SUNGGUH BESAR ALLAHKU

An attendance at an Indonesian language Christian Easter service today has provided the substance for this post; it throws some reflection for me a Malaysian, in the face of the gazetted ban in Malaysia for Christians to use the word Allah.

The main explicit reason for the ban was that shared usage of the word ALLAH would cause confusion to the majority Muslim population of Malaysia, but this has been firmly refuted by a most respected Malaysian Muslim cleric, Tok Guru Nik Aziz.

During a recent short husting during the Batang Ai by-election campaign in
Sarawak, an Iban (Dayak) showed me the the first lines of the Genesis in the Iban bible where clearly the word Allah was used from the very beginning that the Iban Bible was published. Anyone can figure out the implications of such a legal ban on the word Allah, for Christians in Malaysia using the local language Bible. Enormous distress, to say the least.

Since then I have come down to Melbourne meet my children here.

There is this suburban Uniting Church of Australia (amalgamation of Methodist and Presbyterian churches), which hosts an Indonesian language service for Indonesian Methodists resident in Melbourne. Many of those at the service are of ethnic Chinese origin, but there is also a sprinkling of the Indonesian ethnic diaspora and just a couple of fairer skin Australians among the small congregation. Thus I was able to speak with a Sumatran Batak, who number only 2 million back in Indonesia and of whom 5% are Christians.

Although not a Methodist myself, I nevertheless feel brotherliness with a congregation celebrating in Bahasa Indonesia of which my national language in Malaysia is so similar. There was for me a certain "at home in Malaysia" feeling.

Throughout the service, the mainly ethnic Chinese congregation used the words "Tuhan" and "Allah" in reference to GOD repeatedly. The above caption " Great is the Lord God" was flashed on the projection screen as the hymn to the same title was solemnly sung. Thus in Indonesia, with the largest Muslim population among nations in the world, there is acceptance for Christians to refer to God as Allah.

With the gazetted ban on Christians in Malaysia using the the word Allah, would it follow that an Indonesian Christian would be banned from bringing the Indonesian
language Bible into Malaysia?

Had Malaysian authorities foreseen that the gazetted ban may have extended repercussions beyond its own Christian citizenry ?

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