Posted on 06/24/2014 9:00:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Malaysia's highest court on Monday rejected a challenge to a ban that in effect prohibits non-Muslims from referring to God as Allah. That ban has been in place since 2007 and, despite a series of appeals by the Catholic Church, will now remain.
Malay-speaking Chrisians have long used the word "Allah" to signify God; the word entered the Malay language in the medieval era with the arrival of Arabic-speaking merchants. But in Malaysia's complex, fragmented social landscape, historic realities often rub up against modern politics. Malaysian authorities pursuing the case say that Christian usage of the term presents a dangerous blurring of lines.
An umbrella group of Christian denominations in the country claims that the ruling only applies to the Herald, a Catholic weekly newspaper originally involved in the legal proceedings, and that they will continue invoking Allah in their religious activities. But that is little comfort to some. "[The ruling] will confine the freedom of worship," said the Rev. Lawrence Andrew, the editor of the Herald. "We are a minority in this country, and when our rights are curtailed, people feel it."
Malaysia styles itself as a kind of Asian crossroads, its multi-ethnic, multi-faith population of Malays, Chinese and Indians an embodiment of the wider continent. But the controversy over the case reflects the longstanding tensions between the country's majority Muslim population and its religious minorities.
In 2009, after Christians briefly won an appeal challenging the ban (that was later overturned), a number of churches in various parts of the country were firebombed and vandalized.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You really can’t use Obama/the Presidency as an appropriate analogy.
As long as the Muslim religion is false then the God they worship can not be the true God. Supposedly this false religion came from the same God.
Um, no.
And the Catholic Church NEVER taught this about the diabolical sect of Mohammed....until Vatican II.
RE: As long as the Muslim religion is false then the God they worship can not be the true God. Supposedly this false religion came from the same God.
OK, let’s use another analogy... this time from the Bible - Cain and Abel.
Both worship the same God. Both CORRECTLY identify Him.
Problem is, one worshiped God the right way, the other did not.
Result: God accepted Abel’s worship but not Cain’s.
Did Cain worship the true God? Of course. But his attitude and approach was WRONG.
In this analogy, Cain is Islam and Abel is Christianity.
RE: Supposedly this false religion came from the same God.
Let’s modify that — WRONG Concept of the one God.
The next interesting question is this — is it possible to identify God correctly — He is ONE God, HE IS the Creator of everything, He is the God who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac/Ishmael and Jacob, etc.
Yet, wrongly understand His character?
And is wrongly identifying His character IDOLATRY?
Nope, analogy still doesn’t work because we know from the Bible that they both knew the one, true God.
Islam came after all final public revelation was complete (according to Christianity). Therefore the revelation from “God” could not be from the true God. Especially so-called revelation that contradicted the true revelation from God in the New Testament.
Honestly, there is no discussion to be had here...and I’m not quite sure why we’re having it. The god of Islam is NOT the same god as the God of Christianity.
RE: Honestly, there is no discussion to be had here...and I’m not quite sure why we’re having it. The god of Islam is NOT the same god as the God of Christianity.
So, What word did the people of Mecca and Medina use to refer to God BEFORE Mohammad introduced Islam?
Christianity and Judaism EXISTED in these places before Mohammad was born. So, how did the people refer to the one true God prior to Mohammad?
The proper name for God is Yaweh.
“The proper name for God is Yaweh.”
That’s Mister Yaweh to you!
So, is it your opinion that changing the word ‘Allah’ to ‘Illah’ would be better for Christians when they refer to God?
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I was just trying to use an example from the quran how the arabic word for “god/God” is “ilah/Illah” and not “allah/Allah”.
The only opinion I have at this point is that it saddens me to ever know that any Christian, whether they are arab or not, use that word “allah” at all. Even if it has been used centuries before islam ever came along.
To me it will always be the name of a pagan deity, and I don’t even utter it when I speak out loud.
When I first started studying islam I knew there were people already named by that pagan deity.
Like the name abdullah mean’t slave to allah long before islam even appeared.
Just like al’lat, al’uzza, and manat who are supposedly the 3 daughters of allah. They are all names of pagan deities.
The kaaba housed a pantheon of pagan deities.
