from belief in God to belief in Allah since the Quran did not bar followers of other religions from using the word Allah. LINK Continue reading “Allah or Tuhan in the Rukun Negara?”
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”