Marital Rape: Congrats To Allah’s Soldiers

Much have been said about sex in Islam lately, from both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  This came about when Yeo Bee Yin, the state assemblywoman  for Damansara Utama championed a campaign on rape awareness with the tagline, “Without her consent, it is rape. No excuse.”  This is seen by some as an attack on Islam where there is no such thing as marital rape. No, there is no such thing as a marital rape in Islam, but there are guidelines on the sexual relationship between husbands and wives.  The Quran has more than 20 verses outlining the dos and don’ts between husbands and wives.  While the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has been quoted as saying that a wife has to submit to a husband’s sexual needs even while they are riding the back of a camel as mentioned by the Mufti of Perak, Islam recognizes the women’s need for love, affection and foreplay.  Imam Ibn al-Qayyim reported in his famous “Tibbun Nabawi” that the Prophet (pbuh) forbade in engaging in sexual intercourse before foreplay (al-Tibb an-Nabawi 183, from Jabir ibn Abdullah).

The issue above has caught the attention of many up to the point that non-Muslims are ridiculing Muslims and Islamic practices on the social media.  What drove Yeo Bee Yin, a Christian with known affiliation to the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, to come up with such a campaign tagline is beyond me.  A simpler “Protect Women From Rape“, or “Say No To Rape“, or “Women Expect Men To Protect Them From Rape” would have been more acceptable, instead of creating the perception that Muslims are barbarians whose main reason of existence is to be able to cum as many times as they can in a day.  Perhaps, in her subtle way, Bee Yin was trying to undermine the sanctity of Islam as the Religion of the Federation as stipulated in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.  I will let you decide that on your own.  Maybe Bee Yin et al should also highlight what else God had said about sexual intercourse and how barbaric a religion can be:

1.  For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. (Remember women, you are your husband’s property)

2. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.

3. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (So, wives should not say no to sexual advances by the husbands).

4. The sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine (if you follow this, no semen would have penetrated by 4cm).

5. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. (Death to gay men).

6. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. (Young girls? Is this Islamic? Oh, but Muhammad married a child!)

Now from which verses of the Quran did I pick those up?

1. 1 Corinthians 7:4

2. Proverbs 5:18-19

3. 1 Corinthians 7:5

4. 1 Timothy 1:10

5. Leviticus 20:13

6. Numbers 31:17-18

Perhaps the Christian Evangelists want to have a look at their own backside backyard first before commenting on others’? Once that is done then Bee Yin can again congratulate Allah’s soldiers.

STOP USING RELIGION TO MASK YOUR POLITICAL AMBITIONS, YEO BEE YIN!

The Case For God – Part 4

The apex court of Malaysia, the Federal Court, has ruled in favour of the Appellate Court to deny the Christian Herald Weekly the use of “Allah” in its articles instead of “God” or “Lord”. Four out of the seven bench members voted to uphold the ruling by the Appellate Court while three dissented. While many jumped saying that it was an unfair decision, I did not see one person noting that one of the dissenting members is a Malay and a Muslim.

The ruling brings to a closure a divisive episode that began in 2006 that led to several unnecessary reactive incidents in early 2010 due to a High Court decision in favour of the Christian Herald Weekly. While BigDog argues that the apex court’s ruling upholds Articles 3(1) and 11(4) of the Federal Constitution, many think that it is their right to use Allah in reference to God.

Let me quote what was said as part of the judgment delivered:

‘The usage of the word Allah is not an integral part of the faith in Christianity. The usage of the word will cause confusion in the community.’

Many including outsiders such as Francis X Clooney SJ in his article entitled “Is Allah Not Our God? – America Magazine (Catholic) tried to argue for the Catholics in Malaysia without understanding the history behind this ruling and how Articles 3(1) and 11(4) of the Federal Constitution came about.

Perhaps, I may need to point out to Mr Clooney as well as uninformed Malaysians that while in the Peninsular Malaysia the use of Allah and several other words are regulated by various laws, they are not regulated for use in the Sidang Injil Borneo’s Bibles for the people of Sabah and Sarawak. Even in Indonesia some Christians use “Allah” – and this is all due to historical reasons.

In my blog post entitled The Case For God, I wrote about the history of the usage of “Allah” in Christian literatures:

Let us remember one thing. Malaya (Peninsula Malaysia) was never colonised as a whole by the British, save for Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, while Sabah and Sarawak came under direct British colonial rule. Penang was acquired through a deal to lease the island made between the British East India Company and the Sultan of Kedah; Malacca was acquired from the Dutch through the Treaty of Bencoolen; and Singapore was included in the Treaty of Bencoolen by making the severely weakened Dutch to not object to the British occupation of Singapore. The people of these three places, together with Sabah and Sarawak, became British subjects.
Through treaties with the Sultans on the Peninsula, the British helped administer the State of the respective Sultans, while the Sultans remained as the supreme head of these sovereign states. The administration of Islam came under the purview of the respective Sultans as the protectors of the state’s religion.

So, why does Indonesia have Bibles that use the word Allah to describe God?
Unlike Malaya, Indonesia was a nation of conquered people. Hello! Remember the Dutch? When Douglas MacArthur met Emperor Hirohito, he purposely stood next to the Emperor to show the Japanese people that the Emperor was not a demi-God. Victors get to do as they please, and this is probably the same case as the Ladang Rakyat issue in Kelantan. The Dutch conquered parts of Indonesia beginning in 1595, and as part of its attempt to call the Malay diaspora in Indonesia to Christianity, the Book of Matthew was translated into the Indonesian language in 1629; and where the Dutch set foot, other religions were formally prohibited although Chinese temples as well as mosques remained in existence.

Missionaries, too, made headway in Sabah and Sarawak, converting the populace to Christianity. Sir Stamford Raffles recommended to Rev. Thomas Raffles (Buitenzorg, 10th February 1815, Mss. Eur. F.202/6) that Borneo be given vigorous campaigns by the missionaries as “the island is inhabited by a race scarcely emerged from Barbarism.

This does not mean that the Malays were free from attempts to proselytize them. In fact, Raffles, in a letter to his cousin in 1815 mentioned how “Religion and laws are so united” in Muslim dominated areas that the introduction of Christian beliefs will bring about “much mischief, much bitterness of heart and contention”.

