The
Jesuit editor of Malaysia's Herald
Catholic Weekly says the banning of the use of the word 'Allah' by
Christians is a sign of a growing threat to religious freedom in the majority
Islamic state.
The
Malaysian government is currently appealing a High Court ruling in favour of Fr
Lawrence Andrew SJ and his newspaper, handed down last year, in which their
right to use the word 'Allah' in print - most notably in their Malay editions -
was validated. The Herald had taken
the government to court in 2007 after several years of sustained 'harassment',
during which the government threatened to ban the newspaper and consistently
refused until the last minute to renew its annual publishing permits.
As one of the delegates at the recent Creative Communications Conference in Manila, Fr Lawrence spoke to communications people around the Asia Pacific region about the environment in which Catholic communicators operate in Malaysia.
'Malay Muslims opine that Allah is a proper noun for Lord
God Almighty or in Malay Tuhan yang Maha Esa', writes Fr Lawrence in a recent
editorial. 'However the word Allah is purely linguistic as both Christians and
Muslims understand it in Indonesia
and in other parts of the world where the Arabic language is the medium of
communication. What surprises and perturbs us is that the word ‘Allah' though
universal has now become particular and focused for the use of the Malay race
in the Malay language.'
With
almost 60% of Malaysia's population made up of ethnic Malay
Muslims, religious minorities and groups of ethnic Chinese and Indians claim that
the government is attempting to stir Muslim sentiment in an attempt to deflect attention
from its unpopularity and maintain power. The government, in turn, claims that the use of the word 'Allah'
by Christians is offensive to Muslims.
'They
think when we use the word Allah we are trying to convert them to Christianity.
And if they become Christians it becomes a threat to the nation because the
stability of the Muslim population will become shaken. We are saying this is
not a threat to the nation, don't bully us, we are all equal citizens, let us
move forward', says Fr Lawrence.
But
he fears that the case is indicative of a move towards the Islamicisation of
Malaysia - and one that Christians have unwittingly encouraged. With Christians
comprising just 9% of the population, Fr Lawrence believes he is standing up
against something bigger than a simple linguistic disagreement
'Way
back in the 1980s there was already a movement within the country to bring about
a greater Islamicisation among the people of Malaysia. They asked Catholic
schools to take down crucifixes. Our bishops and teachers and the religious
said, "We don't want to make a big deal out of it, we can do away with
them, it's not going to change us, we can still reflect our faith". So we
took them down', says Fr Lawrence.
'Then
we were told we cannot teach Catechism in school hours. So we decided to have
it half an hour earlier, before school. We began to give in to this Islamicisation
process - in fact, we encouraged it by giving in, but we weren't aware of it
[at the time]. You could see that there was a slow encroaching into the very
heart of our Christian faith.'
Fr
Lawrence says the government is drawing out the appeals process deliberately,
so as to thwart the newspaper's continued use of the word 'Allah'. But the
Jesuit has remained defiant.
'Malaysian
Christians use the word in Mass and in everyday conversation. Even in the Hail
Mary we use the word 'Allah'. The government's not going to change us. It's our
heritage, it's a language of ours [too].'
By Catherine Marshall