Scholar Says Christianity is "Wrong"and Christians "Want to Provoke Muslims"

According to the Malaysian Insider (July 20) a Muslim scholar speaking at a seminar at the Malaysian Institute of Muslim Understanding (IKIM) had commented on the use of the term "Allah" in the Malay-language Christian Bible. However his comments seem to charge that Christianity is wrong and that Christians wanted to provoke Muslims

The scholar, Dr.Mohd Sani Badron said "the translation of God as Allah is very wrong. It should be properly translated. We interpret not just the word, but the meaning and if the meaning is inaccurate, it is wrong. The interpretation of Allah in the Malay-language Bible carried a plural form. The term Allah was used in a godly and non-godly sense. It's use was twisted into conflicting meanings*.

On the court decision which permitted the Catholic newspaper, The Herald to continue using Allah in its Malay-language section he said "It was a provocative issue planned to stir the anger of Muslims. The court action has spread the perception that Muslims are oppressive, certainly it will raise the anger of the Muslim community"*.

First of all Mohd Sani has no right to claim another religion as being wrong. All religions worship unseen deities, so it is a matter of faith and faith should not be questioned.

Secondly, the Christian Bible clearly tells its readers that God is not plural but one. This is demonstrated in Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me" among others.

Thirdly, Christians have used the word Allah long before Malaysia was formed and Muslims in Borneo have no qualms about it. So the issue of the court case involving the use of Allah is not planned. If anyone planned it then it must be those who chose to restrict the freedom of Christians in the first place.

Fourthly, to say that the court action made Muslims look oppressive is Dr.Mohd Sani's own opinion. In fact it was Muslim judges who made Muslims look oppressive when they denied Lina Joy her constitutional right to officially leave Islam.

* reported by the Malaysian Insider

Demonstration for Fair Elections Draw 50,000 People

The planned demonstration by a non-governmental organization called Bersih was a success yesterday when it drew about 50,000 demonstrators. This was despite threats by the government to arrest demonstrators. Even locking up Kuala Lumpur did not prevent protestors to show up.

Bersih had initially wanted to hold a peace rally to call for clean and fair elections in Malaysia. However the federal government had been attempting to prevent the rally from day one. After much deliberation, it was agreed that Bersih could have their demonstration at Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur. However in the end even this was not allowed.

By Friday midnight, the whole city of Kuala Lumpur was locked down. Chartered buses were not allowed into the city, a list of 91 individuals were barred from entering the city, many roads were closed, hotels were combed for potential demonstrators and those wearing Bersih t-shirts were apprehended.

Surprisingly, by Saturday morning the planned rally did take place. Government figures put the number of demonstrators at 6,000, clearly as an attempt to downplay the success of Bersih. However figures from Bersih, foreign correspondence and eyewitness accounts say the number of demonstrators was anywhere around 50,000. If Kuala Lumpur had not been locked down, the number would probably be around 500,000. Also not to mention the repeated threats against the public not to attend the demonstration by the government officials.

By the end of the day, Bersih proves that many Malaysian indeed want a clean and fair elections. As has been proven from the scenarion in Sabah over the years, it is obvious that there is a lot of hanky panky, especially when illegal immigrants with genuine but fraudulently issued identity cards could vote.

Cheers for BERSIH!