Raffles contended that Christianity must be packaged in a new form and be conveyed to the Muslim majority through a gradual approach. The “pagans”, on the other hand, required no stratagems. His methods include the establishment of missionary schools where the Malays are taught to read and write in their own language. Then he set up printers to publish books in Malay. Missionaries were largely responsible for this effort with the help of local agents, and the most famous of these agents was a chap called Abdullah Abdul Kadir who is better known as Munshi (Teacher) Abdullah. He and other Munshis taught Christian missionaries the Malay language. His role went beyond that and became the first Muslim in South East Asia to translate the Bible into the Malay language, that he became the target of his contemporaries who called him Abdullah Paderi (Pastor Abdullah) among other things.

It is interesting to note, however, that Raffles never once attempted to convert Malays in the Federated and Unfederated Malay States where the Sultans rule and guard the interest of the religion of Islam. This is because it would be foolhardy to anger the Sultans whom the British had a treaty with, by undermining the sanctity of Islam by converting their subjects. In the case of Raffles, he only focused his efforts on those who are British subjects.
Here we see the subtle tactics of the Christian missionaries during Raffles’s times, and the Malay lackeys who colluded with them. We can see the similarities in events of nowadays. But the above is also why we have Allah in the Bibles of Indonesia and Sabah and Sarawak, but not in Peninsula Malaysia.

And the above continues to be protected and respected in Sabah and Sarawak by the 10-point agreement which also includes the immigration right to refuse entry to any undesirable persons that the Opposition has said is a violation of their rights.

What does the above history have to do with modern-day Malaysia where history should or suggested be forgotten?

In my later post entitled The Case For God – Part 3 I wrote about the attempts to proselytise Muslims which is in contravention of the Federal Constitution:

As mentioned in the previous installment, too, I find the argument that Allah is the common denominator for God in this region a joke. The common denominator in the Indo-Malay speaking world would be Tuhan instead of Allah. However, Allah is the term that is inside the Quran for as long as time can remember. I cannot say the same for the Bible as it no longer reflects the Old Testament. Anyhow, you cannot find the name Allah inside the Old Testament. Just a Hebrew name that does not even resemble both the Arabic and Roman spelling of Allah. Even so, Elohim as called by the Jews, refers to The God that has no Son, nor an equivalent called the Holy Spirit. Mind you, even the Jews are totally against the concept of deifying a human being. I am sure my wife’s Iban relatives who are Christian would understand the term “Tuhan” without any problem since Bahasa Malaysia is derived from the Malay language, and the term for God in Malay is Tuhan.

We have seen the subtle tactics of missionaries of those days in the first installment and how their modus operandi is now refined by present-day missionaries. This blogger had had the opportunity to meet up with Muslims proselytized during the month of Ramadhan of 2012 and was told of the very fine and subtle methods used to proselytize Muslims in Malaysia. Back in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Malay people were not only bombarded with the Malay Bible, but also Christian publications in Malay such as Buletin Ariffin, Cermin Mata, Sahabat and Warta Melayu. Little has changed, but made only better. Recently, Johor’s Department of Islamic Affairs, together with the Home Ministry, confiscated 250 Christian literature in the Malay language. Imagine these books having titles such as Kaabah, Mengenal Rasul and Wahyu Illahi. With the state of Johor having around 58 percent Muslims, 2 percent Christians, and 40 percent other religions, who were these Malay literature targeting? Ibans? Christians? Chinese? Read more about the attempt to proselytize Muslims in BigDog’s post.

So, what about the use of Allah by Christians in Indonesia, Egypt etc.?
Tell me how good has that been for Indonesia and Egypt? How well do the Muslims and Christians get along in those countries? The very reason we do not have beheading of Christians in Kelantan or lynching of Muslims in Sarawak is because we do not step on each others toes.

I also wrote the following:

So is “Allah” an integral part of Christianity? I argued on this when the Appellate Court decided against the High Court ruling:

When the Turks charged at the British lines during the Battle of Gallipoli, they cried “Allahu Akbar.” The British soldiers retorted, “Come and get your Allah here!”
If the same British soldiers are here now, they would be utmost disappointed that the Christians in Malaysia now want to accept Allah – the name of the God they believed to be false – as the special noun to replace the word “god”.
Why am I still on this issue? Some lawyers now say whatever decree the Agong issues, is not binding for non-Malays and non-Muslims.
Fine. The Malay Rulers may not have intrinsic powers left apart from dissolving or withholding a cabinet or state assembly, appoint a Prime Minister or a Menteri Besar, and protect the religion of Islam and Malay customs. I shall not dwell too deeply into this but my friend SatD has written a very good piece on this in his blog Pure Shiite.
What is most important is that when the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) confiscated those Bibles containing the special noun “Allah”, they were acting on the provisions of Section 9 of the Selangor Shariah Criminal Enactment which prohibits the use of 25 or so Islamic words and nouns in non-Muslim publications. You will be committing a crime merely by having one in your house or car, let alone propagate one to a Muslim (or more).
What does the Shariah enactment have to do with non-Muslims, you may ask. Everything! It is NOT an Islamic law, it is a State law! Actually, it is a State Criminal Law! And a state criminal law applies to all be they Muslims or otherwise. And it is a STRICT LIABILITY law! Like I said, you have one, you break the law!
You constitutional law sexperts may also argue that the law is unconstitutional. It may be so. But it is the state law until and until a Constitutional court decides otherwise.
Oh, cry foul all you want and claim that the Apellate Court judges were all Malays. This is the part that I do not understand. All these challenges to the decision of the Apellate Court may be a norm to some of you common criminals and petty lawbreakers; the judges may not even hazard to act against them but the person who should be taking action, the Attorney-General, should. It is in contempt of a court ruling. What does that tell me, a layman? The A-G is simply useless for allowing lawlessness become a norm.
When Muslims cry foul to the Christians saying that “Allah” is an integral part of Islam, it is because the concept of trinity is an antithesis of the “Oneness” of Allah. The special noun refers to The God, One and Only God. Not a God that needs a trike to be able to “stand.”
The Christians lashed back saying that the Muslims should not tell them what is integral and what is not to them, saying that Allah is integral to the Christians. Else why quarrel over the special noun?
The word “integral” means something that if not present, does not complete something. Like tyres to cars.
Let me ask them this: if “Allah” is integral to the Christian faith, does this mean that the Popes, for 2,000 years, all the way from St Peter Petrus, have gotten it all wrong?
Maybe those adamant to use the special noun “Allah” can now shout to the Pope to come get his “Allah” here.

