"look back & learn"

Title: The term 'Allah'

Thursday, October 17, 2013 || 10:35 PM

Hi you, I'm a Malaysian. I love the food here, I love the people here, I love how Malaysia is a multi-racial country and every race including Malays, Indians, Chinese, etc live as ONE. We are all in fact supposed to be one, we were taught to respect each race, religion, belief, culture or just what belongs to a particular group. I was once proud of Malaysia, note that I'm not saying this because I want to leave this country, no matter how unreasonable some people may be, Malaysia is still a country that I love. The cool thing is, when I searched "multiracial country" on Google, Malaysia appeared at the top, most top top. Multi-racial, it makes Malaysia seems super cool. Needless to say, the food here are just so very awesome that Malaysians around the world would come back to Malaysia just to eat all the famous food here like Nasi Lemak, Roti Canai, or Asam Laksa, because feedback from them are that, no matter how hard people strive to learn our secret recipes for these famous dishes, the local ones are still the best, like if you ever want to make it big in other countries it just never attracts people. So, local food must be eaten here in Malaysia itself. NUFF SAID.

However, all these which are happening (things I never understood), seem to be revealing bit by bit as I grew older, just imagine you're peeling off onion skin for example, it just makes you cry. I don't know how I got that scenario in my head but it's what I'm feeling right now, which has led me to imagining and thinking more nonsense.

Just a few months back, we had our quadri-election OR pentelection HAHA! (I guess it's how you call it, sorry for my poor English - since it's not held annually and I don't know how you should describe it & since I haven't been blogging for a few months, forgive me.) Youths at my age who had never talked about politics (most of them) had their souls on fire about it because of their hatred towards corruption, the diamond ring *coughs* -maybe she did save up, if you are on her side - the other negative deeds the government did for the past years.

That, we were all really disappointed with the result, honestly, but we're all never gonna give up until Malaysia becomes clean again one day. Sadly, it's impossible to be 100% clean no matter which party takes over, but of course we believe that the other would do a better job, but it's still human nature they're dealing with. Temptations come, hearts which aren't guarded will be tempted by the God of this world, you-know-who.

Since 2009, (if I'm not mistaken, I'm never a news person so I don't know anything that is happening except when huge unreasonable ridiculous issues like.. which makes me just wanna laugh at this country so badly) the term "Allah" had been brought up to court. The usage of the word "Allah" is now banned for the Bahasa Malaysia speaking Christians especially in Sabah and Sarawak. For more information, click here (how Muslims think about the term 'Allah'. I feel really sad because as a Malaysian, I wouldn't feel happy if there are arguments among races or even riots which ruin what supposed to be known as a peaceful country. If Islam means "peace", why do they have to make things so ugly now? By assuming that Christians have the intention to convert or create confusion among the Muslims, this issue is brought to the court? When in reality, "Allah" had been used before Malaysia was formed, even before Islam was introduced. I really really don't understand what the world is thinking but I guess only God knows. Leaders accepting trends just to win votes, gain fame, to be liked by the crowd.. Are these what you do to go live eternally with God after this temporary life on earth? If you're an Atheist then I'm sorry, maybe I don't know why you believe that this universe are made up of atoms, but continue believing in that and I hope someone is praying for you, no matter how strong your beliefs are, prayers are still powerful in my opinion.

If you're wondering why can't Bahasa Malaysia speaking Christians use the word 'Tuhan' instead, Tuhan means Lord, if you strictly translate it. So for verses from the Bible like "The Lord your God.." will mean Tuhan Tuhan kamu, which will be confusing for them. For better understanding I will be pasting something else here down below, and if you're curious about what's happening and why Christians are so eager to protect the usage of this word for Malay speaking Christians in Malaysia. (:

- This is obvious in just one example. In Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 13; also 43 : 3 and 51 : 15. "For I am the LORD, your GOD..." is translated as "Akulah TUHAN, ALLAH kamu...". (ALKITAB : Berita Baik. 2001.2nd edition. Published by the Bible Society of Malaysia).

- It creates an absurd situation if Christians have to translate the biblical phrase ‘Lord God’ as Tuhan Tuhan. The repeated words Tuhan Tuhan indicates plural in Bahasa Malaysia, and creates the impression that Christians believe in many Gods, which is unacceptable.

Part of the article by Christian Federation of Malaysia:- (I'm not sure if I'm legally allowed to paste the long passage here but since it's states that it's for distribution to churches in Malaysia so I guess I will only show you guys parts of it, and if you would want to read the whole article, which includes the origin, and when, why, how Christians use the word 'Allah', please DO tell me and ask me for it!

Language

Objections to the use of the word ‘Allah’ comes mostly from political discourse, or
those who argue that the translation and usage of the word is a recent decision. This is not true for the following reasons:
1. In Semitic languages, the word ‘Allah’ has been widely used in the Middle East dating back to the 5th century BC and up to the time of the expansion of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language in the 7th century AD.
2. The translation of the Al-Kitab is not from the English translation but based on the Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible. In the Hebrew language, the word ‘God’ has the same root form as the Arabic language. So, when the word ‘God’ was first translated into Bahasa Malaysia, the translators merely followed the Arabic Christian usage and retained the word ‘Allah’.
3. As stated earlier, the word ‘Allah’ pre-dates Islam. It is not a creation of the Muslims and its existence does not begin in the Al-Quran.

These quoted, boxed informations are NOT from me, but if you would want to know more or read more about it, please tell me about it so I can send you the email of it to you. (: SEE YOU because I spent a lot of time blogging, I didn't study! D: Goodnight and don't be stressed out and just leave everything to God! :D

Posted by Bernice with love.♥
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