More Islamic scholars have criticised Putrajaya over the legal restriction on the use of the word Allah, after the recent stinging criticism of the Court of Appeal's decision by renowned Muslim scholar Reza Aslan which he said made Malaysia a laughing stock.
They warned that the October 14 ruling prohibiting Catholic weekly Herald from using the word Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia edition could push a progressive country like Malaysia backward, adding that the public are educated and can think for themselves.
An Islamic scholar from London's prestigious King's College said the ruling was not good for national solidarity.
"Instead, it is a move backward in a polarised country such as Malaysia,” said Dr Carool Kersten, speaking to The Malaysian Insider by phone.
“It is increasingly difficult to dictate educated people how to interpret religion. To exert such a ruling on the people is just counter-productive."
In an interview with business station BFM recently, bestselling author Reza Aslan slammed the ruling as “absurd”, saying the international community was “laughing” at Malaysia.
"This notion that Malaysian Muslims need to be protected by the court because you can't think for yourself, you can't make decisions on your own. We are laughing at you," he told the station's Evening Edition programme.
Muslim activist Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa echoed Aslan.
“I concur 100% with Reza. Politicians should ponder over what he said since we are in the limelight now,” said Dr Farouk, who heads vocal Islamic non-governmental organisation Islamic Renaissance Front.
“What Reza said was the best analysis of what’s going on in our country right now,” he added.
The ruling generated a string of bad press for Malaysia, with several prominent dailies in Muslim countries critical of the court ruling, including Pakistan’s Daily Times which questioned why non-Muslims could not "own God in all His attributes".
“Even Pakistan, a deeply religious and conservative country, had spoken up about it. It’s a shame on us,” noted Dr Farouk.
Kersten agreed that the ruling does “make Malaysia look bad in the international community” and asked if the court’s motive was to satisfy certain Islamic blocs.
"Usually matters related to the Islamic world would be left to scholars to clarify,” said Kersten.
“There has not been a place where you have a legal institution that dictates who uses what term in a religious context,” he added.
In its summary judgement, the three-man panel in the Court of Appeal argued that the name Allah was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice.
They said there was no reason for the church to remain so adamant in wanting to use the name Allah.
They also claimed that allowing Christians to use Allah would lead to confusion within the community.
But scholars have argued that believers of different faiths have used the word Allah for over a millennia.
Aslan, for example, explained that the Arabic word Allah is derived from "al-Ilah", which means "The God".
"Allah is not the name of God. Frankly, anyone who thinks that Allah is the name of God, is not just incorrect, but is going against the Quran itself. It is almost a blasphemous thought to think that Allah has a name," said the 41-year old Iranian-born scholar.
Jasser Auda of the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars, agreed with Aslan.
“Muslims have no copyright over the word Allah. In fact, there’s nothing in the Quran that says Allah can only be used by Muslims,” he told The Malaysian Insider in a telephone interview from Doha.
“The Quran even has a phrase that mentioned the name Allah was present in monasteries, churches and synagogues as well.”
He was referring to a verse in the Quran, which reads, “if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another, monasteries and churches and synagogues and mosques - in all of which Allah's name is abundantly extolled - would surely have been destroyed” (22:40).
“It isn’t right to define the word Allah in the law and use it to persecute others,” said Jasser, who is also the advisor to the imam at the Islamic Center in New York, located near the site of the former World Trade Center.
With all the bad reputation the country is getting from both the Christian and Muslim world, Dr Farouk (pic, right) hoped that global attention to the issue could bring a positive change.
"Many Malaysian Muslim scholars had also spoken out but no one paid any attention to them. Hopefully having international scholars speaking up would push the government to pay attention,” said Dr Farouk.
“The way Muslims are treated here is just condescending. It’s ridiculous to think that if other religions use the word Allah, us Muslims would start converting to other religions,” he added. - October 23, 2013.