By Allah! Another By-Election, Another Waste of Taxpayer’s Money

The PKR state rep for Kajang has resigned paving way for another by-election. The reason given was “to enable to strengthen Pakatan rakyat’s ability to service the constituents.

I do not know who is dumb or who is dumber. The former Kajang rep for making that statement, or Pakatan Rakyat for nominating a self-confessed non-performer to contest the seat during the last general elections. Or maybe it is the people of Selangor themselves who love being duped time and time again. I am not saying that Barisan Nasional is all good, but imagine how much does a by-election cost. Serve for less than a year and you suddenly feel it would be better for someone else to replace you.

But if you ask me, this has been orchestrated by the those with real political power in Selangor.

20140128-200032.jpg
Photo of a tweet by Philip Golingai.

Some people say this sudden exit by the ADUN is because of the spat between Khalid and Azmin Ali. I say it is about the confiscated bibles. If you read carefully this article by a pro-opposition mouthpiece hiding behind a legal body condemning Khalid for inaction towards the confiscated bibles.

There is a list of 25 or so items, words if you may, that cannot be used in non-Muslim publications. The only person in the state with the power to drop this list is none other than the Menteri Besar himself.

It took Khalid six days to issue a statement on the confiscation of the bibles, and then did nothing further, especially after the State Exco for Islamic Religious Affairs urged the people to abide by the decree issued by the Sultan of Selangor regarding the issue.

Enter Sivaji himself who asked for the return of the bibles. Two weeks later, he was named as Pakatan Rakyat’s candidate to contest the Kajang state assembly seat, possibly paving his way to become the MB. This could also be paving the way to allow changes in the state’s Syariah enactment and possibly allowing the 25 words including Allah to be used in non-Muslim publications.

Last year in Kajang, the Chinese votes were solid behind PKR, while the Malays were split to the core. It would be interesting, especially for Islam, to see how the Malays would vote in this by-election.

The Definition of Integral

When the Turks charged at the British lines during the Battle of Gallipoli, they cried “Allahu Akbar.” The British soldiers retorted, “Come and get your Allah here!”

If the same British soldiers are here now, they would be utmost disappointed that the Christians in Malaysia now want to accept Allah – the name of the God they believed to be false – as the special noun to replace the word “god”.

Why am I still on this issue? Some lawyers now say whatever decree the Agong issues, is not binding for non-Malays and non-Muslims.

Fine. The Malay Rulers may not have intrinsic powers left apart from dissolving or withholding a cabinet or state assembly, appoint a Prime Minister or a Menteri Besar, and protect the religion of Islam and Malay customs. I shall not dwell too deeply into this but my friend SatD has written a very good piece on this in his blog Pure Shiite.

What is most important is that when the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) confiscated those Bibles containing the special noun “Allah”, they were acting on the provisions of Section 9 of the Selangor Shariah Criminal Enactment which prohibits the use of 25 or so Islamic words and nouns in non-Muslim publications. You will be committing a crime merely by having one in your house or car, let alone propagate one to a Muslim (or more).

What does the Shariah enactment have to do with non-Muslims, you may ask. Everything! It is NOT an Islamic law, it is a State law! Actually, it is a State Criminal Law! And a state criminal law applies to all be they Muslims or otherwise. And it is a STRICT LIABILITY law! Like I said, you have one, you break the law!

You constitutional law sexperts may also argue that the law is unconstitutional. It may be so. But it is the state law until and until a Constitutional court decides otherwise.

Oh, cry foul all you want and claim that the Apellate Court judges were all Malays. This is the part that I do not understand. All these challenges to the decision of the Apellate Court may be a norm to some of you common criminals and petty lawbreakers; the judges may not even hazard to act against them but the person who should be taking action, the Attorney-General, should. It is in contempt of a court ruling. What does that tell me, a layman? The A-G is simply useless for allowing lawlessness become a norm.

When Muslims cry foul to the Christians saying that “Allah” is an integral part of Islam, it is because the concept of trinity is an antithesis of the “Oneness” of Allah. The special noun refers to The God, One and Only God. Not a God that needs a trike to be able to “stand.”

The Christians lashed back saying that the Muslims should not tell them what is integral and what is not to them, saying that Allah is integral to the Christians. Else why quarrel over the special noun?

The word “integral” means something that if not present, does not complete something. Like tyres to cars.

Let me ask them this: if “Allah” is integral to the Christian faith, does this mean that the Popes, for 2,000 years, all the way from St Peter Petrus, have gotten it all wrong?

Maybe those adamant to use the special noun “Allah” can now shout to the Pope to come get his “Allah” here.

Allah: The Son and the Crescent

20140109-152910.jpg

I wrote a posting early November 2013 on the issue of evangelism and the evangelical efforts to bring Muslims to accept the Trinity concept ( The Herald of Glad Tidings: Messianic Muslim Followers of Isa ).

Discovered on the Internet today is this article on Christian Today that speaks of the Allah issue and how Christians have made headway in getting Muslims to accept that Allah, or God, that is worshipped by the Muslims, is the same as the Trinitarian god worshipped by the Christians.

Go back to my article above after you have read this one and decide for yourself if subtle evangelism is not real:

Christianity Today: The Son and the Crescent

The Herald of Glad Tidings: Messianic Muslim Followers of Isa

20131104-172040.jpg

I write this as a warning to my Muslim brothers and sisters. No matter how you conduct your life, you should never compromise your attestation to Allah being the True One God, and that Muhammad is His Messenger through whom His message was delivered to complete what started millenniums before.

