A Missed Opportunity at "Allah"

In a world filled with atrocities committed by adherents in the name of Islam, Malay Muslims were largely looked upon to embody the spirit of peace and tolerance that Islam espouses. Sadly 5 church arsons by the Malaysians may have shattered that perception.

When Muhammad first started teaching the words of the Quran, he came under heavy persecution by the local population. Fearing for safety, a small group of Muslims, led by Muhammad's cousin Ja'afar ibn Abi Talib, made a secret getaway to the African city of Axum. There, they lived a quite life until the pagans of Mecca discovered their whereabouts and proceeded to make a formal complaint to the Emperor of Axum, requesting that the Muslims be detained and deported back to Mecca for spreading a false religion.

But instead of granting the pagans their request, the Emperor decided to first listen to what the Muslims had to say. Ja'afar and his companions were then summoned to face the Emperor. As part of his explanation, Ja'afar recited the Chapter of Mary (Surah Maryam) from the Quran, which narrates the story of Jesus and his mother Mary. It was a story that the Emperor was familiar with, being a Christian himself. It was reported that the verses moved the Emperor and his Bishops so much that they wept and released Ja'afar and his companions.

For centuries, Muslims have been trying to deliver the point across to Christians that the God they worship are one and the same. In Axum, Ja'afar moved the heart of an Emperor by showing how “Allah” is indeed the God that communicated with Jesus as much as the God that communicated with Muhammad.

In Malaysia, that opportunity came in the form of a linguistic semblance when Catholics in the country wanted to use the word “Allah” to refer to God in their newspapers. But instead of using the the issue as a linguistic opportunity to engage the Catholics in a healthy discourse, Malaysians have chosen to react in anger and violence. 5 churches across the country were attacked with fire when the courts approved the Catholic usage of the word “Allah”.

“Allah” is the standard Arabic term for “God” and has been used by Arabic speakers of the faiths that descend from Abraham, including Christians. The word is still being used today in Arabic translations of the bible and Torah in many Muslim-majority nations. There is no instruction in the Quran or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that an exclusive term for “God” be reserved for use by the Muslims.

Sure, the motive for the Christian's option to use the word “Allah” instead of an alternative Malay word “Tuhan” may be highly questionable. Some say that perhaps this was a deliberate attempt at provoking the dimmer Muslims into revealing their violent tendencies in order to win converts. But in any case, this fiasco Allah represents several missed opportunities.

It is a missed opportunity to capitalize on a linguistic semblance and provoke a channel for discourse whereby the concepts of Islam can be introduced amicably amidst a Christian context. In a multi-racial country like Malaysia where Islamic religious texts often found exclusively in Malay, such an opportunity is sorely missed.

It is a missed opportunity to show restrain. In a world littered with acts of violence committed in the name of Islam, Malay Muslims have long been looked upon as a bastion that truly upholds the message espoused by the religion of peace. The act of burning Churches have quite simply affirmed the perception that many have towards Islam as an intolerant and violent religion.

It is a missed opportunity to teach the younger Muslims in Malaysia that the faith of their parents is not as insecure as many thought it to be. By getting nervous with trivialities such as the usage of a generic Arab word, Malaysian Muslims have inadvertently revealed to the world how brittle their faith of Muslims in the country are and how frightened they have become towards attempts at invalidation.

The real threat facing Muslims in Malaysia does not come from instances such as Catholics using the word “Allah” or Christians trying to convert them over. The real threat to Islam in Malaysia comes from Malay Muslims themselves who have allowed Islam to deteriorate into a monolithic entity that is now largely appreciated only via superficial rituals instead of observing its core fundamentals.

The real threat facing Muslims in Malaysia comes from Muslims who have held their silence when fellow adherents torched others' places of worship, going against what Muhammad has forbidden explicitly. It is time we wake up to these realities, for it is unclear if we will have that many opportunities still in the future.

The writer is a student enrolled in the Bachelor of Islamic Revealed Knowledge at the International Islamic University & doing the Master of Science (Strategic Studies) at the Nanyang Technological University