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- Sabahan couple Waller Rupin (right) and Jenny Sabin (left) at the Church of Our Lady …
KLANG, Jan 16 — Songs and prayers to “Allah” rang out loud at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes last Sunday, but the weekly celebration had changed somewhat for Jenny Dehe who could only think of one thing during mass - will my sons be arrested for bringing the Al-Kitab to school?
Like many other Bumiputera Christians in the congregation, this new fear has settled in the 34-year-old housewife while uncertainty continues to weigh over their right to utter “Allah”, the Arabic word in the centre of a major religious controversy between Christians and Muslims here.
Dehe, a Sarawakian Christian who has been living in Selangor for about 13 years, expressed concern about the future of East Malaysian Christians living in the peninsula, after the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) seized more than 300 copies of the Al-Kitab and Bup Kudus - which are Malay and Iban-language bibles - from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) on January 2.
“I feel scared. Will my sons be arrested for bringing the Al-Kitab to Sunday school?” Dehe told The Malay Mail Online after Bahasa Malaysia mass at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sunday
“They bring other Bahasa Malaysia Christian books too. I am very worried. The people in Sabah and Sarawak only speak Bahasa Malaysia. In Sarawak, even though I’m Bidayuh, I speak Bahasa Malaysia,” she added.
Dehe said that her sons - aged 12, nine and two - were born in Selangor and that the two older ones attend Sunday school at the Catholic church, where school-going children are taught about Christianity.
Despite the Jais raid, a demonstration by Muslim groups near the church just last week, and a sedition investigation against senior Catholic priest Father Lawrence Andrew, some 300 parishioners filled the church as usual at the Bahasa Malaysia mass.
After the bell chimed at 12.12pm, indicating the start of Mass, the congregation sang worship songs, accompanied by guitars and a keyboard, and recited prayers, in which God was described with the Arabic word “Allah”.
Before a sculpture of the crucifix hanging above the altar, the Roman Catholics in the Gothic-style church, which was established in 1928, sang lyrics like “Allah tri tunggal, Bapa, Put’ra dan Roh Kudus” (God the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
The congregation, which mainly comprises Sabahans, Sarawakians, Indonesians and Vietnamese - also professed their Catholic faith through the Nicene Creed in Malay, beginning with: “Aku percaya akan satu Allah” (I believe in one God).
In the church bulletin that was distributed to parishioners as they entered the church, God is also referred to as “Allah”. It stated that the church’s theme for January is “Dipanggil oleh Allah” (Called by God).
Dehe, who is from Lundu, a two-hour drive from Kuching, also said she felt as if West and East Malaysia are two separate countries, pointing out that Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak have no problem with Christians describing God as “Allah”.
“It’s like Sabah and Sarawak are one country, and peninsular Malaysia is another country. Racial differences are so pronounced here,” she said.
The Bidayuh Christian said that although her cousin and aunt have converted to Islam, there is no religious tension in her family.
“If there are Muslim funerals in my community, we’ll give our support. It’s not like here. There, we don’t feel the differences between races, not like here,” said Dehe, describing the multi-cultural society in Sarawak that comprises various ethnic groups.
“We respect each other. That kind of respect is not found here,” she added.
Christians make up close to 10 per cent of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million. Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
Waller Rupin, a parishioner from Keningau, Sabah, said he felt offended with the attempt to prohibit Christians from calling God “Allah”.
“We feel a little offended. This isn’t fair,” Rupin told The Malay Mail Online after the Bahasa Malaysia Mass on Sunday.
“Even Yusuf Al-Qaradawi says that Allah is for the whole world and that it’s not exclusively for Muslims,” added the 31-year-old primary schoolteacher, referring to the eminent Egyptian Islamic scholar.
His wife, Jenny Sabin, said that both Muslims and Christians believe in one God.
“Allah created everything,” the 30-year-old Sabahan nurse told The Malay Mail Online.
The couple, who have been working in Selangor for about eight years, said they would continue referring to God as “Allah”.
“I pray after I wake up in the morning, every time before a meal, before I go to work, and before I sleep,” said Rupin.
The Dusun Christian said a prayer for safety would go like this: “Ya Allah yang kami kenal dalam kerajaan syurga, lindungilah kami sepanjang hari” (Our God in Heaven, please protect us throughout this day).
Another parishioner, Frendie Aloysius, who also hails from Keningau, observed that the culture in East Malaysia is different from West Malaysia.
“Here, they’re still close-minded. In Sabah, you can see Malays drinking coffee at Chinese coffee shops. A Christian can ask a Muslim to go to a coffee shop. There’s no problem,” Aloysius told The Malay Mail Online after Bahasa Malaysia Mass.
“I have a Muslim aunt who converted after marrying a Muslim. We can still eat together,” added the 29-year-old Customs officer, who has been worshipping at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes here for seven years.
He also said that most of his Muslim friends, who are from the peninsula, have no issues with him describing God as “Allah”.
“This is just politics. These NGOs are related to political parties. Muslims in Malaysia are generally rational,” said the Dusun Christian, referring to Muslim groups who have been protesting against the Christian use of “Allah”.
When asked if he feared that Jais might seize his copy of the Al-Kitab one day, Aloysius nodded and said: “Yes, I do feel afraid”.
“If they successfully ban Allah in Selangor, it is not impossible for this to spread to other states. I hope that people will be more accommodating with each other in the peninsula,” he said.
Father Michael Chua, parish priest of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, told The Malay Mail Online that “Allah” and “Tuhan” are defined differently, with the former referring to “God”, while the latter means “Lord”.
During the Bahasa Malaysia Mass, the congregation had prayed: “Marilah bersyukur kepada Tuhan, Allah kita” (Let us be thankful to the Lord, our God).
Dehe said that “Allah” cannot be replaced with “Tuhan”, as some Muslims claim.
“Allah is important. Allah is Jesus,” said the Sarawakian.