The issue of the use of Allah in the Herald has been resolved…well, more or less. I still see on my timeline some people still tweet about it, or have it as part of their Facebook status. I see the occasional Christian politician from Sabah still trying to flog a dead horse by crying foul over the issue although the ruling does not affect Christians of Sabah and Sarawak; while many others who do not understand the history and reason behind the permit to use of Allah in Bibles and Christian literatures in Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak but not in the peninsular should read my previous writings on this issue:

The Case For God

I also wrote about the word to describe God in Malay in The Case For God Part 2, and I wrote on the subtle ways to undermine the faith of Muslims in the peninsular. You may say that the issue of faith is petty, but if you have met, as I have, Muslims whom have proselytize, you would be shocked to see the numbers and where they are originally from, and with what background.

If I mention the name Joshua Massey I am sure many Malaysian Muslims do not know who he is. I don’t know who Massey is either but that is the pseudonym of a Christian missionary who has written many articles on how to minister Christianity to the Muslims. Among the articles he has written include Should Christians Use Allah In Bible Translation?

In this article, Massey concluded that it is necessary to use Allah in Bibles and not to discard such easily redeemable terms, but to fill them with Biblical meaning. The more a Muslim’s understanding of Allah is informed by the Scriptures, the more Biblical their theology of God will become. Filling familiar words with new meaning, rather than tossing them aside as irreparable, is something the church has wisely done from the beginning.

Of course, in a non-Arab speaking Muslim country, it would be a lot more difficult to penetrate the Muslim community to spread the gospel. Enter the C5: the so-called liberal Muslims who, amongst us, have been saying that it is a small matter for others to use Allah to refer to God. C5 is a category among a spectrum of Christians ranging from C1, referring to those missionaries who set up churches and conduct masses and prayers in the missionaries’ original language, to C6 – those who still retain their Muslim identity and never reveal their faith to Muslims. This spectrum was introduced by a missionary who writes under the pseudonym John Travis. Like Massey who lives amongst Muslims in Asia, Travis too has spent a large portion of his life living amongst the Muslims.

C5 Muslims do not call themselves Christians. They call themselves the Followers of Isa al-Masih, or Jesus the Messiah. They are the Messianic Muslims who reject any unbiblical Muslim practise, and dare to label Muslim practices barbaric, or against human rights, or restricting women’s rights. Anything and any platform they could use to attack the sanctity of Islam, they would. Do not get me wrong: C5 Christians still go to the mosque to pray, still attain their identity as Muslims, but they will back their Christian friends when attacked by other Muslims, not literal attacks though.

Massey knows that Muslims will not attack, as it is unIslamic to be the belligerent, but will defend to their death their land and faith. So you get the C5s to do the attacks for you, therefore the defenders will then be labelled racists, extremists and other labels already thrown by these liberals. In the words of Travis:

“Some C5 believers adopt Samuel Zwemer’s approach toward Muhammad by affirming all the truth Muhammad brought and never speaking disrespectfully of him. They emphasize that Muhammad was a great statesman and religious reformer, bringing Arabs from pagan polytheism to Abrahamic monotheism. They are quick to add that Muhammad spoke of Isa the Messiah (his virgin birth, miracles and sinless- ness) and acknowledged that the Torah, Zabur and Injil are God’s Word and must be obeyed. When it becomes clear that the Muslim listener is ready for more, they, like Zwemer, share Jesus as Lord and Savior. My observation is that over time, without dictating how new MBBs should view Muhammad, he becomes less and less important to them as they grow in their love and obedience to Jesus”.

20131104-214448.jpg

The above is taken from John Travis’s article in the International Journal of Frontier Missiology, telling how a Muslim was befriended by a Christian friend, not to accept Christianity, but to also accept the other Books: a concept not unfamiliar in Islam. Working on this and the other concept mentioned in the Quran that Allah does not make any distinction between His Prophets, they work towards undermining the Shahadah.

Similar modus operandi have been seen here in Malaysia. In one case that involved a friend of mine putting a stop to it, a Muslim factory worker was befriended by a fellow male worker, a Christian. She got pregnant and was shunned by her family. With nowhere to go, her boyfriend brought her to see a priest who showered her with compassion. Her roommate managed to sniff the method and alerted an agency my friend was with, and rescued her. In fact, among the DUMC attendees whom I had met last year all spoke of similar subtle methods. Some had converted over a few pair of jeans, some money, rice, so on and so forth. For me, I blame the Malay/Muslim society for failing to help the needy, or for driving away family members who are in need. I remember one Pusat Pungutan Zakat officer who argued intensely with me, insisted that there were no poor people in Petaling Jaya, until I showed him a squatter village.

But that is the fact of the matter – we Muslims in Malaysia are not caring enough. And Muslims are oblivious to threats, not just from the outside, but from the inside as well. Muslims always think that they are strong, and at the same time allow every attempt to chip away at the foundations of Islam in this country, namely the Federal Constitution, and the institution of the Malay Rulers as custodians and protectors of the religion of Islam and the Malay customs. Every attempt to defend these institutions are being portrayed as acts of racism and oppression of the minority, when in essence it is the 60.4 percent Muslim population is the minority. They are split into three: two one thirds that have nothing better to do but claw at each other, while the other third collude with the evangelists to attack the other two thirds.

I leave you with an extract from a missiology website about the one third that is helping to destroy us, and urge all you Muslims to pause for a moment and think:

20131104-224842.jpg

Addendum: 5th Nov 2013

For all those who remember my previous posting on the Allah issue (The Case For God – Part 3, I wrote on Christian publications in Malay in the 19th Century, and how similar publications have made their way into modern-day peninsular Malaysia. One must be wary of religious books bearing Arabic terms that may be representing Christianity but with an Islamic image. I was also informed that in some mosques in this country, as mentioned in Massey’s and Travis’s articles, Arab Christians or Christian Malays have begun preaching to youngsters. Dressed as pious Muslims, they confuse the youngsters using the modus operandi mentioned above.

And I will also be meeting with a Christian friend, who has told me how some of his family members and friends have been actively proselytising needy Muslims in the south of the peninsular. Hopefully this time, I will get to learn more of their modus operandi.