From what I gathered there were 365 pagan deities up in that black cubicle and at one time I had found out there were even a set of horns on the inside that were left in place when islam was first making its mark on the world.
For us to continue to believe that “allah” is just a arabic word for “god/God” when I can see from their own book in arabic that it is not and then it makes me wonder how did it all get corrupted in such a way that we have so much confusion over it all ... and then I think satan ... you sly, slippery creature always hijacking stuff and causing chaos.
That is why the proper reference to God should be “ Yaweh “.
You’re really hung up on this “word” bit. And, in the process, missing the forest for the trees.
Bravo!
RE: You’re really hung up on this “word” bit. And, in the process, missing the forest for the trees.
I am hang up on the WORD bit because it is IMPORTANT.
I can speak several languages.
In Chinese, God is called SHANG TI from time immemorial up to today. There is NO CONTROVERSY regarding their calling the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Christianity by that name.
In Filipino, they call God, Panginoon. Again There is NO CONTROVERSY regarding their calling the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Christianity by that name.
In Japanese, they call Him KAMI-SAMA from the very beginning. Again There is NO CONTROVERSY regarding their calling the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Christianity by that name.
Spanish speaking people call God — DIOS (a derivation I think of the Greek word Theos ). Again There is NO CONTROVERSY regarding their calling the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Christianity by that name.
So, why the controversy of the use of Allah?
So, back to Allah. If it is your contention that this Allah is a satanic god and is not the one God that Christians and Jews ( and Chinese, Filipinos, Spanish, Greek and Japanese) worship, then we’ll have to REPLACE the name when we evangelize people in Arab countries.
What should we call Him in Arabic then?
Obviously it has to be the same name used by Arabic Christians ( and Jews living in the Arab world) BEFORE Islam was introduced.
So what is/was it?
RE: For us to continue to believe that “allah” is just a arabic word for “god/God” when I can see from their own book in arabic that it is not and then it makes me wonder how did it all get corrupted in such a way that we have so much confusion over it all ... and then I think satan ... you sly, slippery creature always hijacking stuff and causing chaos.
_________________________
OK, let’s accept your argument that using “allah” to refer to the God Christians and Jews worship is not only confusing but a bad idea...
This of course begs the question — WHAT NAME SHOULD CHRISTIANS USE WHEN THEY EVANGELIZE?
It sounds to me like you already know the answer to your own question. As such, I’m not playing this game any longer.
RE: It sounds to me like you already know the answer to your own question
No I don’t.
What is your suggested name? Tell me...
Use “ Yaweh” .
There are several if many religions that use the name God as if they are speaking of the Christian God...but are not..... I’m just making the point it’s significant when speaking to those who are involved in those that one distinguish who the God is they are speaking about......Our God, the God of the Bible, is a God of distinctions. The enemy of God is one who counterfeits and masquerades as the God of all faiths.
....”What name should Christians use when they Evangelize?”...
The name above all names...”JESUS”. As there is no other name whereby man can be saved....which is the heart of the Gospel Message.
hey there “Biggirl”
what happened to the “H” in what you spelled: Yaweh?
Like when you sing, “HalleluYaH”
The “tetragrammaton” of our Fathers name in the Hebrew language is: YHWH or YHVH - (that W/V choice is questionable and I’m still trying to understand the Hebrew alphabet so I put both the “W” and the “V” for an example.
I’m not sure if you have a Strongs Exhaustive Concordance but in the following scripture it gives an example:
Strongs Concordance numbering in parenthesis following key words for the Hebrew language:
Exodus 3:14 - And God (H430) said (H559) unto Moses, (H4872) I AM (H1961) THAT I AM (H1961): and he said, (H559) Thus shalt thou say (H559) unto the children (H1121) of Israel, (H3478) I AM hath sent (H7971) me unto you.
H#1961= HaYaH - (I capitalized the consonants)
H#430 = Elohiym
Here’s a online link that can bring up the Concordance easier for you in case you don’t have one:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Exo&c=3&t=KJV&ss=1
You can change which Bible version you like to use near the top of the page, and you can also check or un-check the “strongs” option for the concordance.
I hope this helps you some.
I’m still studying and learning as I go along and I’m always questioning, why this, and why that ... smiles
“Allah”is not one of the Names of God. There is no god named Allah.
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