Tuhan Or Not Tuhan? That Is The Question.
A recent row in Malaysia has caught the attention of Christians and Muslims around the world. A Malaysian court ruled that it is ok for a non-Muslim to use the word Allah for God. This is causing a panic in the majority Muslim nation, as it is feared that Christians might use the word Allah as a tool to convert Muslims to Christianity. In Malaysia it is illegal for a non-Muslim to proselytize a Muslim, even though freedom of religion is guaranteed in the country.
The federal government of Malaysia filed an appeal to the controversial ruling of Madam Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan. It has been noted that the judge in this case is a Baptist and a member of the secular court system. There have been demands that this case be handed over to the Syariah Court system, a separate judicial entity created to enforce sharia law.
In a corner of the world all too familiar with the dark specter of suicide bombings and honor killings, this new linguistic problem might seem a trite bit of news. However, this spectacle may cause serious problems for the coalition government currently in power. Support of the non-Malay community brought the current government into existence. If these same voters perceive that the government will betray them on something as simple as using the term Allah instead of Tuhan, that same government might find itself out the door come the next election cycle.
The best part of this whole fiasco is that it is literally impossible to correctly refer to God in the Christian sense in Malaysian without using the term Allah.
The tradition of using the word Allah to reference the Christian God predates Islam itself. It is an Arabic word, and is still used by Arabic Christians when referring to their God. The Muslim protesters in Malaysia want Christians to use the term Tuhan instead. This creates a whole array of difficulties in translation though, because the terms Tuhan (Lord) and Allah (God) are not strictly interchangeable. Indeed, there are many times in the Bible where the term “Lord God” is used, clearly delineating two distinct words. (to learn more about this, please read this excellent article by Dr Ng Kam Weng)
Why is this causing such a panic, and why should we be concerned? Over 60% of the Muslims in the world come from the Asian-Pacific corner of the world. It also contains the most rapidly growing sector of Islam, and some of the most brutally-repressive theocratic regimes in the world, several of whom are now flush with western money after drastic economic expansions.
Does this mean the UN should add Malaysia to some terrorist list? No. But it should give us pause that such a trivial matter as the proper word for God from one religion to the next is causing an uproar of these proportions. What dire message does this send to adherents of freedom or religion and speech in Malaysia? What message does it send the world?
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