Surat Terbuka Untuk Pengundi Melayu

Pada 9hb Mac 2008, buat pertama kalinya saya melihat seorang remaja Melayu dengan megahnya memakai sehelai kemeja ‘T’ yang tertera perkataan “DAP” dan mempunyai lambang roket DAP. Saya hanya mampu menggelengkan kepala. Di dalam hati saya teringat laporan kata-kata yang diungkapkan oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Kit Siang:

“Melayu keluar! Apa lagi duduk sini, kita hentam lu…sekarang kita sudah ada kuasa…”

Begitulah bunyinya ungkapan beliau yang dilaporkan telah dilaung-laungkan di sekitar Jalan Khir, Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur pada 12hb Mei 1969. Sikap anti-Melayu Lim Kit Siang bukanlah suatu perkara yang baru, dan yang diungkapkan oleh beliau di atas bukanlah ungkapan anti-Melayu yang pertama pernah beliau ungkapkan. Sekiranya kita melayari laman http://bibliotheca.limkitsiang.com dapat kita membaca siri ucapan dan surat-surat beliau yang dibuat sejak 1968, kita dapat melihat bagaimana beliau sering menggunakan isu perkauman untuk membuat kaum lain di Malaysia ini membenci kaum Melayu.

Apabila kita langkaui masa selama 44 tahun selepas itu, kita dapati parti DAP itu sendiri masih tidak berubah, malah masih mempunyai Lim Kit Siang sebagai Penasihat Parti. Yang berubah hanyalah sikap Lim Kit Siang yang lebih cauvinis. Beliau bukan sahaja masih bersikap anti-Melayu, malah anti-Islam juga. Sebagai contoh: dalam satu risalah yang dikeluarkan di media Internet, Lim Kit Siang berkata:

“Saya berpendapat Malaysia tidak akan dapat mencapai kemuncak potensinya sebagai sebuah negara maju kerana sekatan-sekatan dalam Islam. Sekaranglah masanya untuk untuk kita mengalihkan kesemua rintangan dengan menukar kerajaan yang sedia ada dan juga perlembagaan, Ini Kalilah!”

20130503-150540.jpg

Maka tidak hairanlah kita apabila para pemimpin PAS yang kita mengharapkan dapat mengekang kemaraan sikap cauvinis ini sering lari bertempiaran dengan ekor dikepit dicelah kangkang disergah oleh DAP setiap kali isu Hudud atau penggunaan kalimah Allah dalam kitab Injil diutarakan. Malah, masih ingat saya sebuah artikel mengenai amaran Karpal Singh dalam Utusan Malaysia bertarikh 18hb Oktober 1990 yang menyebut:

“Mahu wujudkan Negara Islam langkah mayat kami dulu – Karpal Singh”

20130503-150732.jpg

Disebabkan perbalahan di antara dua parti ini juga kita melihat pendirian PAS yang sering berubah-ubah. Dalam Utusan Malaysia bertarikh 4hb Ogos 2001, YAB Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat dilaporkan berkata:

“Bukan sahaja dalam manifesto, dalam perlembagaan PAS sendiri tidak mengandungi satu perkataan pun untuk menubuhkan Negara Islam, dia (DAP) boleh tengok sendiri dan baca perlembagaan itu.”

20130503-150916.jpg

Maka, bolehlah kita simpulkan di sini bahawa menubuhkan Negara Islam itu bukanlah perjuangan sebenar PAS, malah dikeji oleh sekutunya DAP. Ini juga merupakan pendirian PKR sepertimana yang dilaporkan dalam akhbar Kosmo bertarikh 25hb April 2013:

“PKR, DAP tetap bantah rancangan PAS untuk laksanakan hudud jika menang PRU-13. Khalid tolak hudud di Selangor.”

20130503-151204.jpg

Pakatan Rakyat di dalam manifestonya (Manifesto Rakyat: Pakatan Harapan Rakyat) ada menyebut di dalam Bahasa Malaysia seperti berikut:

“Menghayati kedudukan Islam sebagai Agama Persekutuan, menjamin hak kebebasan beragama.”

Tetapi dalam terjemahan kedalam Bahasa Inggeris pula, ianya ditulis sebegini:

“Respecting the position of Islam as the OFFICIAL RELIGION, guaranteeing the freedom of religion. (menghormati kedudukan Islam sebagai AGAMA RESMI, menjamin hak kebebasan beragama)”

Saudara dan saudari perlu membaca dan telitikan dua maksud yang berbeza di atas.

20130503-151420.jpg

Jelas untuk pengundi bukan Melayu/Islam, agama Islam hanya menjadi agama resmi Persekutuan dan bukan agama Persekutuan seperti yang termaktub dalam Artikel 3(1) Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia. Ini bakal member kebebasan mereka untuk memujuk orang Islam, terutamanya dari kaum Melayu, untuk orang Islam menukar agama, dan juga kebebasan untuk mereka menggunakan apa jua bahasa termasuk kalimah Allah dalam kitab-kitab serta bahan cetak lain-lain agama.

Untuk memahami sebab kalimah Allah tidak dipakai di Semenanjung Malaysia tetapi digunakan di Sabah, Sarawak dan Indonesia, saudara-saudari pembaca perlu memahami sejarah kolonisasi rantau nusantara serta perjanjian-perjanjian di antara Raja-Raja Melayu negeri-negeri Bersekutu dan tidak Bersekutu dengan pihak British.

Sehingga tertubuhnya Malayan Union pada tahun 1946, kecuali Pulau Pinang, Melaka dan Singapura yang membentuk Negeri-Negeri Selat, Tanah Melayu tidak pernah dijajah. Negeri-Negeri Melayu Bersekutu yang dianggotai Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan dan Pahang menandatangani perjanjian perlindungan (independent protectorate) dengan pihak British dengan syarat seorang pentadbir British (Residen) digajikan oleh pihak Raja-Raja Negeri Melayu Bersekutu kerana mempunyai system pentadbiran yang seragam, manakala negeri-negeri lain mempunyai seorang Penasihat (Adviser). Contoh seorang Residen ialah Frank Swettenham, manakala Penasihat kepada Negeri Kedah ialah William George Maxwell.

