Saturday, January 9, 2010

When Religion is Politicised

Saturday, January 9, 2010



Mark the day 8th of January as a shameful day for Malaysians on the whole. Well, mark it as the day when a religious and theological issue was politicised by anonymous individuals or parties to fuel their own political mileage and aspirations. And mark it as the day when the infantile concept of 1Malaysia was nullified by the irresponsibility’s of certain people.

On this day, there were at least three known attacks on churches around the Klang Valley region. In one of the churches, the ground floor was destroyed by fire as a result of arson whilst at the other two churches situated in Petaling Jaya, firebombs were thrown into the compound of the churches but luckily they ceased to explode.

This whole problem stemmed from the fact that a court ruled that a Catholic newspaper could use the word ‘Allah’, the Muslim pronunciation of God, in their Malay-language publication. This led to widespread discontent and furore amongst the Muslim community upon hearing the court’s ruling.

It is for everyone to see that those responsible for the attacks acted in a very unprofessional, hostile manner. There could have been an amicable roundtable discussion on this issue. But no. First, there were threats of all sorts. And then, this minor group of hard-line but disillusionised Muslims did the unthinkable – attaching the Christians places of worship.

What I find baffling the most is the fact that the more ultra-Islamic political party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), downplayed the significance of the court’s ruling. The party President was of the opinion that the word ‘Allah’ is not necessarily reserved for the Muslims only. After learning of the attacks, he remarked, “Where did they learn this from?”

In addition to that, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, also urged for calm among the Muslim community. Before the attacks, he reminded the Muslims to respect all other religions and to act in a responsible and noble manner.

So, how on Earth has this small problem regarding the legal use of ‘Allah’ in a Catholic newspaper spiral into a full-blown crisis? For one, surely the mentality of the certain individuals and groups who resist the ruling is a little ‘immature’ and ‘childish’. And then, there was the instigating and hyping of this issue by certain parties that probably led to the attacks being carried out.

The most obvious conclusion that people get to regarding this matter, especially those whom I have spoken too, is that this is all done in the name of politics. It would be hard to exactly pin-point a certain individual in this case, but the general theory and idea is there.

As we all are aware of, every religion preaches this set of basic virtues – respect other people’s religion, love one another and do not politicise religious issues. The million dollar question here is – if that is the case, why did they do it? Perhaps, the answer is that they aren’t the Muslims who are God-fearing as they claim to be.

What is your take on the matter? Was it avoidable? Is this the start of something much bigger in scale? Drop some comments to articulate your points.

14 comments:

wen pink said...

is it now a big thing in the country..

Nic Da Nic said...

Well, I just got it weird.I use that word when I sing my state anthem.That's weird..and it is so obvious

Jard The Great said...

i dont mind ppl using the name Allah in other religions.. huhu

tranquility said...

lotsa people cry foul without knowing what's really going on.

Wud say it's the media, the propaganda and the politics.

Shuwen said...

Allah doesn't even fully belong to the Muslims. wth -.- They're creating trouble out of nothing

Lachmanasegran said...

its scary..=[
but wut harm are we doing if we use the word Allah?

Himmat Singh said...

@ Wen Pink
Yea, a very big issue.

@Nic
I also use Allah in the Selangor State anthem. Good point to ponder on.

@Jard
Glad to know you dont mind.

@Karen
Spot on. Political propaganda.

@Shuwen
I don't really wanna comment on that.

@Loves
I know, of what harm is it?

cr3ap said...

What has cross the minds of those people I wonder. Is it that big effect for those people to use their words only which represents god 'Allah'? You are right, it so not 1 Malaysia at all. It's more like racist to me for them to pillage the church like that.

Regards from cr3ap
http://cr3ap85.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

The 1 Malaysia no longer exists the day this happened .

I pray for the uncivilized fanatics who did this to repent for they are bound to meet their maker one day and face judgement .

And i'm glad that all brothers and sisters acted wisely and forgave their actions . God Bless ~

Let us all pray for peace in this country ...

Anonymous said...

Pakatan Rakyat lines parties are still strong that their are not disturbed by this racist issue. They have clear understanding and Pas leaders are taking brilliant action to avoid this in their union. The problem is to BN as their allow demostrators to provoke allah name usage.
+1 to PR and -10 to BN as this is serious issue.

Lynx said...

Yes, it's politics alright! Good post!

Unknown said...

bottom line is... Malaysians are DUMB! period

Unknown said...

nice one himmat politics are always dirty ya u are right 8th jan shamful day man

Himmat Singh said...

@Cr3ap
I wonder too.

@Christine
It is inconclusive to judge that 1Malaysia no longer exists, but yes, let us pray for peace.

@Anonymous
I dont really wanna comment on that but yes, Pakatan have held their lines steadily.

@Lynx
Thanks!

@Dylan Phua
I beg to differ. This is the work of a miniscule minority of incompetant Malaysians.

@Ishvinder
Absalutely right my friend.

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