Bibles seized as Malaysia minorities fear fundamentalism

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Bibles seized as Malaysia minorities fear fundamentalism

(CNN) – Authorities in Malaysia have seized more than 20,000 Bibles in recent months because they refer to God as “Allah,” Christian leaders said Thursday.

The seizures have fed fears among minority groups, which see signs of encroaching Islamic fundamentalism in the predominantly Muslim but multi-racial country.

“There is a growing sense of Islamic assertion, yes,” said the Rev. Hermen Shastri, general-secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia. “There is some concern.”

The Bibles were written in the country’s official language, Malay – in which the word for God is “Allah,” as it is in Arabic.

However, Malaysia’s government says the word is exclusive to Islam.

…
You can read the rest of the news article here:

edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/29/malaysia.bibles.seized/
 
That’s sad. If the word for God is Allah in Malay, then that’s what the Bibles will say, since they are in Malay.
I pray for peace in Malaysia.
And again I mention that we should not use the term “fundamentalism” to refer to Islam or to any religion other than the one for which that word was coined, the one outlined in The Fundamentals. Such retooling of the word is an example of giving in to weasel words and doublespeak. Anti-Christian media use such terminology to make Islam (in its most “newsworthy” manifestations) and Christianity (of any but the most New-Agey liberal kinds) sound the same in order to drum up fear of Christianity in the West. I urge resistance to such manipulation of language, especially as Christians.
 
Can it not be historically proven that Arabic and Malay speaking Christians were calling God Allah before Islam even existed? If so, then how can the Malay gov’t (or anyone) insist that the word is “exclusive” to Islam? I think it’s just a handy excuse to confiscate Bibles. :mad:

In Christ,

Ellen
 
This is nothing new. The Bible was banned in China and still is. Even with the last Olympic being held there, it did not open the way for free distribution of the Bibles.

The Bible was banned in many Communist countries. The ban in former USSR was particularly damning and we hear many heroic acts of Christians trying to bring the Bible for the Bible-starved communist population.

The Bible is also banned in strict Muslim countries - Saudi Arabia is infamously one of them. Perhaps for Muslim countries that don’t openly ban it, they will make all sorts excuse prohibiting it all the same. So it comes as no surprise. Christianity has been persecuted since its inception. It is in its persecution that it really thrives.

Let all Christians pray that Christians will increase their faith and resolve in the face of difficulty to practice their religion. Let also pray that God will soften the hearts of the persecutors and that common sense prevails so that there would be no restriction for anyone to practice their faith accordingly.

God bless.
 
So what’s with Muslims making a big deal about how we all worship the same God?
 
ALLGIRLS said:
Can it not be historically proven that Arabic and Malay speaking Christians were calling God Allah before Islam even existed? If so, then how can the Malay gov’t (or anyone) insist that the word is “exclusive” to Islam? I think it’s just a handy excuse to confiscate Bibles. :mad:

In Christ,

Ellen
Click to expand...
The bolded portion is true of Arab Christians, certainly, but not of Malay Christians. If I remember correctly from the last time this topic came up, the native word for God in Malay is “Tuhan”. Allah is an Arabic borrowing that came along with Islam.

You are right, though. That doesn’t make it an “Islamic” word, unless Muslims are willing to admit that Islam is only for Arabs, not for Malays or anyone else…!

Let the Christians print whatever they want. It is an after-effect of the success of Islam’s Arab imperialism and now the government wants to whine and cry because it was so successful that even Christians use it? Boo hoo. Cry me a river.
 
jakasaki said:
(CNN) – Authorities in Malaysia have seized more than 20,000 Bibles in recent months because they refer to God as “Allah,” Christian leaders said Thursday.
Click to expand...
Based on that, the Vatican should revise “CCC 841”, because it seems Muslims don’t consider themselves worshipping the same God as Christians do.

Now if some Muslims would say that those are Malaysian Muslims whom do not represent Islam, then I tell them, let the Islamic clerics in Saudi Arabia and Egypt come in Fatwa condemning that act, other than that, Vatican should revise “CCC 841”…
 
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