Berbeza dengan Indonesia yang mana ianya ditakluk dan dijajah oleh Belanda, dan Sabah dan Sarawak yang dimiliki syarikat-syarikat kepunyaan warga British. Oleh sebab itu, di Indonesia, kolonialis Belanda memperkenalkan agama Kristian dan kitab Injil di dalam Bahasa Indonesia serta mengharamkan ibadah lain-lain agama termasuk Islam.

Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, yang lebih dikenali sejarah sebagai Sir Stamford Raffles, gabenor British di Singapura, merupakan seorang mubaligh Krisitan yang masyhur. Beliau telah menggunakan kuasanya untuk menjemput rakan-rakan mubaligh dari England ke Borneo Utara dan Sarawak kerana “pulau tersebut didiami oleh satu kaum yang masih hidup belum keluar dari sifat kegasaran.” Di sinilah bermulanya titik permulaan penggunaan kalimah Allah dalam kitab Injil dan lain-lain penerbitan Kristian yang menggunakan bahasa Melayu seperti Buletin Ariffin, Cermin Mata, Sahabat dan Warta Melayu.

Beliau bukannya tidak pernah mencuba untuk mengKristiankan orang Islam di Tanah Melayu, tetapi mendapatinya sukar dilaksanakan memandangkan perjanjian di antara pihak British dengan Raja-Raja Melayu yang mempertahankan agama Islam dan adat-istiadat orang Melayu. Di dalam surat beliau kepada sepupunya, beliau menulis:

“Agama dan undang-undang adalah terlalu sebati sehinggakan memperkenalkan agama Kristian akan membawa kepada kemusnahan, dendam dan perbalahan.” (Buitenzorg, 10hb Februari 1815, Mss. Eur. F.202/6)

Itulah sebabnya apabila ahli-ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri dari parti DAP mengangkat sumpah pada tahun 2008, mereka menunjukkan sikap biadap terhadap Raja-Raja Melayu. Tidak cukup dengan itu, digalakkan pula anak-anak muda Melayu bersikap biadap terhadap institusi Raja. Serang pengaruh Raja-Raja Melayu maka ianya akan melemahkan kepercayaan dan sikap hormat orang Melayu terhadap institusi Raja-Raja Melayu yang menjadi penjaga dan pemelihara agama Islam dan adat-istiadat orang Melayu.

Kita dapat lihat dengan jelas bagaimana mubaligh-mubaligh Kristian mula menyiarkan risalah-risalah dan lain-lain penerbitan dalam Bahasa Malaysia bertujuan untuk memesongkan aqidah umat Islam di Negara ini. Sebagai contoh, di Johor, sebanyak 250 buah buku bertajuk seperti Kaabah, Mengenal Rasul dan Wahyu Illahi disebarkan tetapi dirampas oleh Jabatan Agama Islam Johor dan Kementerian Dalam Negeri. Dalam sebuah negeri yang 58 peratus penduduknya beragama Islam, manakala hanya 2 peratus penganut agama Kristian, untuk siapakah yang saudara-saudari pembaca sekalian rasa risalah-risalah ini dicetak?

Semua ini dilakukan demi kuasa. Dan demi berkuasa, insan yang bernama Anwar Ibrahim sering berdolak-dalik dalam isu penggunaan kalimah Allah oleh penganut agama lain.

Pada 24hb Jun 2010 di Woodrow Wilson International Centre di Washington D.C, Anwar Ibrahim telah mengulas isu kalimah Allah dan menyatakan:

“Trend di Malaysia, yang pertama sekali isu kalimah Allah. Ia benar-benar tidak waras sekiranya tidak teruk untuk mengesyorkan, bahawa anda memaksa, bukan Muslim menerima undang-undang yang menafikan hak mereka, memanggil Tuhan mereka dengan apa-apa nama. Anda boleh memanggil nama-nama lain kecuali Allah. Tetapi perkara ini hanya boleh datang daripada golongan Pemerintah yang tidak berpandangan jauh, bersifat perkauman, tidak bersikap toleran dan tidak demokratik. Kami di dalam Pakatan Rakyat, bukan sahaja PKR dan DAP, malahan PAS telah mengambil pendirian bahawa kami tidak boleh menerima undang-undang ini. Kami mesti menghormati hak agama atau kepercayaan lain untuk memanggil Tuhan mereka dengan nama Allah.”

Saudara dan saudari sekalian, cukuplah Melayu diperbodohkan atau buat-buat bodoh terutamanya dalam isu yang melibatkan agama Islam serta maruah bangsa Melayu. Silap kita memangkah nescaya yang bakal menerima akibat khilaf kita adalah anak cucu kita. Janganlah kita fikirkan bahawa kita akan tetap selamat sekiranya calon tersebut Melayu PKR atau PAS menentang bukan Melayu dari MCA atau MIC. Kita perlu lihat siapa peneraju dan terbuktikah beliau mempertahan dan memperkasakan kedudukan Islam dan Melayu di Negara ini. Lihat juga siapa menjadi dalang utama di dalam Pakatan Rakyat – tidak lain tidak bukan DAP yang tidak pernah berubah sejak tahun 1969.

20130503-152324.jpg

Ingat saudara-saudari sekalian, satu undi untuk PKR mahupun PAS adalah merupakan satu undi terhadap penguasaan DAP ke atas agama Islam dan bangsa Melayu.

Sekian, terima kasih.

The Thumped Motherfuckers

From a layman’s view, it all started with the delegates at the DAP CEC election rejecting ALL the Malay candidates, including one veteran Malay who has been trying to get a seat for the past quarter of a century, and a Chinese disguised as a Malay nominated to hoodwink especially, the DAP Malays.

Perhaps, all the nation’s Malays lambasted the DAP for claiming itself to be a multiracial party when the composition of its CEC does not reflect the Malaysian demography. Pulling the scupper off instead of plugging the hole, DAP fumbled again with the CEC election results by blaming Microsoft Excel for miscalculations and put the Chinese disguised as a Malay as the 20th spot winner of the CEC election.

Another miscalculated move, and this time without an Excel sheet to blame. Quickly Lim Guan Eng threw a red herring that hungry vultures quickly grabbed – the issue of using Allah to represent God in Bibles. This time, he went too far.

While the Malays from UMNO and PAS quarrelled over the Allah issue, DAP-friendly netizens quickly went on the roll to convince the Malay voters that Zairil Khir Johari is indeed a Malay. One even sent Blackberry messages to convince, Madam Logeswary, the wife of MIC Youth Chief, T Mohan, that Zairil was born in Malaysia as a Malay, and that “he’s known Zairil since they were kids.”

Before I go on commenting on the Allah issue, let me settle this Zairil issue for the dumb Malays first.

This is Zairil Khir Johari….not Zairil bin Khir Johari, just plain Zairil Khir Johari, whose mother married the late Khir Johari in February 1996. And if Christine Lim had shat Zairil nine months after that, Zairil would be 16 years and 2 months old now. But he isn’t.

20130119-164122.jpg

And no, Zairil was not born as Zairil. He was born in Hawaii, USA, and his real name is CHRISTOPHER! CHRISTOPHER ROSS LIM whose BIOLOGICAL FATHER is HOWARD LIM!

20130119-164353.jpg

But of course, if it isn’t DAP hoodwinking the public, then what is DAP’s raison d’être?

Okay, you have the Malays fighting each other on the Allah in the Bible issue. It was raised by Lim Guan Eng, UMNO went ballistics, and PAS supporters were quick to blame UMNO for bringing up the issue. Dementia? Or plain senile?

Only one person from PAS, the MP for Parit Buntar, made a personal comment on the issue enquiring Lim Guan Eng’s motive for bringing the issue up. Kudos to the only one with balls in PAS. Of course, DAP gave PAS an ultimatum to toe the line which PAS, seemingly now being the subjugated meek within Pakatan Rakyat, gladly did.

Then, to show that it has some power, and not just some whipping boy in the PR understanding (it isn’t a coalition), the PAS-led Kedah State government pulled a fast one by announcing a ban on female performers for the forthcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, and guess what? Patrick Teoh went berserk calling it a ruling made by “Quran-thumping motherfuckers.”

Maybe old Patrick Teoh needs to read more history before he becomes one. Sir Stamford Raffles, a hardcore Evangelist, in a letter to his cousin in 1815 mentioned how “Religion and laws are so united” in Muslim dominated areas that the introduction of Christian beliefs will bring about “much mischief, much bitterness of heart and contention”.

Again, you see UMNO supporters going to town with this, while the real motherfuckers (this is now an accepted journalistic term, isn’t it?) tucked their tail in between their hind legs, whimpered and scampered away. At the command of the real masters of that side of the rakyat’s fence, the Kedah State government retracted the ban. I stand corrected on this. I am just a layman.

Not even a week later, the PAS spiritual body that governs the party’s policies, the Majlis Syura PAS, issued a statement saying that non-Muslims cannot use the name Allah. Enter DAP, through the gradually-taming Lion of Jelutong, calling on PAS’s President, Abdul Hadi Awang, to ensure that the Majlis Syura PAS toes the Pakatan Rakyat line, while Azmin Ali of Parti Keadilan Rakyat was quick to say that the Majlis Syura PAS is not part of the Pakatan Rakyat.

And now, we have people in Penang distributing the Malay Bible to Malay schoolchildren in contrary to claims by the Christian quarter that the Bibles are not meant for distribution to the Malays. Read more about it here.

Isn’t it obvious that the all-corrupted UMNO is consistently defending Islam while PAS continues to behave like the thumped motherfuckers?

Think, people. Think.

Disclaimer: all profanities are printed for effect.

The Case for God – Part 3

In the previous installment I discussed the concept of Trinity to explain how it undermines the divinity of God according to Christianity, thus making the application of the name Allah for a such God an overkill and not appropriate for the actual meaning of Allah.

As mentioned in the previous installment, too, I find the argument that Allah is the common denominator for God in this region a joke. The common denominator in the Indo-Malay speaking world would be Tuhan instead of Allah. However, Allah is the term that is inside the Quran for as long as time can remember. I cannot say the same for the Bible as it no longer reflects the Old Testament. Anyhow, you cannot find the name Allah inside the Old Testament. Just a Hebrew name that does not even resemble both the Arabic and Roman spelling of Allah. Even so, Elohim as called by the Jews, refers to The God that has no Son, nor an equivalent called the Holy Spirit. Mind you, even the Jews are totally against the concept of deifying a human being. I am sure my wife’s Iban relatives who are Christian would understand the term “Tuhan” without any problem since Bahasa Malaysia is derived from the Malay language, and the term for God in Malay is Tuhan.

We have seen the subtle tactics of missionaries of those days in the first installment and how their modus operandi is now refined by present-day missionaries. This blogger had had the opportunity to meet up with Muslims proselytized during the month of Ramadhan of 2012 and was told of the very fine and subtle methods used to proselytize Muslims in Malaysia. Back in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Malay people were not only bombarded with the Malay Bible, but also Christian publications in Malay such as Buletin Ariffin, Cermin Mata, Sahabat and Warta Melayu. Little has changed, but made only better. Recently, Johor’s Department of Islamic Affairs, together with the Home Ministry, confiscated 250 Christian literature in the Malay language. Imagine these books having titles such as Kaabah, Mengenal Rasul and Wahyu Illahi. With the state of Johor having around 58 percent Muslims, 2 percent Christians, and 40 percent other religions, who were these Malay literature targeting? Ibans? Christians? Chinese? Read more about the attempt to proselytize Muslims in BigDog’s post.

So, what about the use of Allah by Christians in Indonesia, Egypt etc.?

Tell me how good has that been for Indonesia and Egypt? How well do the Muslims and Christians get along in those countries? The very reason we do not have beheading of Christians in Kelantan or lynching of Muslims in Sarawak is because we do not step on each others toes.

But I guess, for the purpose of gaining support and diverting the attention of voters from issues currently plaguing the DAP so close tot the next general elections, Lim Guan Eng raised the “use of Allah in Bible” issue again. And the Muslims in the Pakatan Rakyat chose to keep quiet about it except for the MP for Parit Buntar, Mujahid Yusof Rawa who questioned Guan Eng’s motive. I suppose for most PR Muslims, it is okay for Muslims to be proselytize as long as they get to wrestle power from the present government. To cloud the vision of their supporters from their internal issues of corruption, cronyism and nepotism, they decided to rally the support of the mostly Chinese Christians by raising the Allah issue again, knowing very well it would somehow hurt the relationship between UMNO and the Christians within the Barisan Nasional. I hope no fool would fall for this treachery.

What is the purpose of using the name Allah in Bibles, having a Malay Bible, and Christian publications in Malay if not to proselytize the Muslims? With all due respect to my Christian friends, why hasn’t the Vatican been using Allah or Elohim? Why do they stick to the name they know? And what is the most familiar term for God here in Malaysia if not Tuhan?

Like I mentioned in the first instalment. I am called John, and wherever I go, I will still be called John. No one in Germany would call me Johann, no Arab would call me Yahya, no one in Sweden would call me Jan or Jon. So, if your common denominator is Tuhan, call as it is. Not adopt from some other language. Or else, I would question why aren’t you calling God “Deus.” Please don’t fall for the politics of hate propagated by those who are irresponsible.

We have been living together, respecting each other for more than five decades peacefully except for one dark moment in 1969. Let us not let the political ambition of some to destroy the peace and prosperity that we have maintained for so long.

May I remind the Christians, in particular the Catholics about what is mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia about Allah:

Let it be noted that although Allah is an Arabic term, it is used by all Moslems, whatever be their language, as the name of God

If you still cannot see that, then there will soon be trouble in this peaceful nation. So, who is not respecting who?

The Case for God – Part 2

In the previous installment we see the difference in how Christianity was spread throughout the Indo-Malay world. In this installment, we discuss the concept of Trinity and why some Christians now continue to reject it.

Allah The One God

Since Allah is the common denominator to refer to God in the Arabic-speaking world, why is it then a problem for Malay Muslims to accept its use in the Malaysian Bibles?

First of all, the common denominator for God in the Indo-Malay speaking world is Tuhan, not Allah.   Like mentioned in paragraphs above, the general Christian world believes in the Trinity where God is the Father, God is the Son, and God is the Holy Spirit.  Muslims have a problem here thinking that this is all about polytheism, but really in technical terms it is not.  But neither is it monotheism as the Jews and Muslims hold on to.  In the Trinity concept, while God is all those three persons, the Father is NOT the Son or the Holy Spirit; the Son is NOT the Father or the Holy Spirit; neither the Holy Spirit is the other two.  It is the concept of one deity in three persons.

The problem with Muslim scholars in Malaysia is that their studies are so focused on Islam that they fail at comparative religious studies and often make opinions based on what they think is being practiced in other religions.  How many other Muslims read the Bible to know that after the publishing of the King James Bible in 1611, there have been other versions including the “new version”, the “children version”, and the “American version” (I’ll call them KJV in short)? How many know of the various changes made to God’s words in the Bible that appears in the KJV of today?

Mind you, the KJV was translated and printed by Thomas Nelson Publishers.  In 1969, the publishers was purchased by Sam Moore, who started by selling Bibles door-to-door to finance his pursuit of a medical degree.  He vowed to make Thomas Nelson the leading publisher of Bibles again. In 1976, he initiated the creation of the new Bible translation calling it the New King James Version (NKJV) that propelled Thomas Nelson back to the number one spot.

Hence, the NKJV Bible is more a human dogma than a collection of divine words.  Some versions has had the word “He” changed to “It” to accommodate a politically-correct gender-unbiased view.  Personally, I would use “It” to refer either to things that are not alive, or to beings other than the human.  The Quran, on the other hand, has never been changed, and the divinity of its content unquestioned.

The concept of Trinity was also alien to some Christians.  It was during the First Council of Nicea in 325AD , the first ecumenical council of the Church that was convened by the Roman Emperor, Constantine I, that an attempt to get the Christian world to agree on the divinity of Jesus Christ.  The main topic was to discuss the teachings of a Christian presbyter in Egypt called Arius, who focused on Godhead, which emphasized the Father’s divinity over the Son.  He endorsed the following doctrine:

  1. That the Son, or the Word (Logos) and the Father were not of the same essence (ousia);
  2. That the Son was a created being (ktisma);
  3. That the worlds were created through the Word, then he must have existed before all time;
  4. However, the Word did not exist, before he was begotten by the Father.

For his belief, and for refusing to sign the Creed and accepting the divinity of Christ, Arius and two other Church leaders were banished, prompting others to sign.  One must remember that Emperor Constantine I was never a baptized Christian until he was on his deathbed and the word ecumenical means world, in reference to the Roman Empire dominating what they saw was the world to them.

The Arian church lives on in some parts of the world, notably in the Eastern Christianity domain, the Oriental Orthodox.  Due to the differences, the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church were no longer in communion, although rivalry between the two have all but diminished since the Great Schism, but the latter still rejects the dogmatic definition published by the Pope, or by an ecumenical council, and also rejects the Council of Chalcedon.

The introduction of  the Filioque by the Western Church into the Latin version of the Nicene Creed without holding a council or gaining consent from the Eastern Churches contributed greatly to this schism. The Filioque is a phrase that states the Holy Spirit as proceeding from “the Father and the Son”, while the Eastern Churches have always held on to the fact that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and has the same status as the Son.

As such, God the Father in this concept does not qualify itself to be interpreted as Allah to be used in the Bible. God, as portrayed in the Trinity concept, does not stand, and cannot stand alone.  The concept of God as a Supreme Being that exists even before time does not seem to hold true when it comes to the Christian interpretation of God, and although the Jews, Christians and Muslims are people of the book, only the Christians have created God as an image, whereas, especially in Islam, God is beyond human comprehension.  Simply put, if you think that it is impossible to imagine God, even that imagination and thought come after His creation and is still nowhere near describing Allah.  Both the Jews and the Muslims reject the hypostasis nature of God as projected by the Christians.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, and without prejudice to my Christian friends, God the Father should be Tuhan Bapak; God the Son should be Tuhan Anak; and God the Holy Spirit should be Tuhan Ruhul Kudus.

In my next installment, we will have a look at the common denominator and what has become of it, and what I think of this whole issue.